Done properly, dry-fire practice can benefit both the handgun hunter and the defensive shooter. It allows one to focus on the fundamentals of sight picture, breath control, and trigger squeeze.

I’ve heard about natural-born shots all of my life. You know the ones I’m talking about. They’re the ones who are winning the local IDPA matches, cleaning our clock at impromptu plinking sessions, and hitting running game with one shot. In short, they are the shooters who just seem to will a bullet to its target without any apparent effort on their part.

Well, let me let you in on a little secret. Every so-called natural-born shot I’ve ever known practices a lot. They devote time, every day, to practice sessions with their chosen firearm. These shooters may have some natural skills, but they definitely guild the lily by engaging in regular practice sessions. It’s the only way I know for a fellow to become really good with his guns.

We often find a goodly number of roadblocks that stand in the way of regular practice. Very few of us live on rural property with a shooting range out behind the house. And the days of just driving out into the country and shooting into a creek bank are about gone. In addition, city dwellers find that they often have to drive quite a ways to get to the closest shooting range. Even then, the local shooting range probably won’t allow you to do any fast-draw practice with your defensive handgun. And they expect you to shoot your hunting rifle from a shooting bench because they just aren’t set up to allow you to practice your field shooting positions.

Another barrier to good practice comes in the form of the increased cost of ammunition. Due to the war effort, the prices of ammunition and components are going up. And this increase sure doesn’t fit with a lot of people’s already stressed budgets. Between the cost of gasoline to get back and forth from that shooting range and the cost of ammo, it just seems like the whole thing is stacked up to keep us from regular shooting practice.

Well, my friends, these are good reasons to start making dry firing a part of your regular shooting warm-up. Regular dry-firing sessions on targets in your home, garage, or basement can really pay dividends in improving your overall shooting skills. In my opinion, the important skills for the rifleman and handgunner to practice are firearm presentation, sight picture, breath control, and trigger squeeze. It is the combination of these skills that makes for a quick, accurate shot. And it’s amazing how these skills can be improved with a regular program of dry-fire practice.

Back in the mid-1970s, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) was going through some terrible times. Among other things, ammunition and reloading supplies were virtually impossible to obtain. The country’s IPSC team wanted to compete in the international matches but didn’t have enough ammunition for it to seem worthwhile. In fact, all they had was one 50-round box of handgun ammo for each man on the team. And that was the year’s supply!

What they did was to set up a regular schedule of dry-fire practice. They worked on a smooth, quick presentation of the pistol. They honed their skills at obtaining a flash sight picture and the surprise trigger break. And once a month, each team member fired 10 rounds of pistol ammo.

With no more ammo than that, most of us wouldn’t have even bothered to sign up for the competition. We might have even considered selling our guns and taking up golf. The Rhodesian team did neither. Instead, the team just did a lot of dry firing. Oh, and by the way, it was the same year that they won the international IPSC championship.