Practicing in times when components are scarce

[Gamesniper19]

I am writing to share a practice technique that I have utilized from time to time when I am unable to shoot. Done well, it is a fantastic way to develop a good shooting routine at home, in winter, or during other times when you cannot get to the range or don't want to burn components.
Dry Firing.
Right away many people are going to say dry firing a rifle is BAD for the rifle. I thought the same thing and perhaps on some cheaply made rifles, the firing pin and spring will wear out but on a well made quality action, I beg to differ. Let me share my routine:

• Set up the rifle exactly as I would at the range. Pad, bipod, rear bag, sometimes a glove on or wearing a jacket, and most of the time have another person to help with placing my washer or nickel/quarter. The size of the coin should overlap the barrel. See photo - a thinner barrel could use a nickel or even a dime
• Go through my routine, target acquisition, cheek weld, relaxing breaths, settling the cross hairs, loading bipod and trigger control
• Place the Quarter on the last 2 inches of the barrel -
• Breath, squeeze, and follow through

If the quarter does not move or at least does not fall off the barrel, your technique is outstanding. If it does, practice until it doesn't. You will have great technique that you can bring to the range or the field that will help you be more accurate

 

[Rick Richard]

Another way to keep the "skills" sharp is with a quality air rifle. Just another option when reloading components are scarce.

 

[Justice1327]

I am writing to share a practice technique that I have utilized from time to time when I am unable to shoot. Done well, it is a fantastic way to develop a good shooting routine at home, in winter, or during other times when you cannot get to the range or don't want to burn components.
Dry Firing.
Right away many people are going to say dry firing a rifle is BAD for the rifle. I thought the same thing and perhaps on some cheaply made rifles, the firing pin and spring will wear out but on a well made quality action, I beg to differ. Let me share my routine:

• Set up the rifle exactly as I would at the range. Pad, bipod, rear bag, sometimes a glove on or wearing a jacket, and most of the time have another person to help with placing my washer or nickel/quarter. The size of the coin should overlap the barrel. See photo - a thinner barrel could use a nickel or even a dime
• Go through my routine, target acquisition, cheek weld, relaxing breaths, settling the cross hairs, loading bipod and trigger control
• Place the Quarter on the last 2 inches of the barrel -
• Breath, squeeze, and follow through

If the quarter does not move or at least does not fall off the barrel, your technique is outstanding. If it does, practice until it doesn't. You will have great technique that you can bring to the range or the field that will help you be more accurate

I agree. I used a penny, cause I am cheap, on the front site of my bullseye guns.

 

[huntsman22]

A rimfire to match your other rifle is economical. and fun.....

 

[lancetkenyon]

Good idea.

Or just keep shooting....

I haven't slowed down a bit. Might actually be shooting even more.

 

[19 Badger]

Using my lesser quality stuff for plinkin steel... 140 bthp, bulk H4831 my ol' man bought back in the late 60's and Winchester primers. Still achieving .5 moa loads, shooting more than ever. Amazing how well the powder still shoots.

 

[Shawn Cole]

I am writing to share a practice technique that I have utilized from time to time when I am unable to shoot. Done well, it is a fantastic way to develop a good shooting routine at home, in winter, or during other times when you cannot get to the range or don't want to burn components.
Dry Firing.
Right away many people are going to say dry firing a rifle is BAD for the rifle. I thought the same thing and perhaps on some cheaply made rifles, the firing pin and spring will wear out but on a well made quality action, I beg to differ. Let me share my routine:

• Set up the rifle exactly as I would at the range. Pad, bipod, rear bag, sometimes a glove on or wearing a jacket, and most of the time have another person to help with placing my washer or nickel/quarter. The size of the coin should overlap the barrel. See photo - a thinner barrel could use a nickel or even a dime
• Go through my routine, target acquisition, cheek weld, relaxing breaths, settling the cross hairs, loading bipod and trigger control
• Place the Quarter on the last 2 inches of the barrel -
• Breath, squeeze, and follow through

If the quarter does not move or at least does not fall off the barrel, your technique is outstanding. If it does, practice until it doesn't. You will have great technique that you can bring to the range or the field that will help you be more accurate

This is a great idea. I was wondering if anybody has ever used snap caps.

