Women’s Outdoor News and Avery Skipalis bring you an article on things to consider when you’re dry firing your GLOCK. If you’re busy with your children, significant other, work or friends and family and you seem to lack time to make it to the range, there are ways for you to practice with dry fire. Gone are the days of feeling guilty when you cannot make it to the range.
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According to GLOCK, it is safe to dry fire your handgun. GLOCK recommends using snap caps or dummy rounds if you are dry firing for an extended amount of time. Before dry firing your GLOCK, check your owner’s manual to ensure that you can safely dry fire your handgun without any issues. Always select and maintain a safe environment when preparing to dry fire. Once you’ve chosen a safe location, clear out your firearm and secure all ammunition in a separate room. Now that you’ve removed all live ammunition from the area, you’re ready to start your session.
Yes, you can dry fire without using additional training aids. But, the items listed below help to maximize your dry fire efforts and provide a more realistic training experience. There are many accessories to assist your efforts, such as dummy rounds, laser cartridge devices and snap caps.
Snap caps are fake cartridges constructed with hard, anodized aluminum and inert primers to protect your firing pin. This helps with longevity and smooth functionality, while mimicking the size and feel of an actual cartridge. They’re available in most calibers.
Rogers Tap Rack Training Aid loads into an empty pistol magazine. Perfect for use during dry fire training, this training aid keeps the magazine follower positioned so that it will not engage the slide stop of the pistol.
Mantis X10 Elite Shooting Performance System is a training aid that provides feedback on the shooters’ performance. The MantisX smart sensor continuously tracks the movement of the firearm before, during, and after every shot. Paired with the MantisX app for your smartphone that analyzes behavior, gives feedback, and provides coaching to make sure every shot counts. Gun owners can use it to live and dry fire. I love this training aid so much that I even recommend it as a great gift idea for other 2A advocates!
Dry firing your handgun helps you to become familiar with your firearm, and accomplish additional reps and practice time without having to leave the comfort of your own home. It also enables you to complete this on your own time without having to use live rounds. Let’s face it, you can never have enough practice time. I love adding it into my routine, especially when I cannot make it to the range and have to reschedule live practice, because life can and will get in the way. When that happens, I don’t beat myself up; instead, I practice through dry fire time at home. Indeed, you can easily find a 10- or 15-minute block of time to practice.
Another benefit to dry firing is the potential cost savings. Shooting can get expensive; most gun owners can tell you how much each round costs. Once you add the cost of ammunition and range fees, some may not be able to afford practicing often with their firearms. Dry firing removes those barriers.
Now that you’ve learned how to dry fire, here’s a tip on how you can take your experience to the next level. Consider getting friends together to create a dry fire challenge or goal. You could also introduce drawing from your holster, drawing from your concealed carry bag, shooting on the move or anything else you’re not allowed to practice on the range due to restrictions. Introducing dry fire into your training plan can help you take your skills to the next level, and by adding the tools mentioned in this article, you can make your training as realistic as possible.
View GLOCK’s entire line of pistols here.
Avery Skipalis is the owner of Skip’s Tactical Solutions, an organization that focuses on empowering women, men and children to make sure that no one else becomes a victim. She gained her firearms experience from the military where she’s been a military firearms instructor for 10.5 years. She’s also a certified NRA rifle and pistol instructor and Glock Advanced Armorer since 2015. She’s attended Sig Sauer Academy, FNH, Special Operations Command Armorers courses as well as multiple Advanced Shooting Schools across the United States. She resides in Florida with her husband and 2 kids. She’s currently serving in the United States Air Force and loves sharing her passion with others. She thinks it’s important that women also feel like they’re in control of their own safety. View all posts by Avery Skipalis
