Dry fire practice is probably the second most important thing you can do to obtain and sustain your skillset. Obviously, nothing beats live fire practice. But, you may only be able to get to the range sporadically for a number of reasons: too cold, no ammo, no money, or simply just not enough time. Well, no problem. Just start incorporating dry fire practice into your weekly routine. This is a very good way to learn your fundamentals without burning up your ammo, and it also gives you an opporrunity to work on body position.
When I was starting out, I had a very hard time being at a natural point of aim while being on target. To get on target, I would always push the rifle just a little bit one way or the other, instead of moving my body. This may seam like an easy task, but I can assure you, unless you are super focused and aware of your body position, you are probably forcing the gun on target. After dry fire practice and only working on my natural point of aim did I realize just how bad I was forcing the rifle. After about a week or two when I got back to the range, I noticed a huge improvment in my group size, and how long I could lay behind the rifle.
Once I realized just how effective dry fire practice could be, I was doing it every day. Even if it was only five or ten minutes. I then developed multiple routines so I could focus on each aspect individually and combined. Before we go over that, let's talk about safety.
First and foremost, MAKE SURE YOUR FIREARM IS UNLOADED!!! Not only unloaded, but no magazine and no ammo within your vicinity. Even without ammo or a magazine, make sure your firearm is pointed in a safe direction. If you don't have the firearm safty rules memorized, do that first.
Each routine I developed was to focus on one aspect only. I would then combine routines to advance my training. Being that the fundamentals is most important, I'll start there.
Phase l
Trigger Control
Get behind the rifle in any position that is comfortable. (I like prone) You are going to do sets of 10 trigger pulls. Each trigger pull will last 10 seconds. This may seem like a long time for a trigger pull, but with good reason. It's to instill follow through. Before the rifle is "fired", I want you to pull the trigger slowly, for as many seconds as you can. Once you have "fired", continue to pull the trigger for the remainder of the 10 seconds. You want a very slow pull while increasing pressure on the trigger, even after it has been fired. Once you get to the point that it takes longer for the rifle to be fired than you have follow through, (consistently) I want you to shorten the time of the triger pull. This means for every second you count, you should slowly increase the pressure until the rifle is fired. (about 5 to 6 seconds) Then, drop 2 seconds off and practice an 8 second trigger pull, breaking at 4 seconds, with a 4 second follow through, and so on. The idea is to, while on the range, have an even and smooth trigger pull without jerking, and to have a good follow through, until the firearm's recoil has subsided before releasing the trigger.
Controlled Breathing
This is fairly simple, easy to do and can be done anywhere. Controlled breathing is done to help you relax, stay calm and slow your heart rate. I will typically start doing this before I get into position that way once I'm in position I'm ready to go. The technique is:
Breath in for a count of 4,
Hold for a count of 4,
Breath out for a count of 4,
Hold for a count of 4,
Your breath should be slow and even. Speen up or slow down your 4 count until it naturally matches you breathing cycle. You want to get to the point that your naturally breathing much slower and you are very relaxed. This will help you have a steady sight picture.
Steady Position
Having a steady position is paramount. You can have the best trigger pull but without a steady position, you won't hit the bullseye. For me, the best way to get a steady position is to lay prone with front support (bag or bi-pod) and toe support (I use socks filled with rice). I put a tack or small sticker on the wall and get into position. Put the cross hair on the center of the tack and practice trigger control, making sure the reticle never leaves the center of your target. Focus on the reticle.
Sight Picture/Alignment
To achieve good sight picture and alignment, your rifle must be perfectly set up to you. Having a rifle perfectly set up to you is advantageous and there should be no compromise. You want to strive to be perfectly aligned with the scope and the rifle with a perfect sight picture, with no scope shadowing or seeing any black rings around the outside of the reticle. The way I practice this is to get behind the rifle and start with a bad sight picture so you know what not to do. Adjust your body and rifle around until you have good sight picture and alignment. Once you have perfect alignment, it should look just like this every single time you're behind the rifle. Next I will come off the rifle stand up and then get back down into the prone position and get back on the rifle until I can get good sight picture and alignment every time within a few seconds.
