Advanced Marksmanship Positional dry firing.

Victory

Victory

Pagan Raider
Full Member
Minuteman
Nov 14, 2005
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Making bad guys nervous
#1
I dry fire a lot and have begun dry firing off hand and sitting. Is it more beneficial to just dry fire in the prone and really focus on my basics without having the stresses of different positions, or should I just keep adding different positions to my regime?

Also, what positions do you think I should dry fire the most?

Any insight into what some of you guys are doing dry fire wise would be great.

Thanks,
Andrew
 
#2
Re: Positional dry firing.

I think dry firing is often overlooked , trigger control plays a large part in accuracy IMO. I dry fire in whatever position I feel I will use in the field. I keep several snap caps to also focus on bolt manipulation as well.
 
#3
Re: Positional dry firing.

I'm the same as SD. I mostly dry fire prone and am hyper aware of stock/cheek weld, body position (straight back), trigger control, working on controlling breathing and heartbeat as much as I can. I use snap caps to practice bolt work as well, loading ammo and catching "brass". Sometimes I dry fire in the supported sitting position too, like I would on a bench at a range.

I try real hard to "call my shot" by noticing where the cross hairs are when I pull the trigger. Good habit since I can't actually see shot holes from firing. The wife might be upset if I started shooting live rounds in the basement!
 
#4
Re: Positional dry firing.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: victory</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I dry fire a lot and have begun dry firing off hand and sitting. Is it more beneficial to just dry fire in the prone and really focus on my basics without having the stresses of different positions, or should I just keep adding different positions to my regime?

Also, what positions do you think I should dry fire the most?

Any insight into what some of you guys are doing dry fire wise would be great.

Thanks,
Andrew

</div></div>

I think if you were to spend about 50 minutes a day dry firing from the standing position, plotting your shot calls, in a few weeks you'd be one of the greatest shooters on the planet.
 
#5
Re: Positional dry firing.

i think dry firing at some point becomes harmful. Becuase you will begin to assume things you dont/cant know from dry fire such as poi. My advice is to shoot. But if I do dry fire its usually off-hand. If i do it prone then its more to monitor wind conditions then acutual firing.
 
#6
Re: Positional dry firing.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: MALLARD</div><div class="ubbcode-body">i think dry firing at some point becomes harmful. Becuase you will begin to assume things you dont/cant know from dry fire such as poi. My advice is to shoot. But if I do dry fire its usually off-hand. If i do it prone then its more to monitor wind conditions then acutual firing.</div></div>

Dry firing harmful? Can't know from dry fire such as poi? You cannot be serious.
 
#7
Re: Positional dry firing.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: MALLARD</div><div class="ubbcode-body">If i do it prone then its more to monitor wind conditions then acutual firing.</div></div>

What does this mean?
 
#8
Re: Positional dry firing.

Probably means he just practices reading the lull spots of the wind and picking the proper time. Kind of like betting with out money. Depending on conditions the lull isn't much of a lull so you are just picking the wind speed you planned for. The wind does have patterns a lot of the time. Of course Kaneohe will get you to really watch the wind getting 180's out of the rise off the ocean and hills.
 
#9
Re: Positional dry firing.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: LowCrawl</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Probably means he just practices reading the lull spots of the wind and picking the proper time. Kind of like betting with out money. </div></div>
Yeahbut when you bet without money you can still see what the real outcome was.

Is there really benefit to this?
 
#10
Re: Positional dry firing.

Dry firing immensely increased my scores when I shot highpower.
There are 8 1st place medals hanging above my reloading bench to show for it.

I made a 1/4" dot and taped it on the wall for each of the positions, strapped up and got into all 3 positions and dry fired every night the week before a match.

So yes- the beauty of it is that you don't waste ammo and get frustrated - save the coaching for the range!
 
#11
Re: Positional dry firing.

When you guys talk about plotting your shots, are you mentally remembering everything about the shot then recording it all along with your call and what actually happened with the reticle after every shot?
 
#12
Re: Positional dry firing.

I plot both the call and the actual bullet strike for single loading multiple shot strings. I'm looking for a call/strike relationship. It's a great way to refine my zero for the standing position. It really works well when I wait until all rounds are shot before viewing/ recording the actual strikes.
 
