Draw from holster practice with weight of loaded pistol.

[benq]

So...While at home, I 've been practicing my draw from holster as various speeds. All the while trying to quickly obtain an accurate sight picture with an empty pistol. So far so good, I'm making marked improvement.

When at the range or desert, I still practice my draw. But now, I can safely(as safe as one can be) draw with one loaded. I've notice the weight is significant enough to affect it in a negative way, e.g. slower to acquire sight picture.

I'm about to purchase my first press, so I can produce some rounds minus primer and powder. I think this is a good long term solution. In the meantime, what can I do at home to simulate a draw with the weight of a loaded pistol?

[bkent]

Take the spring out of a mag and fill it with something that weighs the same as the rounds you usually load. Maybe put some lead in and pack the rest with cloth? I've never done this, just the first thing that popped into my head.
Kent

[Corlissimo]

Take the spring out of a mag and fill it with something that weighs the same as the rounds you usually load. Maybe put some lead in and pack the rest with cloth? I've never done this, just the first thing that popped into my head.
Kent

I like this idea. But, I think that this method would pretty much mean you'd need to scrap a magazine by gluing the floor plate since the spring pressure is what usually keeps the floor plate latch engaged, no? At least that's how it seems to work on my HK P30/P2KSK and XD mags.

With my XD mags, no real issue as they're relatively inexpensive. It's a whole different story when it comes to my HK mags though. :p

[Wendell]

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[TheTrevor]

Start with a piece of round steel rod of similar diameter to the cartridges you use. Home Depot, Lowes, etc will all sell you a single piece at a usurious markup.

Cut sections to same length as a loaded cartridge. This can be done with a vise and a hacksaw if you don't have access to a metal-cutting bandsaw.

Check length with cheap Harbor Freight digital calipers. If over length (eg 1.125 or so for 40SW) file down to size.

Chamfer all edges with hand filing, grinder, belt sander, etc.

Weigh loaded magazine. Unload live rounds and secure all live ammo. Double check.

Insert steel slugs and weigh until you're close to weight. Top off with a snap cap in case you forget and try to chamber a slug.

Note that this can all be done with two hand tools (hacksaw, file) and one piece of metal round you can pick up in a single trip to the big box store. Measurement can be done by trial and error comparison to loaded cartridges if necessary.

[JM Campbell]

http://www.stactionpro.com/action-trainer-dummy-rounds-c-1.html

Tap rack bang practice with a little bit of weight.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

[Shawn.L]

I use the weighted dummy mags from my sirt gun

[Cookie Monster]

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+1, they provide a faster reload because there is less to catch on the magwell so for reload practice I use dummy rounds I got from Brownells.

Cookie Monster

[Leroy]

As much as it might hurt your wallet, you really need magazines dedicated to dryfire. If you dryfire enough you will destroy them.

[Chris Rhines]

Certainly, you'll wear them to the point that you'll not want to chance them in a match.

Dedicated magazines loaded with the appropriate number of dummy rounds is the best solution I've found.

[ACP230]

Dillon sells the Bennie Cooley Safety Magazine through The Blue Press mag/catalog.

"Weighted to simulate a fully loaded mag."

Models for the 1911 and Glock 17 and 22 for $14.95.

I have been meaning to get one for my 1911s.

[Wendell]

Dillon sells the Bennie Cooley Safety Magazine through The Blue Press mag/catalog.

"Weighted to simulate a fully loaded mag."

Models for the 1911 and Glock 17 and 22 for $14.95.

I have been meaning to get one for my 1911s.

If you're referring to the CRTC magazines, I have the 1911 and the G17/22 models; they are weighed, but they don't fit well in most pouches; based on that, I don't recommend them.

The Blueguns products fit like real magazines.

[benq]

Thanks for all the input. I figured others had the same concerns I did and saw a business opportunity. I will try the homemade option first.

[TheTrevor]

Thanks for all the input. I figured others had the same concerns I did and saw a business opportunity. I will try the homemade option first.

If your gun is 9mm, you'll find that 10mm rod is best to make weight slugs:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#8920k32/

In 40SW guns, I've found 12mm rod to be the best trade-off between size and price -- 40SW cases are 10.8mm, but 12mm is the closest cheap size available:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#8920k34/

You'll probably want to either paint the slugs or coat them with a heavy layer of Boeshield to prevent rust.

