Training Question
- Thread starter Tiwaz
- Start date
Ar180shooter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Ottawa, ON
Dry firing is great for things like practicing trigger control, but you still need to actually shoot the rifle. Any reason why practicing with .223 isn't an option?
Cost I suspect. 25 bucks gets you over 500 rnds of .22... Gets you a lot less in .223.. LOL
For cost effectiveness you can't beat dry fire, it doesn't cost a cent but offers huge skill building benefits. However lots of folks have trouble getting motivated enough to dry fire properly, shooting a .22 is like dry fire but with tangible results. I tend to mostly dry fire, about an hour per night during the competition season. But I also bought a .22 to practice accuracy drills at the range, particularily in winter when I don't want to chip brass out of the ice, because you get to see real results, call your shots, track your sights in recoil and that can be worth the extra cost.
If you are new to shooting the rifle, the feedback from shooting actual groups with good ammo is a must until you can master knowing what it feels like to fire "The Perfect Shot" consistently. After that, dry fire can replace the live practice and have near equal training value for less expense, with only occasional confirmation using live ammo.
Dry fire is most useful for practicing position shooting, which IMO is where the matches are won or lost.
Dry fire is most useful for practicing position shooting, which IMO is where the matches are won or lost.
Dry fire the hell out of your positions. As stated, you can only really do this once you know what a "perfect shot" actually is in those positions -- Practice doesn't make perfect-- perfect practice makes perfect. Fire live to learn perfect, first. Then run dry until you've done it 10,000 times.
Something to consider that might save some ammo costs. Take CFSAC match 8, for example. (run from 300 to 200, then fire a 2 shots per exposure snap at 200) The first exposure is the bastard of the event. Once you get that out of the way, you're in a natural position to hunker down for each of the subsequent exposures. --- SOoooo.... Save ammo. Just practice the first exposure. Run a bit if your range permits it, or do jumping jacks, think dirty thoughts, whatever gets your heart going-- then hunker down and fire 2 shots. Repeat step number one. If you get good at the first exposure - the rest of the exposures are easy. More bang for your training buck. Then at home, dry fire the hell out of the kneeling position for ZERO dollars.
I fired a buddy's .22LR AR15. decent training value, I suppose. But before you start saving any money shooting economical .22LR instead of .223 - you gotta make up for the money you put into that new upper, first. Maybe short-sighted... I'm not sure. I bought more ammo for the fullbore gun instead of getting a new smallbore gun.
Once your positions are natural work on releasing only perfect shots. All my training is done with a single shot .22 from the standing position because if I can fire all perfect shots standing I can sure do it from all the other positions. It also reinforces to me that each shot is a single event that I must focus on even if its a rapid fire string I'm training for.
This is how the Marine Corps trains their riflemen... dry fire till it feels natural and your trigger pull is nice and smooth... then go live
