Shotgun dryfire at home???

D

Dre

New member
I was wondering if there any dryfire drills with shotgun out there to practice at home...I was dryfire with pistol at home (every evening for about a month) and my shooting skills improved a lot, I'm able to get 7-10 inches group at 25 yards with my Glock 17 and 5-7 inches group with CZ sp-01 Shadow (custom shop) and I was using cheap Winchester ammo from Walmart.

I am a brand new shotgun shooter and need some help/advise to become an outstanding shooter in trap/skeet/sporting.
 
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Dry firing is always useful, especially drills in mounting and pointing the gun. Its easy to get the butt caught under your arm when mounting the gun and practice eliminates the problem.

Another good method is to buy some action proving dummies and practice loading the gun. This eliminates fumbling the load or failing to fully insert shells into the magazine, and have them pop back out, jamming the gun.

Note that action proving dummies are not ordinary snap caps. These are made to duplicate the weight and balance of live ammo.

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/cid=0/k=action+dummy/t=P/ksubmit=y/Products/All/search=action_dummy
 
I agree. I feel that you should also practice mounting the gun so you get the feel for it. If you are keeping the gun next to your bed or near you somewhere while you are sleeping you want to practice mounting it and aiming it where you are going to be if a intruder enters your home.
 
Grey makes reference to dry firing as HD training. On the competition side, I recall an older elite level shooter who practiced mounting his gun (without firing) 100+ times each day. His reasoning was that he wasn't going to win during an event (there are typical several perfect scores); but, in the subsequent shoot off. His mounting exercises were for conditioning -- he didn't want to lose a long shoot off because of fatigue.

Why worry about shoot-off fatigue?
At the 1968 NSSA World Championship 12-ga event (250 targets), Al Buntrock and Tommy Heffron were in a sudden death shoot-off that went for 32-rounds (800 targets) without a single miss. It had to be carried over to the next day. Finally, Al and Tommy called it quits since everyone there had places to go and flights to catch -- the record book shows co-champions for that year.

Dry firing and mounting exercises are time well spent. Don't forget your snap caps.
 
So, with the dummy rounds, is it safe to actually dry fire the weapon repeatedly without harming the firing pin?
Seems like a good idea for those who can't get to the range very often.

JP
 
Dre

I have no real applied experience at preparing for field games. What my friend Zippy said I would hold close to my vest.

As a trainer of combat scatterguns, my focus is on making the gun and shooter smooth and flawless in the mechanics of how the gun operates.
What I thing is universal in field sports/combat scattergun training is a focus on smoothness and economy of motion for whatever physical movement you practice.

As many before, I too highly recommend the use of a firing pin buffer if you choose to snap your trigger with any frequency.

Good Luck and Be Safe
 
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So, with the dummy rounds, is it safe to actually dry fire the weapon repeatedly without harming the firing pin?
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As long as the "dummy round" has a shock absorbing material, or a spring at the primer area. Don't use a dummy with a hard primer. The clear plastic ones are probably best because other people can see that you're using a dummy. I have some old school all aluminum ones with springs in the primer pockets -- a non-shooter might think they are some sort of metallic cartridge. There's no questions about the clear ones being inert.

Scattergun Bob said:
What I think is universal in field sports/combat scattergun training if a focus on smoothness and economy of motion for whatever physical movement you practice.
Click to expand...

Golden words of wisdom, my friend. In all endeavors, those who do it best usually make it look effortless no matter how hard they are working.
 
Even without snap caps it will take a long, long, long, time to do any damage from dry firing with most guns. I've never used them and never had the 1st problem. If it makes you feel better they can't hurt.
 
I would always use snap caps to dry fire my guns as well.

Zippy gave you good advice / and so did Bob on the tactical side ....

A trick I've used is to stand in a room where you have 10 or 12 feet to a wall - and face a light switch on that wall. The idea is to look at the switch, close your eyes, then mount the gun - open your eyes - and without moving, see if you are looking down the rib at the switch. Do it 20 or 30 times in a session / once or twice a day and you'll be surprised how smooth your mount gets.

Another trick - is to mount the gun in front of a full length mirror. Close your eyes / mount the gun / open your eyes and without moving your head - look at where the gun is / look at the angles of your elbows .... and groove the mount, so you have exactly the angle you want in your elbows.

I've also seen a drill where you mount a small flashlight in the lower barrel / turn it on - then mount and move the shotgun along the line where the wall and the ceiling come together - as you get to a corner, pull the trigger - and keep the gun moving as you follow thru. If that light is jumping all over - its a good indication your eyes are not focused on the target ( the crack ) and that you're going back to your barrel and stopping your swing ...

I would also suggest some DVD's - Sunrise Videos has a technology they call an eye-cam / and a lot of videos on sporting clays, Trap and Skeet - that are all very good. The website / has a "try it" button where you can see some of the stuff the videos present. But some real good stuff there from pros like Todd Bender, Bobby Fowler Jr, etc ....

http://www.sunrisevideo.com/
 
Snap caps are not blanks. Blanks have live primers and a powder charge. If you want a little more realism, I suppose you could use some poppers (hulls with live primers) in your home drills.

snap_cap.jpg

Clear plastic type snap cap with spring energy absorber

12g-blank.jpg

!2 ga blanks. They're available in shorties and full length. And, are used from theatrical work to dog training.
 
As others have already stated...Snap Caps. All of my guns have them. I use them to relieve the pressure off of the firing pin spring. I use Tipton's Red, Clear Plastic Snap Caps that have a brass CaseHead and brass "primer" Perfect for practice.

.270 Winchester and 12 gauge.
 
A common shotgun drill is to face a corner of the room and look at the point where two walls meet the ceiling. Let your eyes follow the crown molding (or where it would be) along one wall. Pivot at the waist and mount the gun so that it comes up to your eye as your eye follows along the crown molding. Pull the trigger and don't forget to keep swinging.
 
While those plastic snap caps are a good idea, personally, I have had issues with them. The "rim" has a tendency to easily break off after a few uses, whereas the aluminum ones (like AZOOM) don't seem to have that problem
 
I've had durability problems with the plastic / see thru ones too - dropping them on my shop concrete floor ( even from waist height ) - tends to send them bouncing around the shop in 15 or so little pieces.....

I like the wooly ones / with the brass caps .......like from Briley and others ...

http://www.briley.com/woolysnapcapspair.aspx
 
A common shotgun drill is to face a corner of the room and look at the point where two walls meet the ceiling. Let your eyes follow the crown molding (or where it would be) along one wall. Pivot at the waist and mount the gun so that it comes up to your eye as your eye follows along the crown molding. Pull the trigger and don't forget to keep swinging.


I've tried this drill and it works...thanks
 
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