Dry fire - deep analysis of firearms training

Firearms safety has recently become a topic of serious debate.  Many believe that it is their constitutional right to carry any and all firearms while others believe that the constitution was not written with that intent.  No matter what side of the conversation you might believe today more and more people own guns.  With an increase in gun sales comes an increase in potential firearms accidents.  Firearms safety is paramount and at the core of safety is proper discharge of a firearm. To safely discharge a firearm the user must be comfortable with the firearm they are using.  With many not having regular access to a firing range the use of dry firing a firearm is one way that gun owners can comfortable. Comfort with the dry firing process will yield positive results for firearm owners and might actually be the most important firearm safety technique.

Dry firing a weapon is an important safety practice to help owners learn details about their weapon but the dry fire process is more than just pulling a trigger.  Breaking down the dry fire process actually highlights multiple safety aspects a firearm owner should recognize.  Just picking up a weapon can help an owner become familiar with the weapons weight, loaded and unloaded.  This might be considered a minor detail but recognizing the weight of a loaded firearm can cause the owner to double check the weapon’s safety status.  Moving beyond the weight the process of dry firing creates grip muscle memory.  Grabbing a firearm over and over allows the hand muscles to naturally allow the firearm to sit properly in the hand. Proper hand placement then leads to proper sight alignment.  Proper alignment of the front and rear sight apertures increases sight alignment offering a clearer sight picture boosting the owner’s probability of hitting a desired target. To hit a desired target owners must apply the final step of the dry firing process; pulling the trigger.

Pulling the trigger by itself might seem like a simple dry firing task however, to an educated firearm user it tells a more important story.  As the user pulls the trigger and the hammer cycles forward striking the firing pin there is an audible click that completes the dry firing cycle. This audible click is where novice gun users are often separated from experienced owners. Many novice gun users often anticipate the gun firing and naturally try to react to the gun before it fires which leads to them jerking the weapon. Jerking a weapon while firing will change the direction of the round, most times downward, causing the round to potentially not hit the desired aiming point or even miss the target altogether. This natural reaction could serve to be fatal in the event of a firearm discharge resulting in the striking of an unintended target.

Gun safety is the foundation of proper gun ownership and use. Dry firing a firearm creates familiarity more than just pulling the trigger. Dry firing helps an owner learn to determine if the weapon is loaded or unloaded by initial feel.  Establishing grip muscle memory leads to a straight and level firearm allowing for proper sight alignment and picture driving more accurate shooting.  Unintentional jerking of a weapon before firing reveals poor shooting fundamentals and potential collateral damage. Collectively when firearms owners regularly use the process of dry firing in a safe environment, increasingly from the comfort of their homes with shooting apps installed directly on their smartphones, the lessons learned lead to a higher level of training for firearms owners. This can reduce the risk of collateral damage upon weapon discharge and supports the belief that dry firing will affect firearm owners is a positive way.