What about the lack of recoil? How Dry Firing Helps You Become A Better Shooter Even Without Recoil
The most common reason people don’t believe that dry fire training is useful is because recoil doesn't occur when you dry fire your gun. While nothing can help you improve your firearm accuracy like time at the range, dry fire is still a crucial exercise to becoming a better shooter.
What is recoil on a gun?
When a shooter pulls the trigger of a firearm, the hammer of the gun swings forward to strike the firing pin with enough force so that it pops the primer at the end of the round. When the firing pin strikes the primer and the primer explodes, the spark from the primer ignites the gunpowder. As the gas from the explosion expands in the chamber, the pressure pushes the bullet forward through the barrel of the gun and out the muzzle. This sudden release of pressure forward forces the entire gun to move backward in a rearward thrust.
How does recoil affect your shot?
Flinch - or the anticipation of recoil - happens when you are expecting to feel the kick of recoil and try to compensate for it by putting downward force on the gun as the trigger is pulled. When you put a downward force on the gun as you shoot, your aim is affected for the worse. Even experienced shooters can have this problem because it has been ingrained into their neural pathways.
How can dry fire help you become a better shot if there’s no recoil?
Many believe that because there is no recoil effect when dry firing, that the practice is not worth it. However, you can still see incredible benefits from dry fire training. In fact, dry fire is a proven training technique that will allow you to get more practice between visits to the range and is essential if you want to become a better shooter. Dry fire training is used by the FBI, the U.S. Military, police departments and competitive shooters.
In an interview with world champion marksman Robert Vogel, he was asked, "How often do you dry fire?" He answered, "In one form or another, just about every day. For sheer skill building I feel it has no equal. For every live round that I actually fire, I probably mimic that round eight to 10 times in dry fire."
The reason that dry fire works so well as a training technique is because recoil has little to do with your accuracy with a firearm. Recoil does not kick the gun until after the bullet has left the barrel, therefore your aim determines where the bullet will go.
Dry-fire training is an excellent way to overcome a flinch or anticipation of recoil. When you dry fire without recoil, you train yourself NOT to anticipate it. Therefore, training for sight alignment, trigger pull, proper breathing and anticipation of recoil are all accomplished through dry-fire training.
Improve Your Dry Fire Training with iTarget Pro
Even without recoil, dry fire is a worthwhile tool when trying to become a better shot. You can dry fire without any equipment, or use a laser bullet training system to track your aim and get the most out of your practice sessions.
The original iTarget Pro Laser Training System allows you to use a phone app and a laser bullet to safely practice dry fire training with your actual firearm. Shot-by-shot feedback eliminates the guessing game of where your shot would hit and allows you to make quick improvements for visible results. Practice the fundamentals of shooting in the comfort of your home without wasting money on ammo.