Concealed Carry: Understanding dry-fire

I don’t actually like to dry fire that much. The joke in the video about countless hours of mindless repetition is how I feel about it. But I also think it’s an incredibly useful tool for building “casual manipulation skills.” What are those?

When I talk about casual manipulation skills, I’m talking about the ability to perform basic tasks with your gun using “no mind.” Drawing, reloading, administrative manipulations, things like that. If you can free your mind from having to think about those aspects of using your gun, it means that your brain is free to focus on solving whatever shooting problem you have to deal with. Whether it’s a tight target with a no-shoot and hardcover on a USPSA stage, or a partially concealed badguy with your child as a human shield; the more brainpower you can dedicate to that instead of “how do I get my gun out” is a good thing. Ultimately, that’s why dry fire is useful. You should be able to manipulate your gun safely in “no-mind” mode.

2 Comments

  1. Thanks for this. As someone who is going from spending range time with my CCW to actually wanting to carry in everyday situations, I knew that dry fire drills would help build a level of comfort and consistency with my carry holster but wasn’t sure where to start. This helps.

  2. Fantastic video!

    Thanks for the call-outs regarding additional dry-fire resources!

    I shared your safety advice with a friend who is just getting into guns, shooting and self-defense. He was impressed with and appreciated the safety practices.

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