Dry Fire Practice: Why It Matters and How to Train Better
Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only. Always follow the four fundamental rules of firearm safety. Ensure your firearm is unloaded, verify it multiple times, remove all live ammunition from your practice area, and never practice without a safe backstop. You assume all responsibility for your training and safe firearm handling.
Dry fire is one of the fastest, safest, and least expensive ways to become a better shooter.
Whether you're a new gun owner learning the fundamentals or an experienced shooter looking to refine your draw, presentation, sight alignment, and trigger control, consistent dry fire builds skills that transfer directly to live fire.
The problem is that most dry fire routines become repetitive. Many shooters tape homemade targets around their house or simply aim at light switches, door knobs, or random objects. Besides teaching poor target discrimination, that approach usually doesn't earn many points with whoever else lives in your home.
We wanted something better.
That's why we created our Free Dry Fire Training Module—a guided training video featuring more than 160 target presentations over approximately 26 minutes. It provides a structured practice session with changing target positions, varying exposure times, multiple target arrays, and shoot/no-shoot decision making, giving you an engaging way to practice without needing to set up or tear down a room full of targets.
Before you begin, please read the dry fire safety rules at the end of this article or in the YouTube video description.
How the Training Module Works
The Dry Fire Training Module contains more than 160 target sequences spread across approximately 26 minutes of guided practice.
Each target serves as your visual cue to begin your draw or presentation. You'll have approximately six seconds between repetitions to safely reset, holster, and prepare for the next sequence. There is no prize for being the fastest person to reholster. Slow, deliberate, and safe is always the goal.
Throughout the module you'll encounter:
- Single targets with varying exposure times.
- Multiple target arrays.
- Shoot/no-shoot drills.
- Randomized target placement.
- Moving targets.
- A bonus round.
- Larger targets near the end as a cool-down.
Target size will naturally vary depending on whether you're using a television, computer monitor, tablet, or phone. You can also increase or decrease the difficulty simply by adjusting your distance from the screen.
Every target includes a smaller center aiming point. Instead of simply trying to hit the larger circle, focus on the smallest target you can clearly see. Precision develops consistency.
One thing you'll notice is the absence of an audible start signal.
That was intentional.
Under extreme stress, people can experience auditory exclusion—a temporary reduction or loss of hearing. Many experienced trainers have witnessed students completely miss verbal commands during force-on-force scenarios because their brains simply filtered them out.
Visual information is generally processed faster and more reliably under stress, so the training module relies entirely on visual cues rather than electronic beeps or spoken commands.
If you're already comfortable with dry fire, you can skip the introduction and jump directly to the target sequences using the chapter markers on YouTube.
Why Dry Fire Works
Many shooters believe improvement only happens when live rounds are fired.
That simply isn't true.
Live fire is essential for confirming recoil management, recoil recovery, and shot cadence. Everything else happens before the gun fires.
Dry fire allows you to develop virtually every other shooting skill, including:
- Draw stroke
- Presentation
- Grip
- Sight alignment
- Sight picture
- Trigger control
- Reloads
- Malfunction clearance
- Safety manipulation
- Follow through
- Target transitions
All without burning a single round of ammunition.
The best competitive shooters, instructors, and professionals in the industry consistently recommend structured dry fire because quality repetitions build efficient movement.
As Jerry Miculek has demonstrated throughout his career, speed comes from efficiency—not rushing.
Evidence Behind Dry Fire
Dry fire isn't simply a budget alternative to live fire—it's a proven training method.
One frequently referenced example comes from the South African military during the United Nations arms embargo of the 1970s. Ammunition shortages forced portions of the military to rely heavily on dry fire practice before qualification.
When qualification day arrived, the soldiers who had primarily practiced through dry fire performed comparably—and in some cases slightly better—than those who had trained traditionally with live ammunition.
While no single study should be treated as absolute proof, it reinforces something experienced instructors have known for decades:
Quality repetitions matter.
Live fire validates your skills.
Dry fire builds them.
By the time you arrive at the range, your attention can shift toward recoil management, recoil recovery, and confirming the habits you've already developed.
Getting the Most From Your Practice
Consistency beats marathon training sessions.
Fifteen focused minutes several times a week will produce better long-term improvement than an occasional three-hour practice session.
When practicing:
- Move deliberately.
- Maintain perfect technique.
- Stop when fatigue causes sloppy repetitions.
- Focus on solving one problem at a time.
Every repetition should reinforce good habits rather than merely accumulate repetitions.
Remember:
Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes permanent.
Dry Fire Safety Rules
Dry fire is incredibly safe when performed correctly. Nearly every negligent discharge during dry practice happens because someone became complacent or skipped part of their safety routine.
Before every session:
- Designate one safe practice area with an appropriate backstop.
- Remove all live ammunition from the room before handling your firearm.
- Unload your firearm and verify it is unloaded multiple times.
- Keep practice sessions relatively short. Ten to fifteen minutes is an excellent starting point.
- If you're interrupted for any reason, restart your unloading and verification process from the beginning.
- When your session ends, say out loud:
"My practice session is over."
Leave the firearm where it is, step away for a few minutes, and mentally separate practice from loading the firearm again.
When you eventually reload your firearm for carry or storage, consciously acknowledge that it is now loaded before holstering it.
It may seem unnecessary, but deliberate habits prevent complacency.
Looking for more preparedness skills? Our guide to escaping illegal restraints explores practical escape and evasion techniques.
Final Thoughts
Dry fire remains one of the highest-return investments you can make as a shooter.
It costs almost nothing, can be done almost anywhere with the proper safety precautions, and develops skills that directly translate to live fire.
We built this free training module because we wanted a better alternative to taping targets around the house or pointing firearms at random household objects.
If you find it useful, we'd appreciate you sharing it with other shooters who want structured practice.
If you're looking to upgrade your everyday carry gear, be sure to check out the Undertac Infantry. Originally designed for Special Forces operators, it features a Quick Release Fly for easier access around belts and holsters, along with our signature Escape & Evasion Pocket for discreet storage of emergency cash and other compact essentials.
Train safely.
Train consistently.
Because someday the skills you build today may be the ones you rely on most.
Before we wrap up, we'd like to acknowledge one of the instructors whose work has influenced our approach to safe dry fire practice.
A Final Word on Safety
Before we wrap up, we'd like to acknowledge one of the instructors whose work has heavily influenced our approach to safe dry fire practice.
Many of the safety principles discussed above are adapted from the teachings of Tom Givens of Rangemaster. Tom has spent decades training responsibly armed citizens and law enforcement officers, and his work has influenced countless instructors and shooters—including us.
If you ever have the opportunity to train with Tom, take it. You won't regret it.
Remember, no training drill is worth compromising safety. Dry fire should always be performed deliberately, methodically, and with complete attention to firearm safety.
Always seek qualified professional instruction whenever possible. You assume all responsibility for your training and safe firearm handling.
Source
Givens, Tom. Effective Dry Fire Practice. Concealed Carry Magazine, May/June 2012.
http://rangemaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/concealed-2012-dryprac.pdf