Suggestions for weekly dry practice for skill maintenance, defensive handgun

[1Rangemaster]

So, after @Clusterfrack suggested it, it’s a “boomers” attempt to start a thread:
The objective here is to report what we do/recommend/teach as far as dry practice in the context of individual maintenance for defensive handgun concealed carry. An assumption is that the individual has already received some level of instruction, to include LE basic training or some recognized private training, e.g., Gunsite, Thunder Ranch, Range Master, etc.

I’ll start, FWIW: presently, I’m involved in a Patreon program run by Claude Werner for dry practice with small autos. It has literally taken 10 minutes weekly. I also make an effort to 2-3 times weekly perform 5 to 10 repetitions of a concealed presentation to a two handed “ready”. Every other week(usually), I will do a few minutes on one particular manipulation; usually support hand trigger presses or “speed loads”. I freely admit to being imperfect in that I don’t follow a rigid schedule.

I teach a beginners class at a local range. I do recommend dry practice, even if only one weekly session. I do know there are many advanced programs. Any reasonable suggestions would be much appreciated.

Respectfully, thank you in advance if you participate.

[JCS]

So, after @Clusterfrack suggested it, it’s a “boomers” attempt to start a thread:
The objective here is to report what we do/recommend/teach as far as dry practice in the context of individual maintenance for defensive handgun concealed carry. An assumption is that the individual has already received some level of instruction, to include LE basic training or some recognized private training, e.g., Gunsite, Thunder Ranch, Range Master, etc.

I’ll start, FWIW: presently, I’m involved in a Patreon program run by Claude Werner for dry practice with small autos. It has literally taken 10 minutes weekly. I also make an effort to 2-3 times weekly perform 5 to 10 repetitions of a concealed presentation to a two handed “ready”. Every other week(usually), I will do a few minutes on one particular manipulation; usually support hand trigger presses or “speed loads”. I freely admit to being imperfect in that I don’t follow a rigid schedule.

I teach a beginners class at a local range. I do recommend dry practice, even if only one weekly session. I do know there are many advanced programs. Any reasonable suggestions would be much appreciated.

Respectfully, thank you in advance if you participate.

Check out this thread that’s currently going on https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....o-see-training

It’s 10 mins a day of draws to various difficulty targets. It designed to develop hand speed on the draw and then learning appropriate sight pictures for various difficulties of targets. If you feel the target size is too generous for your application you can always dial it down.

[Clusterfrack]

Two skills I practice most frequently, and with every gun I plan to shoot or carry:

1. Grip & Index. Draw and present the unloaded gun to aim at a small target. Do not press the trigger. Confirm proper grip and index. Are the sights aligned or is the dot well centered in the window? Confirm POA. Is the gun aimed acceptably? I also do this SHO/WHO and in awkward positions.

2. Trigger press at speed. With an unloaded gun pointed at a white wall, press the trigger at speed. Do the sights move? Goal: trigger is pulled straight back with no or little motion of the sights.

I often do hundreds of reps a week.

[Warped Mindless]

Personally I never got the whole “do it 2 - 3 times a week” thing.

My view: if you are going to do it… do it!

20 minutes a day, 5 - 6 days a week and in a year you will be amazed at your progress.

Ben Stoegar has a great book on dryfire that will get you started.

[1Rangemaster]

Personally I never got the whole “do it 2 - 3 times a week” thing.

My view: if you are going to do it… do it!

20 minutes a day, 5 - 6 days a week and in a year you will be amazed at your progress.

Ben Stoegar has a great book on dryfire that will get you started.

I understand your point, and I sincerely appreciate your input. In my early days-decades ago, I did the same thing. To specify how long ago it was, I was working with a lightweight Commander in.45acp!
This may get me derided here or kilt in the streetz, but I'm asking for a "minimalist" schedule. There are many (most?) here who are high ranked competitors and dedicated aficionados/practitioners and work on schedules the majority of carriers won't or don't do. In my mind, if I can teach or suggest a practice or workout that the CCW individual might well follow, I believe it would be helpful to many, to include me.
You are absolutely correct; an intense schedule can yield surprising results. I ask you(and others)respectfully, what do you do with your carry setup(s)? For example, every month or two, I do a few reps retrieving a backup gun from an ankle holster, but I don't normally carry just an ankle gun.
@John Hearne wrote something some time ago if I remember correctly, that if he could get his personnel to do ten presentations every few days that that would be beneficial(recency in reinforcing the motor skills).
It's those nuggets I'm seeking. I again appreciate your input.

[Leroy Suggs]

So, after @Clusterfrack suggested it, it’s a “boomers” attempt to start a thread:
The objective here is to report what we do/recommend/teach as far as dry practice in the context of individual maintenance for defensive handgun concealed carry. An assumption is that the individual has already received some level of instruction, to include LE basic training or some recognized private training, e.g., Gunsite, Thunder Ranch, Range Master, etc.

