James Yeager begins a series on dry practice. This episode focuses on the rules of dry practice.
Dry Practice Rules by James Yeager:
- Unload and double-check your gun. Look for an EMPTY chamber.
- Remove all live ammunition from the training area. Put it in another room.
- Check to make sure your gun is unloaded, again.
- Put up a target, it can be an index card, or a target, or anything you wish, but it must be something that you put up and take down, and it must be placed in an area that will stop an errant bullet. (If you in an apartment or similar consider buying surplus body armor to use as a backstop.)
- Check to make sure your gun is unloaded, again.
- Assume your stance, and announce to yourself, “I am beginning Dry Practice”.
- Check to make sure your gun is unloaded, again.
- Begin dry practice. Start slowly at first. Concentrate on your target. Begin with a slow smooth perfect presentation. As the sights of your gun intersect the line of your vision shift your focus to your front sight, and begin to take the slack out of your trigger. Once you are pointed in at the target, hard focus on the front sight and begin a smooth controlled trigger press, ending in a surprise break. The sights should not move during the trigger press. If you have a double action gun, perform a second trigger press, remaining focused on the front sight. If you have a single action or safe action gun, re-cock the gun with a TAP/RACK/FIGHT. Scan 361 degrees and smoothly re-holster in reverse of your draw.
- Repeat step 8 for 10-15 minutes building up speed, but never sacrificing smoothness. This is “perfect” practice.
- After finishing your final presentation, practice some malfunction clearances.
- After completing the malfunction clearances, smoothly re-holster, and announce to yourself, “I am finished with dry practice”. At that point, resist the temptation to try “just one more time”. That is how you get bullet holes in walls.
- Take down your target.
- Ready your gun, or put it back in the safe.
If you are interrupted in your dry practice for any reason, go back and begin at step 1. Never try to pick up where you left off, as you may not remember that you re-loaded the gun. This happens!