Practice each one of these individually then start to add them together. I start with controlled breathing and trigger control together, and keep my eyes closed. Focus only on your count of 4 and breathing. Then, add sight alignment and, finally, steady position. When doing all 4, stand up, then get back into position each time. Once you're doing phase l and it becomes natural, it's time to move to phase ll.
Phase ll
The next step I add is simply manipulating the scope. I like to start with the elevation turret. Find your dope for 200, 300, and 400 yards. An example is at 200 yards .4 Mils, at 300 1 Mil, and at 400 1.8 Mils. Start off of the rifle, then get into position. You're going to be behind the rifle and dial in for 200 yards. Make sure you are dialing in the correct direction. Get on target and proceed to follow the steps in phase l before pulling the trigger. Next, zero your scope, then stand back up. Continue these steps for 300 and 400 yards. Also, switch it up. Start with 300, 200, then 400. The point of this exercise is to get use to turning your elevation knob in the correct direction without thinking about it and to zero the turret after every shot.
The second part of phase ll is to incorporate windage adjustment using your windage turret. This can be a little tricky. One mistake I still make frequently is dialing wind in the wrong direction. Anytime I feel like I can brag about hitting a 1000 yd plate with the 1st round, usually dialing the wind in the wrong direction will set me straight. So here it is, ALWAYS DIAL INTO THE WIND. Here is a little trick that helped me. I learned this from Special Operations Sniper Team Leader, Mr. Ryan Cleckner: If you don't want to be LEFT OUT, you better be RIGHT BACK. To dial left, turn the turret out, and turn the turret back to dial right. To practice this, simply continue with the previous exercises, but also dial in .5 Mils left, then .5 Mils right. Remember to zero your turrets before coming off of the rifle. Continue this exercise until you are comfortable dialing your turrets without second guessing yourself. Lets move on to Phase lll.
Phase lll
This is where the fun starts, at least for me. This is my favorite part of dry fire practice. We are going continue the previous exercises, but we will add in our correct dope, correct wind call, and determining distance. Hopefully, you know your dope. If not, use one of the free ballistic calculators online. Link below.
https://theoverwatch.wixsite.com/theoverwatch/inventory
Safety first. What you want to do is use objects around you or near you to measure and determine the distance. What you don't want to do is point your gun out of the window of your house and scare the hell out of the neighbors and get the police called on you. If you need to, please remove your scope. And most importantly, make sure that your gun is unloaded. No magazine and no ammo within your vicinity. Grab a pen or pencil, a calculator, and some paper.
Here is how I practice this. There are mailboxes running down the full length of a very long street that I live on. The mailboxes are 2 feet wide. Find what formula that you would like to use for determining distance. I use 27.77. I use inches for target size and yards for distance. I'll randomly pick a mailbox and measure it with my reticle, let's say 2.5 Mils.
24 x 27.77 ÷ 2.5 = 266 yards
I then dial in my DOPE of .8 Mils and continue with the processes in phase l and ll.
In the second part of phase lll, I will be adding wind calculations.
Distance in 1/100 yards x wind speed in mph ÷ 12 = moa ÷ 3.5 = mils
I like to start with a 90° wind and work up from 5 mph, in 5 mph increments. I will continue the entire process as before and simply add in wind calls.
2.66 x 5 ÷ 15 = .88 moa or .25 mils
So, I will dial .3 mils right (out) for my wind call. Continue this exercise with different distances and different wind speed. Switch up wind speed and direction from 3 and 9 o'clock at multiple distances. Once you have an understanding of this and feel comfortable and confident, you will add the next part.
As you continue your dry fire practice, it's time to add different wind speeds and angles. You should have 3 and 9 o'clock down. This is 100% full value wind. Now you will add 3/4 wind (.75) to your formula. 3/4 wind directions are 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, and 11 o'clock. Try different wind angles at different speeds. Lets see how this looks on paper.
At 266 yards with a 20 mph wind from 2:30: 2.66 x 20 ÷ 15 = 3.54 moa or 1.01 mils 1.01 x .75 = .75 mils
So, I'll dial .8 mils right (out) for a 20 mph wind from 2:30 at a 266 yard target. This set of exercises helped me develop the basic concepts and skillset of shooting. Not just in long range, but with pistols and carbines as well.
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