Shotgun dryfire at home???

Dre · December 15, 2009, 10:01 PM

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.

Dfariswheel · December 15, 2009, 10:06 PM

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...h=action_dummy

Grey · December 15, 2009, 11:07 PM

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.

zippy13 · December 16, 2009, 01:11 AM

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.

guitar1580 · December 16, 2009, 01:43 AM

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

Scattergun Bob · December 16, 2009, 01:55 AM

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

zippy13 · December 16, 2009, 02:08 AM

Quote:

So, with the dummy rounds, is it safe to actually dry fire the weapon repeatedly without harming the firing pin?

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.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scattergun Bob

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.

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.

jmr40 · December 16, 2009, 12:15 PM

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.

BigJimP · December 16, 2009, 02:02 PM

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/

AZwarts · December 16, 2009, 06:32 PM

are those dummies blanks or are they just resembling live rounds?

zippy13 · December 16, 2009, 07:01 PM

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.

Clear plastic type snap cap with spring energy absorber

!2 ga blanks. They're available in shorties and full length. And, are used from theatrical work to dog training.

Christchild · December 16, 2009, 07:10 PM

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.

AZwarts · December 16, 2009, 09:05 PM

so the snap caps dont go pop when you pull the trigger

zippy13 · December 16, 2009, 09:16 PM

Nope, they go something like clickety boing

lockedcj7 · December 17, 2009, 06:38 PM

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.

oneounceload · December 17, 2009, 06:57 PM

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

BigJimP · December 18, 2009, 03:48 PM

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

Dre · December 20, 2009, 10:00 PM

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

December 15, 2009, 10:01 PM	#1
Dre Member Join Date: December 15, 2009 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 80	Shotgun dryfire at home??? 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. Last edited by Dre; December 15, 2009 at 11:33 PM.

December 16, 2009, 01:55 AM	#6
Scattergun Bob Senior Member Join Date: February 29, 2008 Location: Nine Mile Falls, Washington Posts: 1,186	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 __________________ First, with the most, WINS! Regards, Scattergun Bob Last edited by Scattergun Bob; December 16, 2009 at 02:15 AM.

December 17, 2009, 06:38 PM	#15
lockedcj7 Senior Member Join Date: February 15, 2007 Posts: 1,215	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. __________________ To a much greater extent than most mechanical devices, firearms are terribly unforgiving of any overconfidence, complacency or negligence.

December 15, 2009, 10:06 PM	#2
Dfariswheel Senior Member Join Date: May 4, 2001 Posts: 7,478	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...h=action_dummy

December 15, 2009, 11:07 PM	#3
Grey Junior Member Join Date: December 12, 2009 Posts: 7	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.

December 16, 2009, 01:11 AM	#4
zippy13 Senior Member Join Date: August 23, 2008 Location: SoCal Posts: 6,442	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.

December 16, 2009, 01:43 AM	#5
guitar1580 Senior Member Join Date: December 8, 2009 Posts: 201	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

December 16, 2009, 12:15 PM	#8
jmr40 Senior Member Join Date: June 15, 2008 Location: Georgia Posts: 10,808	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.

December 16, 2009, 02:02 PM	#9
BigJimP Senior Member Join Date: February 23, 2005 Posts: 13,195	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/

December 16, 2009, 06:32 PM	#10
AZwarts Senior Member Join Date: December 2, 2009 Posts: 112	are those dummies blanks or are they just resembling live rounds?

December 16, 2009, 07:01 PM	#11
zippy13 Senior Member Join Date: August 23, 2008 Location: SoCal Posts: 6,442	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. Clear plastic type snap cap with spring energy absorber !2 ga blanks. They're available in shorties and full length. And, are used from theatrical work to dog training.

December 16, 2009, 07:10 PM	#12
Christchild Senior Member Join Date: June 19, 2009 Location: Loadbenchville, Bolt 02770 Posts: 544	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.

December 16, 2009, 09:05 PM	#13
AZwarts Senior Member Join Date: December 2, 2009 Posts: 112	so the snap caps dont go pop when you pull the trigger

December 16, 2009, 09:16 PM	#14
zippy13 Senior Member Join Date: August 23, 2008 Location: SoCal Posts: 6,442	Nope, they go something like clickety boing

December 17, 2009, 06:57 PM	#16
oneounceload Junior member Join Date: April 18, 2008 Location: N. Central Florida Posts: 8,518	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

December 18, 2009, 03:48 PM	#17
BigJimP Senior Member Join Date: February 23, 2005 Posts: 13,195	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

December 20, 2009, 10:00 PM	#18
Dre Member Join Date: December 15, 2009 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 80	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