ETA: Just a reminder -- don't skip the step where you round off the edges of the slugs after cutting them. Sharp cylindrical edges, or worse, hanging burrs will absolutely tear up the inside surface of your magazines if you don't clean up the slugs.

Hope this helps.

[GJM]

Seems like if you are a FASTbagger, you ought to practice with an empty magazine, a partially full one if you shoot Production or IDPA, and a full weight one if you are mostly an operator?

[TheTrevor]

So, empty magazines all day long for you, then? :cool:

[JayClark79]

If you reload just put some lead in a used case with a used primer with no powder in it... weight will be basically the exact same as live rounds.

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[dbateman]

I use my practice mags with dummy loads that are an empty case with a projectile seated in them.

I use nickel cases for practice rounds so they stand out but still check to make sure no live rounds get in there.

By using dummy rounds I can still run my slide and simulate the slide release tap rack bang ect.

[Jack Ryan]

I think you are fussing over nothing but if you really want it, you can match the weight with just lead dummy rounds. You don't need to buy anything extra other than enough wheel weights or a pure lead weight from the hardware store. A chisel to cut off a piece, be generous if this is how you are doing it. You can always cut more off easier than you can pour it back together. A hammer and a flat surface and you can shape a piece of lead in to any shape you want to simulate load ammunition to compensate the weight of unloaded magazines. Just shape it like kids roll clay between their hands with the hammer and flat surface.

[52Hubcap]

Like 'dbateman' use dummy rounds. If you're concerned with confusing them with live ammo, make them with no primers or fired primers.

[ford.304]

Yeah, dummy rounds are easy to make. Even if you don't have a press you should know someone who does who can make some for you in a few minutes. The lack of primer is pretty obvious. I like to leave the pockets open because then it's obvious if you did something dumb and put powder in them -- it falls out the bottom.

If you're feeling paranoid, You can toss on some spray paint so you can tell at a glance that they're not normal rounds.

I like to use a retired or off brand magazine for it. Of course, that's easier when crappy 1911 mags are < $10 each.

[Slavex]

I am of the position that home made dummy snap caps, unless brightly colored and completely different looking than your normal reloads, are a disaster waiting to happen. Factory made ones are cheap, and if really feel the need for weight wear a weighted wrist band. I have literally lost cost of the number of hot water tanks, tv, pets, windows, doors, walls, reloading presses, safes that I know people have shot and near misses with pets and spouses, tvs and more, that happened when a homemade round made it into the homemade dummy round pile. A brain fade, a phone call, a pet rubbing up against your leg and you don't notice the live primer in the round you load into your magazine. Or like one of my friends yelling up the stairs at his kids to get to sleep and stop fighting, "If I have to come up there, there is going to be trouble" BOOOM. And there goes the 6 month old big screen in his home theatre room. Kids come racing downstairs crying and apologizing for fighting (I think they were 5 or 6). He had a live round somewhere on the floor even though he swears he never took them into the theater room due to it being his dryfire room. Solid concrete room, so nice and safe for dryfire. Yet somehow part way through the night a live round got in there. Then he had to explain to the kids he'd screwed up and it wasn't their fault. I don't think they ever believed him.

Those ones from STActionPro.com are the best on the market as far as I am concerned and are cheap to boot. They also last forever.

[GardoneVT]

So...While at home, I 've been practicing my draw from holster as various speeds. All the while trying to quickly obtain an accurate sight picture with an empty pistol. So far so good, I'm making marked improvement.

When at the range or desert, I still practice my draw. But now, I can safely(as safe as one can be) draw with one loaded. I've notice the weight is significant enough to affect it in a negative way, e.g. slower to acquire sight picture.

I'm about to purchase my first press, so I can produce some rounds minus primer and powder. I think this is a good long term solution. In the meantime, what can I do at home to simulate a draw with the weight of a loaded pistol?

IMO-and this is just my risk-management opinion, not a cast iron philosophy- the authentic nature of training with a loaded magazine, even with dummy ammo, is not offset by the risk of A Potential Problem.

If im dry firing, it is a separate activity from drawing -that way, I can triple check that I have only the Red Practice Stuff in the chamber before beginning. It may not be as effective from a training standpoint as combining the two activities together. But I never practice drawing from the holster with a gun loaded with ANYTHING. Too many shooters sharper then myself have botched this with terrible consequences.