#13
Re: Positional dry firing.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
I made a 1/4" dot and taped it on the wall for each of the positions, strapped up and got into all 3 positions and dry fired every night the week before a match.

So yes- the beauty of it is that you don't waste ammo and get frustrated - save the coaching for the range!
</div></div>

Great advice and I do something almost identical.

The only adjustment I'd make is the size of the dot. I did some math and figured the scale it should be to match the proper size of the black on highpower targets. At 6 ft. away, it turned out to be something like 3mm
smile.gif
.

Just doing this, and exploring good NPA as a result, my scores improved dramatically.
 
#14
Re: Positional dry firing.

Short-range dry firing is problematic with a tactical rifle, because most scopes won't focus at short range.

We use to live across the street from an assisted living center which was 145 yards from my living room. I went over one night, and stuck up three targets made from contact paper in an inconspicuous spot. They were 1 MOA, 2 MOA, and 5 MOA in size at that distance.

I used the 1 MOA for prone, 2 MOA for sitting and kneeling, and 5 MOA for offhand.

I was careful only to do the dry-firing with the lights out, so no one could see me aiming a rifle at the building.

Dry firing works.


 
#19
Re: Positional dry firing.

victory,

For a "new" dry fire shooter I would tell you to take a SOLID 10 min's to dry fire when you have the time.

This 10 min's needs to be real detailed with your full focus on the task. As soon as your mind starts to go off to never , never land STOP and start back up the next dry fire day.

I started with a solid 10 min's every other day. and focused like CRAZY in these 10 min's. It worked for me alot.

One key is this, the dry fire training time is not positional training time.

Learn how to get in and out of the off hand position, sitting, kneeling and prone. Once you know how to use your sling, then focus on the fundamentals of marksmanship when dry firing. If you are "learning" the sitting position, you can not spend time dry firing.

You learn the position with not firing a round. Get that sling adjusted, get your NPA, get your body flexible to accept these positions.

Once thats done, now work on the fundamentals.

Hope this helps

John
 
#20
Re: Positional dry firing.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: J.Boyette</div><div class="ubbcode-body">victory,

For a "new" dry fire shooter I would tell you to take a SOLID 10 min's to dry fire when you have the time.

This 10 min's needs to be real detailed with your full focus on the task. As soon as your mind starts to go off to never , never land STOP and start back up the next dry fire day.

I started with a solid 10 min's every other day. and focused like CRAZY in these 10 min's. It worked for me alot.

One key is this, the dry fire training time is not positional training time.

Learn how to get in and out of the off hand position, sitting, kneeling and prone. Once you know how to use your sling, then focus on the fundamentals of marksmanship when dry firing. If you are "learning" the sitting position, you can not spend time dry firing.

You learn the position with not firing a round. Get that sling adjusted, get your NPA, get your body flexible to accept these positions.

Once thats done, now work on the fundamentals.

Hope this helps

John </div></div>
I've found John's advice above to be spot-on.
 
#21
Re: Positional dry firing.

For me, dry firing and position building is integrated. After all, dry firing will reveal whether follow through, NPA,and/or trigger control have been properly addressed. For example, an on-call but not right-in-there dry firing result will suggest trouble shooting in the NPA and/or trigger control arena. Remember, executing the firing task is always an integrated act.

Mostly today, since my standing scores are my lowest, my excercise is a 50 minute blind call and plot standing position event where alternate live and dry fire calls are plotted, and then, after the dust settles and the smoke clears, strikes are recorded. This program, which I learned from an AMU Service Rifle competitor, seems to have a whole lot of science behind it, and, certainly, has been proven effective for some of the best marksmen on the planet to reach the highest classifications.
 
#22
Re: Positional dry firing.

Charles,

I am with you and fully agree.

My point is this. 90% of the shooters here on this website do not know how to use a sling correctly. They do not know how to get in to any correct position of any sort.

So if you are in the above group, and dry firing; you can see how many things do go wrong on that single integrated act.

This is why I offer a "two" stage process.

Have a great Easter sir.

John
 
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