At-Home Pistol Dry Fire Routine for Improving Shooting Skills

A simple dry fire routine you can do in your bedroom

Dry fire practice is an essential training method for developing your skills as a fighter.

For those new to the gun world, dry fire involves practicing with your firearm without live ammunition, focusing on foundational skills like grip, trigger control, and sight alignment.

Conducted in the safety of your home, a well-structured dry fire routine can significantly improve your shooting accuracy and confidence. It also saves you time (not having to go to the range) and money (not having to buy ammo).

Here's a step-by-step guide to creating an effective dry fire routine. Depending on your level of expertise, you can modify these to suit your needs. However, I always advocate going back to the fundamentals in your dry fire.

SAFETY FIRST!

As always when working on firearms, maximum emphasis is placed on safety, more so while handling weapons in your home.

1. Choose a Safe Area: Select a designated area in your home where there’s no risk of injury (to yourself or to others) or property damage. Ideally, ensure the backdrop is capable of stopping a projectile in case of an accidental discharge.

2. Clear Your Firearm: Double-check that your firearm is unloaded. Remove the magazine and visually and physically inspect the chamber. If you aren’t sure how to check if your firearm is clear, click here.

3. Remove Live Ammunition: Keep all live ammunition in a separate room to eliminate any possibility of mixing it with your dry fire session. This is a rule I have even when working with professionals. When try runs are performed, nor live ammo is allowed in the room/training area. Failure to adhere to this results in immediate removal from the training area.

4. Use Training Aids: Consider using snap caps or inert training rounds to protect your firearm’s firing pin and simulate real ammunition handling. Snap caps have the geometry of a round but are usually made of a plastic and are a bright color. I use them regularly to practice reloads/failure drills etc.

Gear and Setup

• Firearm: Your pistol of choice (again, ensure it’s unloaded).

• Holster: Use the holster you typically carry.

• Targets: Printable targets or sticky notes placed on a safe surface. I place a couple of post its on the wall.

• Timer or App: A shot timer or a smartphone app to track your progress.

• Gloves: I personally like to dry fire in my combat gloves. Without them you will inavitable gets scrapes and cuts on your hands.

Routine Breakdown

1. Warm-Up: Grip (5 minutes)

• Establishing a proper grip on your firearm.

• Don’t unholster the firearm; the goal is to rep getting a decent grip on your firearm while it’s in the holster.

• Grab the gun, visually inspect your grip, reset to a neutral position (hands by your side).

2. Trigger Control Drills (10 minutes)

• Wall Drill: Stand close to a wall with your sights on a target. Slowly press the trigger without disturbing the sight alignment.

• Coin Drill: Balance a coin (or a dummy round) on your front sight and press the trigger smoothly. The goal is to not disturb the coin/dummy round.

3. Draw and Presentation (10 minutes)

• Practice drawing your pistol from the holster and presenting it to the target.

• Start slowly, ensuring proper grip and sight alignment. Once you can do the entire process slowly, increase speed.

• Incorporate dry fire shots as you present to the target.

• This exercise combines exercises 1 and 2.

4. Reload Drills (5 minutes)

• Practice emergency reloads by dropping an empty magazine and inserting a fresh one.

• Focus on maintaining situational awareness and re-establishing your grip and sight picture quickly.

• NOTE: Dropping your mags won’t damage the mags, but it will damage your floor. So don’t be a dumbass.

Tips for Success

• Consistency is Key: Practice at least 3-4 times a week for 20-30 minutes per session.

• Focus on Fundamentals: Perfect your grip, stance, and trigger press before adding speed or complexity.

• Challenge Yourself: Gradually increase the difficulty of your drills by adding time constraints or incorporating complex movements. Use a shot timer or similar apps for your phone.

• Feedback: Record your sessions or practice with a partner to receive constructive criticism. Recording your sessions might seem like going overboard, but if you are serious about improving, a recording can give you crucial feedback.

Conclusion

An at-home dry fire routine is a cost-effective and safe way to improve your pistol skills.

Following a decent dry fire routine can help you build the muscle memory and confidence needed for live-fire practice and real-world scenarios. I’ve personally seen my skills on the range noticebly increase after a few weeks of just dry fire (both in pistol skills and rife skills).

Remember, mastery comes through disciplined and intentional practice! Pick a goal for your dry fire session and work at it.

As always, leave your questions in the comments or reach out to me on X.