If you’re just starting out, you’ll need to develop and hone your skills. That means you’ll need a lot of trigger time. There’s no substitute for live-fire training, but it can be time-consuming and expensive. That’s why dry-fire laser training is an important tool for novices just starting out.
Building dry-fire laser practice into your training program helps build and reinforce fundamental skills without live ammunition. This helps develop the essential muscle memory that translates into repeatable accuracy. Using dry-fire laser training also increases your trigger time, helping to develop consistent trigger pulls.
In this article, we’ll go over the basics of dry-fire laser training, the tools you’ll need to get started, and how to incorporate them into your training regimen.
What is Dry-Fire Laser Training?
Dry-fire laser training is a way to practice your shooting skills without live ammunition. In place of a live round, a laser device is inserted into the chamber. When the trigger is pulled, a laser beam is emitted instead of a bang. This allows you to see where your shot would go if there were a live round.
There are a few different types of dry-fire systems. They range from low-tech systems that only use a laser, to high-tech dry-fire laser systems with targets equipped with sensors to measure and track the accuracy of your shots.
Benefits of Dry-Fire Laser Training
Ammunition isn’t cheap, and dry-fire laser training allows you to practice over and over without spending hundreds of dollars on live rounds and range fees. It also gives you immediate feedback and the ability to address issues quickly. This speeds up the learning curve, helping you develop essential shooting skills quickly.
Dry-fire laser drills can also be adjusted for various skill sets. You can move on to more complex and challenging shooting scenarios and positions as you improve. This versatility keeps the training engaging and applicable to real-world situations, something many ranges can’t accommodate. It’s also readily accessible. Because you can do it at home, dry-fire laser training removes barriers to practice, such as traveling to a range.
Most importantly, this type of training helps you develop and reinforce fundamental shooting skills. Repeated trigger pulls are the only way to develop the right muscle memory and decrease reaction times. Dry-fire laser training to improve sight alignment, trigger control, and target acquisition is faster and easier than live-fire training.
Getting Started with Dry-Fire Laser Training
Getting started with dry-fire laser training is simple. You only need a firearm and a laser training cartridge that fits into your firearm’s chamber. Some systems come with target systems that detect and record the laser shots. Other systems may have apps that provide feedback on your shots, track your progress, and offer various training drills.
For example, our SMART DryFireMags can use two types of laser systems. One is a visible red laser that allows you to clearly see where you’re aiming and where your shot would go. The other is an infrared (IR) system. This system emits an invisible IR beam that can be tracked by sensors in special targets designed to detect the beam. All our laser systems come with DryFireMag technology, allowing you to train without re-racking the slide to reset the trigger.
Dry-Fire Laser Drills for Beginners
When you first start, there are a few different drills that will help you master the basics of shooting and help build a good base for more advanced drills.
Basic Trigger Control Drill
This drill helps improve your trigger control and minimize trigger jerk.
- Aim at your target.
- Slowly pull the trigger, ensuring the laser dot remains stable on the target.
- Repeat the drill, focusing on smooth and consistent trigger pulls.
Wall Drill
Wall drills will help you with sight alignment and trigger control.
- Stand close to a blank wall with your firearm aimed at a small point on the wall.
- Focus on maintaining proper sight alignment and picture.
- Pull the trigger without disturbing sight alignment.
Transition Drill
Transition drills help improve target transition speed and accuracy.
- Set up multiple targets.
- Aim and fire at the first target, then quickly transition to the next target and fire again.
- Focus on smooth transitions and maintaining accuracy.
Grip and Stance Drill
This drill reinforces proper grip and stance while shooting.
- Assume your shooting stance and grip.
- Aim at the target and practice maintaining your grip and stance through multiple trigger pulls.
- Focus on keeping your stance stable and your grip consistent.
Advanced Dry-Fire Laser Training Drills
As you become more proficient, you can start incorporating more advanced drills into your training. Before moving on to these drills, you need to be sure you have a good grasp of the basics.
Shoot and Move Drill
The shoot and move drill lets you practice shooting while moving to improve dynamic accuracy.
- Set up a target at a distance.
- Begin moving laterally forward while keeping your firearm aimed at the target.
- Engage the target while moving, focusing on maintaining sight alignment and trigger control.
Shooting from Unconventional Positions Drill
This drill will train you to shoot from various unconventional positions.
- Set up targets at different heights and angles.
- Practice shooting from positions like seated, lying down, or leaning around obstacles.
- Focus on maintaining proper sight alignment and trigger control.
These are just a few examples of advanced dry-fire laser training drills. There are many others, and as your skills increase, you can look for specific drills that train weak areas or are more specific to your goals.
One of the biggest limitations to dry-fire training is having to re-rack your slide after each trigger pull. This forces you to reset your entire shooting stance, making it difficult to train consistently or realistically.
That’s why DryFireMag is the best choice for dry-fire laser training. We have the only training platform that resets the trigger for you, allowing for better, more consistent training.
Integrating Dry-Fire Laser Training into Regular Training
Dry-fire laser training is a great tool, but it shouldn’t be the only way you train. A good training regimen incorporates a mix of different sessions and styles to develop your shooting skills.
The most important part of any training is consistency. You also need to balance your training by mixing live-fire and dry-fire practice. This allows you to get the precision and feedback of dry-fire drills and the real-world experience of live-fire training. Tracking and evaluating your progress is another essential part of any training. You should periodically assess your performance and identify areas needing improvement. Based on these assessments, you’ll need to adjust your training to address areas of weakness.
Finally, always follow the proper safety protocols. Before a dry-fire laser training session, check that your firearm is unloaded and verify there are no live rounds in the training area. You also need to pay attention to your surroundings and point your firearm in a safe direction at all times. This is especially important if you are training at home.
Overall, dry-fire laser training is an essential tool that can help you become a more proficient shooter. It is cost-effective and increases the time you can spend training. With more trigger time, you’ll develop your skills faster than with live-fire training alone. For novice sport shooters, dry-fire laser training drastically decreases the learning curve, helping you become more competitive in less time.
Dry-fire laser training is even more effective with DryFireMag. Since you don’t have to re-rack your slide after each trigger pull, your dry-fire training is more consistent and realistic. Our system allows you to focus on developing the muscle memory needed for repeatable accuracy and speed.
Learn more about our dry-fire laser training systems here.
