Advice on dry practice

[MCP34 91]

I'm in a pickle here. And thought I would seek advice from you guys on how you would train in marksmanship without a place to shoot live ammo. My old Army buddy moved to North Carolina. He had a large farm with a few dozen acres of land here that we used to shoot on whenever we wanted. The gun ranges in my town only permit handguns. (at least I have a place to practice with my handguns though) There was a range about 45 minutes from here which had outdoor ranges for shotgun and rifle. But that place got sued because of the idiots who were being unsafe. They are no more. So as of now, I have no place to practice live. My friends are in the same predicament as me. They don't have enough land outside of the city limits, and don't know anyone who does. What are some methods and training regimens that I could use to keep somewhat sharp without firing a round? At least until I can find somewhere to shoot? This info could come in handy in the event of an ammo shortage too. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks guys.

[Señor Travesura 6]

Check out I- Target think they have rifle calibers.

https://www.itargetpro.com/

[MCP34 91]

15 hours ago, Señor Travesura said:

Check out I- Target think they have rifle calibers.

https://www.itargetpro.com/

Cool. I'll check it out. Thanks man.

[Skillet 1,724]

16 hours ago, MCP34 said:

I'm in a pickle here. And thought I would seek advice from you guys on how you would train in marksmanship without a place to shoot live ammo. My old Army buddy moved to North Carolina. He had a large farm with a few dozen acres of land here that we used to shoot on whenever we wanted. The gun ranges in my town only permit handguns. (at least I have a place to practice with my handguns though) There was a range about 45 minutes from here which had outdoor ranges for shotgun and rifle. But that place got sued because of the idiots who were being unsafe. They are no more. So as of now, I have no place to practice live. My friends are in the same predicament as me. They don't have enough land outside of the city limits, and don't know anyone who does. What are some methods and training regimens that I could use to keep somewhat sharp without firing a round? At least until I can find somewhere to shoot? This info could come in handy in the event of an ammo shortage too. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks guys.

 

First rule: clear your weapon. We don't need any NFAC crap happening.

 

There's an old saying that goes "he who hits first wins". I have a regimen I use with students and the ones that actually execute it tend to develop speed and accuracy a lot faster than those who don't. What you do is pick out a small target (I like to use one of my wife's figurines in the entertainment center in our den) and at about 15' away from a ready carry move into a fighting stance and practice coming up and onto it while manipulating the safety. See the target, eyes, on, bring the rifle up to your eye while switching from safe to fire until you have the reticle or sights aligned on it, then back down switching back to safe. Wash, rinse, repeat. If you have a snap cap you can go all the way through pulling the trigger, but the rifle will need to be recocked after every iteration. You can do the same thing wit a pistol (use a snap cap).

 

When you practice like this get rid of all distractions. No TV on, no music on, kick the kids outside to play. Start off slow and work your speed up gradually. If you start getting sloppy stop, go back to ultra slow, and work back up, sloppy practice = sloppy execution. If you're frustrated, tired, etc. then wait until you're not to work this. What this does is help commit the movements and index the positions to muscle memory. You'll eventually develop the instinct to know if you did something wrong.  If you can have a peer coach critique your technique that is even better, or record yourself and review it to see how smooth (or not  smooth) your actions are. A lot of times just watching ourselves we see really basic things that we may have not known we were doing that we can fix easily.

 

I've had students just put a piece of painters tape on the wall across their bedroom and use this technique. It works. And costs nothing but time, effort, and minimal private space. 

[wquon 194]

Here is the dry practice training video to watch;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYJk_ioERK8

 

How Airsoft can help;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQDfwyUgtjg

 

About the only thing you can't do with dry practice is recoil management. I know it's not sexy, but this is how to become better. You can also work on team dynamic with airsoft. Look into milsim (military simulation). with the amount of money you save on ammo with this you can easily afford the guns. get guns that are the same as your primary & secondary, it will help with training & you wont have to get all new retention gear.

 

Also;

as of now there are a few ammo companies that are expecting this ammo "shortage" to extend well into summer of 2021. If the demand continues, there will also be an issue with raw materials (look into Obama, EPA, & lead smelters. now there all in china).

so I would choose to reserve my ammo for the time being.

[MCP34 91]

Thanks for the tips. I appreciate it everyone. I'll put this advice into practice.

[Guest Darksider 3/4]

Be careful  all that snapping in will wind up  ruining your firing pin,find a live fire range and get your trigger time  that way 

[Eagle 8]

What Skillet said is great stuff repetition is what makes you get better,  I do the same stuff things he mentioned but with my secondary, practice drawing it from holster and work on getting faster from the draw. Ask your girlfriend or wife to time you from draw to dry fire. I like to do it 50 times per night. Usually ends up being more like 100  times because I dont like to stop unless I beat my best timed draw.

Practice walking drills outside, forward, lateral, angles etc use good technique. you can actually practice simple up drills without any ammo.

Find an area that has 25 to 50 yds, put a target out there for something to practice aiming at and practice switching your riifle from left side to right side while walking forward and lateral movement.

Using the same outdoor area, practice different firing positions. kneeling, standing, prone and behind cover positions. while moving and transitioning, practice changing EMPTY mags behind covered positions. 

Put out a tgt and practice turning drills, left side, right side, and rear.

Buy some dummy rounds and practice mag changes and malfunctions

Practice firing with left and right hand pistol and rifle

repetition, repetition, repetition

 

ALWAYS be 100% sure that your kit and mags do NOT have ammo in them and get a second opinion.

Always Keep your weapon pointed in a safe direction as if it were loaded.

Always know whats in front of and behind your target.

practice everything you would get at a range brief.

*Don't get complacent, big boy rules. Don't be the guy who shoots a hole through a wall or worse.

 

 

Edited August 21 by Eagle
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