I’ll start, FWIW: presently, I’m involved in a Patreon program run by Claude Werner for dry practice with small autos. It has literally taken 10 minutes weekly. I also make an effort to 2-3 times weekly perform 5 to 10 repetitions of a concealed presentation to a two handed “ready”. Every other week(usually), I will do a few minutes on one particular manipulation; usually support hand trigger presses or “speed loads”. I freely admit to being imperfect in that I don’t follow a rigid schedule.

I teach a beginners class at a local range. I do recommend dry practice, even if only one weekly session. I do know there are many advanced programs. Any reasonable suggestions would be much appreciated.

Respectfully, thank you in advance if you participate.

@1Rangemaster This is a great thread. Thanks for posting it.
As a long time (5 decades ) practitioner of dry fire I can say with confidence that your ability and consistency will improve if you follow a dry fire program.

Good stuff for rank novice to master shooters.

[JHC]

Valuable thread.

If I could get 10 reps of a dryfire practice every day, I'd prefer that to 100 on one day a week. The "recency" thing with all the assorted brain science which I've read about, been convinced of, but don't understand enough to explain.

In my current WFH life, it's been easy to get a lot more than 10 in daily. I will cycle through freestyle presses, SHO/WHO, transitions, draws to presentation - that especially lately getting dialed in to a good index with the new RDS.

[JCN]

@1Rangemaster as clarification

You’re looking for a minimalist dry fire routine for students and not something for yourself, correct?

If so, I would suggest:

1. Something with a smallish target
2. Ability to track progress, even if the standards are very low.

People internally competing with themselves can often get a little extra motivation to hit a goal.

For not motivated students:

Weekly:
5 dry fire low ready to a light switch untimed.
5 dry fire low ready to a light switch with a 2 second buzzer (but just as a general time elapsed reference, they don’t have to hit that par).

And that’s it. Move the buzzer time down by 0.5 seconds if all their strings are under it.

If they’re more motivated:
5 trigger presses to a light switch watching sights.
5 trigger presses to a light switch with a laser bullet.

Honestly unloading and clearing the gun is often a big barrier to casual practice so I recommend Airsoft, SIRT or dedicated dry gun with chamber block if they have the financial means.

[John Hearne]

John Hearne wrote something some time ago if I remember correctly, that if he could get his personnel to do ten presentations every few days that that would be beneficial(recency in reinforcing the motor skills). It's those nuggets I'm seeking. I again appreciate your input.

It was Jeff Cooper who recommended five or ten presentations before leaving the house every day. Presentation is really important for LEO's as 66% of assaults are spontaneous events with little or no warning. You're ability to survive in that context will depend on you ability to get the gun to eye level as quickly as possible.

I personally recommend two dry practice sessions a week and a minimal amount (30-50 rounds) of live fire a month if you're going to be serious about this stuff. You can do a lot more with a lot more work but I think the above recommendations are a good point of diminishing returns for "normal" folks.

[LukeNCMX]

@Clusterfrack already put up my heavy hitters

Some details:

-The athlete must recreate a realistic firing grip when dry practicing. That means gripping really hard with the support hand when practicing freestyle (two-handed).

-When pressing the trigger in multiple shot drills I like Stoeger's method of purposefully pressing the trigger twice as hard as necessary to work the mechanism. I find this recreates some of the tension that builds up during live fire and helps maintain a realistic grip.

Equipment:

Weighted mags are very important to most dry drills and critical for others. A way to achieve this is loading heavy for caliber bullets in empty cases (no primer/no powder). An expensive way when you don't have access to reloading equipment are these https://realisticsnapcaps.com

A shot timer with a par function. This allows you to measure improvement and assess performance objectively. I like the AMG Labs Commander but others like the PACT and Pocket Pro are also good and are more available.

Instructional Material:

-Listen to Steve Anderson's podcast https://www.andersonshooting.com/podcast and get his first book Refinement & Repetition https://www.andersonshooting.com/pro...and-repetition.

Anderson's "Match Mode" practice and the his "First 12 Drills" were my personal jump off point into dry practice and I still revisit them, especially Match Mode, frequently.

Ben Stoeger's Dry Fire Reloaded https://benstoegerproshop.com/dryfir...caled-targets/

Ben's Trigger Control at Speed is probably the best single drill in the game.

Practical Shooting Training Group https://www.practicalshootingtraininggroup.com

-Ben Stoeger's ~45 Minute Video "Dryfire 101" https://www.practicalshootingtrainin.../#comment-2312 is worth $25 all by itself.


In addition to all of these things one specific thing that is important for defensive users:

Typically, practical dry practice routines suggest drawing/indexing where at presentation, the trigger finger is resting on the trigger shoe (but typically not firing).

In addition to training this way, defensive shooters must also train drawing/index where at presentation, the trigger finger is off the trigger shoe and on the frame/slide. The decision to place the trigger finger on the trigger shoe must be reinforced as a conscious action.