Efficacy of Revolver Dry Practice for Pistol Shooting?

[RJ]

I have a question for the greater group here that I'm not sure has been explored.

I did a search on a couple key words from thread titles, and didn't see much that addressed this subject. I'm a civilian shooter, currently D class in Production in USPSA using a Glock 19. My EDC is a Glock 26+2 mag. I also pocket carry a Ruger LCR. These are about my only handguns, not counting a Ruger New Model Blackhawk I received as a gift.

So...Dry Practice with the LCR? Good idea or bad idea?

Would using a revolver consistently, either before or after Dry Practice with a modern SFA (G 19 in my case) be a detriment or a help?

On the negative training side, the revolver press is long and generally uniform. The Glock is typical 0.5" press to a 5 lb ish wall. Would using a revolver for Dry Practice mess me up for shooting?

And what about shooting? Would using a Revolver for Dry Practice (either exclusively, or as an augmented set of drills) prior to Live Fire exercises screw things up for shooting?

Thanks for any insight into this.

[Lester Polfus]

I only have anecdotal information but:

I've been doing 500 reps of dry fire practice with a Smith and Wesson 638 for several years now, along with 50 rounds of live fire in the side yard during lunch once or twice a month. I found myself carrying the J-frame most of the time we went into town and decided if I was going to do that, I need to be really good with a J-frame. My ability with the J-Frame exceeds my expections of what I initially believed I could do with it.

My other two "platforms" were multiple Glock 19s, and a Glock 20 for woods use. I found that I shot them much better after doing the work with the J-Frame.

I recently bought a GP100 and assumed I would have a steep curve with it. I found that shooting it well is like child's play after shooting the J-frame.

[spinmove_]

You carry the LCR, so yes, you should definitely dryfire with it. You compete in USPSA Production with a G19, so yes, you should definitely dryfire with it.

The question now becomes: HOW are you dryfiring? What are your goals? Do your methods match up with what you want your end result to be?


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[Mark D]

Not a revolver, but I've found that dry fire with a DA pistol (PX4) seems to improves my trigger control with my Glocks. So I'm thinking the revolver DA trigger press might do the same for you.

Interested to hear what other folks think.

[JCS]

I couldn’t clean a dt at 4 yards with a Glock. I took a break from shooting glocks to practice with a newly acquired 442. The next time I tried a DT with a Glock I cleaned it at 5 yards after not live firing one in months.

My personal experience is yes.

[Doc_Glock]

I have found most every other trigger improves my Glock shooting to a point. DA revolver practice is low hanging fruit.

To get the final few percentage points of performance, dedicated Glock practice will be needed.

[Trooper224]

Master a DA revolver and everything else will seem like child's play. Likewise with a TDA pistol. I found that spending a lot of time with a TDA pistol actually helped my Glock shooting. Due to my years of revolver shooting the TDA pistol wasn't much of a challenge either.

To more directly answer your question: yes, you should dry fire practice with the Ruger and no, it won't be detrimental to your performance with your Glocks.

[GJM]

I learned to shoot one hand, with a S&W 317 and many bricks of .22 ammo. Steering a long, heavy trigger revolver definitely helps semi-auto pistol shooting.

The problem is that dry fire, especially for a newer shooter, needs to be paired with lots of live fire so you can see where the bullets strike. I think this is especially so for a Glock shooter.

[Clusterfrack]

Ben Stoeger does not recommend practicing in DA too much since most of your shots are SA.

I found a DA trigger to be pretty unforgiving, but so is a stock Glock trigger. Learning to shoot that well requires a good trigger press.

Revolvers feel weird to me, so I wouldn’t use one to practice shooting unless I wanted to get better at shooting a revolver.

Yes, I realize this doesn’t answer your question.

[runcible]

(Mirroring from elsewhere...)

In my experience and observations both:

Full-time DAO and DA/SA shooters have excellent carryover to SAO and near-SAO systems (e.g. partially or fully cocked striker fired systems, such as Glocks and M&Ps). There may be some static in the hand jive, like subconsciously decocking; but nothing too harmful.

Full-time SAO or near-SAO shooters (e.g. Glock and M&Ps) don't always have quite so smooth a transition to shooting a DAO or DA/SA system. DA/SA systems require for most a stricter diligence in manipulating the trigger - and more particularly in setting up their support hand in opposition to that - that SFA in particular just doesn't punish nearly as much for the absence of such qualities.

Full-time revolver shooters express this dynamic to an even greater degree, though with an occasional caveat about support hand placement, and less relevant mention due to the relatively small representation of them. You couldn't watch Pat Rogers run the trigger on a carbine without seeing his revolver-centric upbringing.

A heavy-DAO revolver with an optic on it, might be the strictest measure by which a shooter could judge their mechanics - with a high minimum required for good hits, and maximum feedback to the shooter for their trigger manipulation. You wouldn't get feedback on providing good mechanical resistance to the recoil cycle, but the elements of a good grip to enable that trigger press mostly cover that incidentally. For the shooter: the presence and usage of the optic provides more feedback on movement of the front-sight from the trigger-press itself as it happens; and the long\heavy trigger provides a greater interval across which to have useful observations. For the coach: the trigger press (and hammer, if exposed) provide indexes to observe for a singular trigger press from front to rear, and the necessary means to provide for corrective action as needed. That last is caveated in that if you're using a revolver to train an auto shooter, than the older guidance to press and hold until just shy of release ("press until you feel the second click, hold and steady your sight picture, then press the remainder.") does not apply here.

The shortfall is in the additional restrictions that a revolver places upon support-hand placement relative to on a semi-automatic system; that supporting hand usually ends up displaced further down to allow for cylinder rotation, and further to the rear so as to mind the cylinder gap. If one chooses to be ambivalent to the cylinder gap restriction, then it's a better tool for dry-firing in support of running an auto; but there may be a penalty if you should ever fire a revolver without adjusting your grip accordingly.