If you can keep the front sight perfectly - and I do mean PERFECTLY - still while pressing the trigger briskly and cleanly, then awesome, you are the man.
Most people concentrate on that perfectly still front sight to the detriment of their grip, trigger manipulation, body alignment behind the gun, etc.
Some of the ideas I like to keep in mind....
Dryfire is so important, if you can spare the money buy ben's book.
I don't pull the trigger during dryfire while par timing. Just on target with finger on the trigger. If you're new you can try it both ways, on the trigger and trigger finger on the frame. (i.e. no need to always have the finger go to the trigger.
However, I do like to always go to front sight where I have a blurry target and a clear front sight. I have a theory that many cops practice draws separate from sight alignment. That leads them to just practicing the draw to the chin where the shoulders are comfortable. If done a lot it can lead to shooting from just below the chin as the norm. This is sort of like having two holster procedures, dry fire and live fire. Sometimes the procedures can get mixed up and the wrong one happens at the wrong time. I like to just have one draw. (this isn't perfect but it is better than the alternative.)
Have the same holster procedure for live fire and dryfire. Don't get lax because it's, "unloaded."
I do slow trigger presses with total front sight accuracy on a blank wall. Many people who say they front sight focus actually are target focused and don't know the difference. This will train front sight, IMO.
Reloads.
Malfunctions clearance.
Target transitions.
All kinds of good stuff that doesn't cost anything but time.
Last edited by JustOneGun; 04-04-2017 at 06:44 PM.
What you do right before you know you're going to be in a use of force incident, often determines the outcome of that use of force.
What is your rationale for practicing slow trigger presses with total front sight accuracy?Originally Posted by JustOneGun
I see the point you're making. For me, the concentration is on the fundamentals and technique, the result is a steady front sight when the former is executed well. In fact, I don't think at all about "keep the front sight still". I merely notice immediately if it jumps, wiggles, bounces, or flips me the bird while cackling maniacally, and proceed check my fundamentals. In that regard, I'm "looking for it." After 40 some odd years of doing something, I would hope to at least be better than average, even if by sheer accident, however, my technique may indeed be outdated comparing to what is taught today. You're the instructor so your thoughts should be taken more seriously than mine. I'm simply a decent shooter doing what works well for me. Most importantly, I certainly wouldn't use the word "perfectly" anywhere near anything I do.
1.)So how do I know I'm dry firing right?
2.)In the last thread I was told very specifically that the Lazerlyte was a bad idea because it tends to make you focus on te target not the sights. I know Lazerlyte makes a target that marks your shots so maybe down the road I can look at that but for right now I just want to concentrate or correct trigger manipulation
It is mostly for new people. But I do a few at the end of every Dryfire session because I'm not shooting nearly as much as I used to when I had keys to the ammo room (if only I could find 250,000 rounds in a room around here.) LOL! The idea is the same as pushing the time live fire then backing off to something that I can assure a hit.
It's another theory that I can't prove (I started doing it right before retirement). It's just a thought that covers how we used to teach people at my old agency. We went too fast, too soon, too much each class, etc. I suspect that instead of taking enough time with Dryfire and then live fire on an empty wall/berm to make focusing on the front sight a procedure, we rushed and many people just target focus and shoot (to make time). They made the time but their accuracy suffered. Again, that's pretty tough to prove. Just a suspicion I have. I haven't noticed a negative with doing it. But as a retired old fart that doesn't shoot nearly as much as I used to, my trigger has stayed pretty good relative to how much I shoot.)
What you do right before you know you're going to be in a use of force incident, often determines the outcome of that use of force.
If you can't spare the money, it's even more reason to buy ben's book and dryfire a ton instead of shooting that 1 box of ammo you could have bought instead.
There is a time to go balls out, and there is a time to take your perfect shots. There is a time to never bother touching the trigger, and there is a time to wail on it. It all depends on what specific skill you're trying to learn and refine, or if you're combining skills together.
OP, my suggestion is go buy the cheap ass book and jump right into it. Don't overthink what you're doing. Just get a bunch of practice in, inevitably fuck up royally on something in live fire (too slow, can't hit crap, bad sight pictures, crappy recoil control, anything), and then focus on fixing that issue. That's the eternal cycle, don't be afraid to fail or be a screwup at something.
Semper Gumby, Always Flexible
When I started, I would often look over my sights to see where the laser was hitting. That is bad. You don't really need the feedback of the laser when you have the sights to see what's going on, but IMO the laser is nice to keep things interesting if you get bored. Plus now I'm using it as a snapcap that won't get ejected every time I rack the slide on my glock.
If you need some sort of target feedback, I think you can have targets made of some sort of neon color that will glow brightly when hit by the laser, and put that on top of something (like black felt cloth) that will absorb the light if you miss. Thus you can peripherally see whether you're hitting or not by just whether you sense a bright reflection or not.
If you don't know if your shot missed during dry fire you're new to it, or doing it wrong.
Semper Gumby, Always Flexible
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