5 Reasons to Practice Dry Firing, Even When You Don’t Think It Makes a Difference

Mention dry firing your gun in a room full of shooters and you’ll soon discover they quickly divide into two groups. One that doesn’t believe dry firing  does anything other than improve your draw, and by very little at that. And the other that swears dry fire practice can fix every shooting mistake from trigger control to eye dominance.

Regardless of your position, there’s no reason not to include some level of dry firing into your firearm practice. As long as your gun was made sometime within the last five decades or so and you’re not shooting a .22, dry firing doesn’t hurt your gun. Let’s repeat that, as long as you have a centerfire gun that was made in the modern world, you’re safe to practice dry fire.

Even if you think dry firing won’t improve your aim at all, it’s still worth  practicing. Here are five reasons why.

1. The more you practice, the better your skill

Shooting, like most things in life, is a skill. And to make any skill better, you must practice it. Therefore, the more you practice shooting, the better  you become. And while many objectors may want to pipe in here and say that dry firing isn’t shooting, which is true, there are other skills involved. Things like trigger control. Aim. Follow through. And these things do, in fact, get better with dry fire practice.

2. Dry firing can happen just about anywhere

One of the biggest benefits of dry firing is that you can do it anywhere. In your backyard. Your kitchen. A hotel room. You can do it places you normally couldn’t shoot and you don’t have to worry about the noise bothering your neighbors or making the dogs howls. Since you can do it anywhere, practice often. Even 10-15 minutes of practice 3-4 days a week shows up at the range after just a few sessions.

3. Recoil doesn’t hide your errors

When you live fire a gun, there’s always a recoil, and if you make a mistake, it becomes easy to blame it on the boom. But when you dry fire, there is no recoil to hide behind. This allows you to really examine your shot and see where mistakes arise. Where’s your finger on the trigger? Is your grip too lose?

4. Dry firing lets you fix them

Once the recoil disappears and you discover where your mistakes occur, dry firing allows you to fix them. Dry fire practice can help you correct your grip, reduce recoil anticipation, and turn your draw into muscle  memory, without costing you a fortune on the range while you hone in the skill.

5. It’s inexpensive

Speaking of costing  a fortune, which is what shooting regularly at the range does, dry firing is an inexpensive way to practice handling your firearm. After the initial low cost of purchasing snap caps (fake bullets that allow your firearm to act as though it’s loaded), dry firing is free. Compare that to the cost of a 100 rounds of .45s for your 1911 and suddenly dry firing seems like the economic alternative.

There’s nothing that can compare to live firing your gun, which should be done on a regular basis to both improve and maintain your skill.  But dry firing does have it’s benefits, even if it doesn’t fix the world.

3 Skeet Shooting Tips for Beginners

If you’re considering skeet shooting, be prepared. This American sport is fun and addictive. But if it’s the first time you’ve been to an event, it can feel overwhelming. That’s why, here at Bigger Better Shooting, we’re giving you three skeet shooting tips for beginners. That way you know exactly what you need to do when it’s your turn to pull, aim, and fire.

3 Skeet Shooting Tips for Beginners

1. Keep both eyes open.

Shooting a shotgun is a whole lot different than shooting a rifle or 1911 handgun. With no real sights and only a dot to use, you don’t pull your gun and carefully aim like you would with a Ruger 10/22. Instead you simply pull and shoot when the target, in this case a clay pigeon, comes into  view.

And remember to keep both eyes open. With a moving target, using both eyes improves your depth perception and makes a solid hit more likely.

2. Stay relaxed.

When shooting skeet, stay relaxed in your stance, throughout your swing, and in your follow through. Once you tighten up, your movements become forced and jagged, making you more likely to stiffen and miss your target.

While many skeet shooters like to have their shotgun pulled to their shoulder before the pigeon is released, if you ever want to go an international competition, start practicing with your gun’s buttstock at mid-torso. This is the requirement for Olympic skeet shooting and other international events.

3. Watch and learn.

Your last skeet shooting tip: watch and learn, especially at an event with seasoned shooters. See how they move, how they grip their shotgun, and what happens after they shoot. Also watch the clay pigeons and observe how they rise and drop, if there’s movement to their angles, and what kind of speed their traveling at.

With as little as 20 minutes of simple observation, you can and will shoot better and with more accuracy.

3 Shooting Skills to Improve Before Your Next Competition

When it comes to competition shooting, everyone has an opinion on how to improve your shot. And, sure, seeking professional training and buying a better gun can definitely make you more competitive. But when you want better aim and consistency, there are three shooting skills you should constantly strive to improve:

  • Grip
  • Trigger contact
  • Follow through

Grip

Grip is one of those things that gun enthusiasts talk about, but many don’t treat like a shooting skill. They seem to think that once the “know” how their grip should be, it just happens.

But it doesn’t.

Too many shooters use inconsistent grips, changing how they hold their gun every time they step up to shoot. This doesn’t allow you to build muscle memory or consistency.

To improve shooting skills, strive to grip your gun the same way every time you hold it. Grip high. First with your dominant hand, then with your support hand. And keep both thumbs pointing forward.

Focus on keeping your grip firm and consistent during  shooting drills and remember your grip shouldn’t change before, during, or after firing.

Trigger Contact

Trigger contact is another shooting skill that can make or break your competition game. You want the same part of your finger — your fingerprint — to touch the trigger every time you pull it.

Consistent trigger contact keeps your firing smooth and your aim accurate. When your finger is too far over the trigger and it makes contact with the bend of your knuckle, you’re likely to pull the gun and hit right of your target.

If it’s your fingertip on the trigger, you may push the trigger to the side instead of pulling it straight back, causing you to hit left of your intended aim.

Follow Through

Sure, most shooters understand the importance of follow through when you’re bird hunting, but it’s just as important in competition shoots. Once your target’s in sight and you pull the trigger, you must control your firearm to perfect your shooting skills.

Any shaking, flinching, or moving, whether it’s in anticipation of the shot or in response to the recoil, impacts your aim and takes it longer for you to prepare for your second shot. Both of these things are important in sports shooting, but they’re also vitally important in self defense shooting.