When dry firing does anyone have a moment of panic that the gun is still loaded--

[Owen Sparks]

I generally dry fire out on my deck in a safe direction.

 

[barnbwt]

Every time I have to drop the striker in my Five-seveN with a (empty) mag inserted to disable the mag safety. No matter how many times I check each stage of the process, I press check one or two more times (again) before pulling the trigger (always in a safe direction). I'd feel a lot better with a decocker, or better yet, the lack of a magazine interlock. Just because you follow a process guaranteed safe, doesn't mean the gun should make it harder than it has to be.

I have no fear of dry firing because I have a rational mind and a verification process that cannot fail to work.

I learned long ago not to rely on my own imperfect focus and rationality to save me--I trust my judgement, but verify (thoroughly) any action carrying this level of import. I check my blindspots twice, too.

TCB

 

[Ignition Override]

There is some hesitation putting the .308 Snap Cap into the FR8's chamber.

The idea of then not seeing/feeling a hole in the chamber with my pinky finger seems unnatural.
I just don't want a dark object which looks like a chambered round to ever appear to be normal.

 

[HDCamel]

When I get that feeling, I take my finger off the trigger and check again before dry-firing.

 

[Saakee]

It only happens with my rifle. As soon as I feel it about to disengage the sear the panic wells up that somehow, in between my checking the rifle after a previous dry fire moments before, that it somehow loaded itself and I'm about to screw things up.

 

[r1derbike]

No, when my weapon is empty, it's empty.

 

[Bridge]

There is some hesitation putting the .308 Snap Cap into the FR8's chamber.

The idea of then not seeing/feeling a hole in the chamber with my pinky finger seems unnatural.
I just don't want a dark object which looks like a chambered round to ever appear to be normal.

I agree. Snap caps make me nervous too--even if they're the only ammo-like object in the room when I'm dry firing. I do overcome my nervousness but I'm not sure it's a great idea to repeatedly do so.

 

[Romeo 33 Delta]

Ditto R1derbike ... a firearm that has been TRULY determined to be EMPTY is only dangerous if you drop it on your bare foot! It's just an automatic thing with me; so "no", never worried (but you always point it in a safe direction)!

 

[Nushif]

I use a red snap cap, so if during a press check I see red in the chamber I know it's not loaded. Silver or brass is the indicator for loaded. 8)

 

[The M]

No because I'm very strict about dry fire sessions. Phone, TV and radio off, I'm the only one in the house, all ammo in another room. No distractions. Same routine every time. I put up a target specifically for dry firing. I never fire towards objects that are around the house normally to avoid the mental connection that those items are okay to pull the trigger on. So far no boom!

 

[oldbear]

I only shoot revolvers so it's easy to see if one is loaded or not. I also unload the revolver in one room and dryfire in another room, that along with snap caps gives me little pause to worry about cranking off a loaded round by mistake.

 

[Sav .250]

I don`t play with my weapons while in the house. No dis-respect to those that do.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

No...but that's because the thought of dry firing goes against the grain with me in the first place. I follow the old adage that any firearm is ALWAYS to be treated as if it's loaded. And part of that treatment involves not pulling the trigger unless I'm intending to shoot it.

I'm sure there is plenty of support out there for dry firing as a valid training technique. However, it's not for me.

The following made my "Quote of the Week" at work not long ago:

“If you’re going to dry fire, you should always have on hand a can of paint the same color as the wall, and some spackle.” (Jim Cirillo)

 

[230RN]

I check it about eight times making sure no ammo or magazines (I don't have any mag safe guns) are in the room and then proceed.

Agreed. I once had a 1911 go off after I racked the slide a couple of time. Extractor hook was broken. No real harm done since I pointed it at a fencepost up on the Grasslands.

Loudest damned shot you'll ever hear is when you expect a click. At least 748.93 dB.

Truly, that's why there's a little finger, as someone said. G-d in his Wisdom made it ideal for checking a chamber.

Terry, 230RN

PS. I personally think mag safeties should be classed as design defects.

 

[ny32182]

I do not "panic" or get even slightly nervous because I am confident in my ability to make sure the gun is clear.

