Though their countrys laws forbade private handgun ownership, these shooters nevertheless availed themselves fairly well.
The answer, apparently was airsoft practice.
The story illustrates that live fire is just one form of building competency with ones firearm.
The “penny trick” during dry fire training is a time-tested method of ingraining a smooth, consistent trigger pull that doesn’t disturb sight alignment.
And obviously, verify you only do this with an empty firearm in a safe location and direction.
It is very easy to move the gun as one manipulates the trigger.
This, fortunately, is a solvable challenge.
One of the primary challenges of shooting a pistol is that the weight of the trigger pull is often much more than the weight of the gun itself.
Dry-fire allows the novice shooter to learn, kinesthetically, what a correct trigger press feels like.
Most novices, however, can get this squared away within about 10 minutes.
Dry-fire allows shooters to ingrain a more sophisticated approach to trigger manipulation beyond just pull the damn thing.
Snap caps are available in just about every major chambering, and they can be a great aid in diagnosing what a shooter is actually doing when the hammer falls.
(For the record, I dislike the word flinch and the connotations it carries.)
When most shooters dry-fire, theyre actually not addressing the largest reason for why they miss the target.
Maybe its the gun, they surmise!
If dry fire training is to be effective, it needs to be done at the range as well. The mind is too good at compartmentalizing the trigger pull you practiced solely during home sessions.
The first part of the solution is to prove to yourself that a mash is happening.
Snap Caps, which are brightly colored dummy rounds, are an essential purchase here.
Alternately, you might have a friend load the magazine for you and insert the round somewhere.
Wide dispersion of bullet strikes on this target is likely due to recoil anticipation and will require conscientious, targeted work to correct.
Until this aspect of ones shooting is addressed, the quest for accuracy will be a long one.
As soon as groups begin to deviate and you suspect bad habits creeping in, dry-fire.
You just may find that your reptilian brain hasnt caught up to whats happening for those first few rounds.
Even compact guns like this 3” XD will produce impressive groups, but it requires the shooter to master the fundamentals. Dry fire training can help you improve your skills.
Do this until youve reset your bad habits.
Only then, should you resume firing.
If you find that youre again mashing the trigger, go back to the dry-fire.
Randomly staggering snap caps in a magazine for range training is a great way to understand what a shooter is actually doing when they pull the trigger on what they sincerely believe will be a live round.
The process Im describing is not particularlyfun, per se.
Instead, it will just be one press: the correct one.
The Wrap-Up
The reality is that my suggested dry-fire process iswork, plain and simple.
Long story short: dry-fire is an exceptional way for beginners and intermediates to improve their marksmanship.
Go to forum thread
XD3" Sub-Compact
