Dry firing at home

[RobG]

Here is the deal... my daughter needs more shooting practice before she goes deer hunting and she has so many things going there isn't time to run out to a shooting range. So I had this bright idea of setting up a target at home and practicing dry firing at it.

My actions prompted a quick response. "Dad, I thought you were supposed to treat every gun as if it were loaded," said my daughter, not as a question, but as a statement. My son added "Gee Dad, isn't that dangerous?" And my wife then said something to the effect of "What the hell are you doing with that action closed Rob?" So I took down the target and moped back to my monitor where I reloaded Hunt Talk every two minutes in hopes of something interesting...

So, is this dry firing exercise at home the worst example I could ever set? I'd do it without the bolt but you don't get the click.

 

[Dave N]

Tell them that YES, treat it as loaded. THEN proceed to physically check to verify it is NOT, and upon seeing the result continue with the dry-fire training. Lesson given in safety and gun handling all nice and tidy. You would do the same thing when cleaning it, wouldn't you?

 

[WV Hunter]

There is nothing wrong with dry firing when done safely. I do it in the basement toward a safe direction that if a bullet magically appeared in the chamber it would exit in a safe direction. The rules of safety say not to point a gun at something your not willing to destroy, do the same in dry firing and you will be safe. That is treating the gun as if it were loaded.

 

[deer_shooter]

Dry firing at home is great practice. Follow safe handling and have at it.

 

[MT_elk]

I think dry firing is fine. I use snap caps to protect the firing pin and it also helps with the safety issue of not having a live round in the chamber.

 

[Big Slick]

The best trigger control that I have found for my self is shooting a .17 cal pellet gu. Into a box of rags in the garage. I would put targets on the box and try to see if I could shoot tight groups. (It had a scope of course) it really seemed to help, even cut some small pictures of animals out of hunting magazines and try and place a good shot. It sounds silly but it does help. Andy

 

[Straight Arrow]

Back in the day, some brothers in the SAE fraternity house, now called the Story Mansion, in Bozeman lived in the "Barn-down" apartment and would shoot small caliber rifles and up to a 20 gauge shotgun at animal images posted on the wall. On the other side of the wall was a parking stall for the president of the fraternity and his brand spanking new 1967 Olds 442 muscle car, which his parents bequeathed him as a graduation gift. As you can imagine, this indoor target range soon became a contentious issue and a cease and desist order was mandated. Since then I have stayed committed to only outdoor, certified range target practice. (And, yes, I do recall adult beverages may have been involved.)

 

[RobG]

Back in the day, some brothers in the SAE fraternity house, now called the Story Mansion, in Bozeman lived in the "Barn-down" apartment and would shoot small caliber rifles and up to a 20 gauge shotgun at animal images posted on the wall. On the other side of the wall was a parking stall for the president of the fraternity and his brand spanking new 1967 Olds 442 muscle car, which his parents bequeathed him as a graduation gift. As you can imagine, this indoor target range soon became a contentious issue and a cease and desist order was mandated. Since then I have stayed committed to only outdoor, certified range target practice. (And, yes, I do recall adult beverages may have been involved.)

I can totally see the SAEs doing that...

My uncle Kenny had a shooting range in his basement in Great Falls. Our water table is too high to have a basement around here.

 

[Carl]

I dry fire in the house A LOT and actually am buying some IOTA's to enhance my indoor training abilities. I typically start with a visual inspection, then stick a finger in the chamber for redundancy.

 

[buckykm1]

I don't get to practice as much as I like too, so I use the Snap caps, so I don't hurt the firing pin, and basically dry fire my 300 Win Mag. it helps keep me use to the trigger pull.
it sounds like you just need to explain what your doing to them.
it is totally safe , if done the right way.

Kevin

 

[RobG]

Tell them that YES, treat it as loaded. THEN proceed to physically check to verify it is NOT, and upon seeing the result continue with the dry-fire training. Lesson given in safety and gun handling all nice and tidy. You would do the same thing when cleaning it, wouldn't you?

Yeah, that is how I was going to handle it. Open the action and visually and physically inspect the chamber.

 

[MKotur325]

I spend more time dry firing at home than I do at the range. One other thing I'd recommend is, if the rifle has a Magazine, remove it and just leave it out, if it has a hinged floor plate drop the floor plate. If the magazine is removed and the chamber is visually inspected as clear You should be good to go. During Dry Firing, do it in a room without much for distractions and NO AMMO of any sort. I've seen a couple Negligent Discharges during dry fire sessions when firearms were loaded during the coarse of a dry fire session.

Out one of my windows I have a large agricultural field. I will use that area for dry fire practice. Knowing that if something goes horribly wrong, I have to replace a window and have a slug in an empty field.

My father started me on dry fire practice at 12 years old. I continued have continued that practice for the past 16 years, and cannot recommend it enough.

 

[Ben Lamb]

My grandfather used to do this all the time. He only shot grandma once.

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

Since my Vasectomy that is all I do. John

 

[noharleyyet]

Since my Vasectomy that is all I do. John

Starter pistol?

My grandfather used to do this all the time. He only shot grandma once.

Cap & ball?

 

[idnative1948]

That is funny, John. I know of your pain!!

Since my Vasectomy that is all I do. John

 

[Ben Long]

Dry fire is good practice. I dry fire at the deer in my back yard but I am very careful to close the window shades so the neighbors don't call the SWAT team.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Ha!

25-20, IIRC.

 

[WapitiBob]

I've seen guys balance coins out on the end of the barrel to give the shooter some reference as to how they're doing also.

 

[RobG]

I've seen guys balance coins out on the end of the barrel to give the shooter some reference as to how they're doing also.

Nice. Maybe start on the scope mount and move forward as one gets better.