I dry fire only with my competition gun, which is also the only gun of its type I own, and it is never kept loaded, and none of its mags are ever kept loaded either, so that helps. I won't be accidentally picking up a carry gun and thinking I'm going to be dryfiring it.

When I'm ready to dryfire, put my gear on, re-verify gun is unloaded, verify mags are unloaded (load with maroon colored snap caps if I need them for what I'm doing that day) and proceed with the session. If I got "scared" at this point, I would reevaluate my gun-clearing ability and correct whatever part of it was deficient and making me nervous. Personally I don't stick my fingers into locked open autoloader actions, but if that is your thing, have at it. Stick a rod down the barrel till you see it pop out in the breach if you have to. Whatever you do, make sure it is RELIABLE, REPEATABLE, and most importantly, makes YOU confident that the gun is unloaded.

Get ammo out of the room if that is your thing; but personally I have ammo in a lot of places and don't feel the need to check every cranny of the room for ammo. I also have targets in several spots and often are moving between rooms anyway. Since I'm starting with unloaded mags and have no intention of sticking any ammo into them during the session, I'm not worried about it. Again, the mags I'm using to dryfire and the mags I'm using in my carry gun are not interchangable and the former are never loaded in the house so there is no chance of picking up a loaded mag for my dryfire gun by accident. Therefore I'm not worried, even if I was dryfiring while sitting on top of a pallet of ammo.

Assuming you have rationally functioning brain, if you are nervous, that is your subconsious expressing less than complete confidence in your process. Address this confidence problem by correcting whatever places exist for mistakes to occur, and you should be fine after that.

 

[Claude Clay]

never...though i only dry fire to function test a gun

 

[brnmw]

You should be using a snap cap. Follow the 4 rules even if you KNOW it's not loaded.

Agreed, I will say that is healthy to feel a little "Worry" when doing so it's really only natural... but I never feel panic or really worry becouse I make sure without question the gun is unloaded before hand.

 

[mcdonl]

I think it about it every time I pull the trigger.

 

[Warp]

After you've cleared it and it's empty, as long as it's in your control it's empty.
Why would you think it magically reloaded itself.
When you're finished and it's handed off to someone else, put back on the rack; whatever, then it's loaded again. Just good practice to consider it so.

People are shot with unloaded guns quite often

 

[mgmorden]

You should be using a snap cap. Follow the 4 rules even if you KNOW it's not loaded.

IMHO, snap caps increase the danger level. They get you used to seeing a realistic profile of a bullet in the chamber before proceeding. Not using them means that you are checking that the chamber is EMPTY before proceeding.

Other than the standard check for empty though, it generally doesn't worry me. It also puzzles me about the people who claim to make sure there is no ammo within 100 miles in any direction (exaggeration, but you get the point).

Guns don't load themselves. Bullets aren't wandering around the room trying to crawl into the gun like ticks on a dog. If you check the gun and its empty, then its empty. Now naturally if it ever leaves your hands (ie, you go to the bathroom, go check-out whats on tv, etc), then you have to reverify every time you pick the gun up again, but other than the verification step there is no magic at work. An empty gun will remain so until loaded.

I typically will dry fire with my USPSA belt on, and will practice drawing and dry firing on a series of posters in my room (not really target posters - just posters on the wall to give a point of aim). Works great and has really improved my shooting over time.

 

[Warp]

I also dislike snap caps. Empty chamber for me. Besides, it is incredibly tedious to use snap caps for dry fire practice in most non-revolver firearms. It is also not necessary for most guns.

 

[mgmorden]

People are shot with unloaded guns quite often

No they're not. People are shot with guns that no one checked to make sure they were empty (this is aside from the fact that empty or no, it shouldn't have been pointed at a person unless necessary). We don't have to convince ourselves of lies or drop into mantras to be safe.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I seen Kreskin or somebody make a whole 747 appear outa nowhere. just put that in yer craw and chew on it. lolz

 

[CatManDo]

"When dry firing does anyone have a moment of panic that the gun is still loaded"
Classic sign of short term memory loss, because you obviously checked and rechecked the rifle just before aiming at the monitor.

 

[Certaindeaf]

.Classic sign of short term memory loss..

Yea, I doubt that.