 

[GLTaylor]

Just put a piece of fired brass in the chamber if it worries you

 

[ccmain]

I am writing to share a practice technique that I have utilized from time to time when I am unable to shoot. Done well, it is a fantastic way to develop a good shooting routine at home, in winter, or during other times when you cannot get to the range or don't want to burn components.
Dry Firing.
Right away many people are going to say dry firing a rifle is BAD for the rifle. I thought the same thing and perhaps on some cheaply made rifles, the firing pin and spring will wear out but on a well made quality action, I beg to differ. Let me share my routine:

• Set up the rifle exactly as I would at the range. Pad, bipod, rear bag, sometimes a glove on or wearing a jacket, and most of the time have another person to help with placing my washer or nickel/quarter. The size of the coin should overlap the barrel. See photo - a thinner barrel could use a nickel or even a dime
• Go through my routine, target acquisition, cheek weld, relaxing breaths, settling the cross hairs, loading bipod and trigger control
• Place the Quarter on the last 2 inches of the barrel -
• Breath, squeeze, and follow through

If the quarter does not move or at least does not fall off the barrel, your technique is outstanding. If it does, practice until it doesn't. You will have great technique that you can bring to the range or the field that will help you be more accurate

I use this technique on my handguns from time to time

 

[JustMe2]

If you glue your coin on the barrel, you won't need anyone to help you balance the coin.

 

[bls8433]

Something I plan to use is the Mantis X Elite tool that I purchased mostly for handgun shooting analysis. It saves a lot of ammo! But you can use it with live ammo as well. While it appears to be mostly used for handguns, it can be used with rifles, shotgun and archery as well. It is based on accelerometers built into the small unit that can attach to a picatinny rail or via separate adapters. Analyzes and graphs your barrel position from holding to shoot, trigger pull, and after the trigger pull. I have only used it on my handguns but pretty impressed in how it identified some grip errors and I can improve my shooting without ammo expense. I will have to see how well this transfers to live shooting when I hit the range.
Relatively expensive when compared to balancing a coin but another way to get some practice dry firing. If I count the ammo I saved by this dry firing, it has paid for itself.

 

[Gamesniper19]

If you glue your coin on the barrel, you won't need anyone to help you balance the coin.

bahaha :

 

[basinman]

Another way to keep the "skills" sharp is with a quality air rifle. Just another option when reloading components are scarce.

I do the same thing with a Gamo air rifle. It's cheap and pellets are plentiful. It even has a little recoil to it.

 

[Pro2A]

I am writing to share a practice technique that I have utilized from time to time when I am unable to shoot. Done well, it is a fantastic way to develop a good shooting routine at home, in winter, or during other times when you cannot get to the range or don't want to burn components.
Dry Firing.
Right away many people are going to say dry firing a rifle is BAD for the rifle. I thought the same thing and perhaps on some cheaply made rifles, the firing pin and spring will wear out but on a well made quality action, I beg to differ. Let me share my routine:

• Set up the rifle exactly as I would at the range. Pad, bipod, rear bag, sometimes a glove on or wearing a jacket, and most of the time have another person to help with placing my washer or nickel/quarter. The size of the coin should overlap the barrel. See photo - a thinner barrel could use a nickel or even a dime
• Go through my routine, target acquisition, cheek weld, relaxing breaths, settling the cross hairs, loading bipod and trigger control
• Place the Quarter on the last 2 inches of the barrel -
• Breath, squeeze, and follow through

If the quarter does not move or at least does not fall off the barrel, your technique is outstanding. If it does, practice until it doesn't. You will have great technique that you can bring to the range or the field that will help you be more accurate

Very good suggestion. Really great for experienced shooters, and even better for new shooters that haven't yet perfected those bad habits we all acquire with experience

Another option is the Mantis X10 Elite (several models available) shooting performance system. Attaches to picatinny rail for tracking shooting performance for rifles, shotguns, and handguns. Works for dry fire and live fire as it tracks aiming, trigger techniques, follow through, recoil management, et el. From Mantis web site:

• Recoil analysis (pistol)
• Holster Draw Analysis (pistol)
• Software support for all shooting sports (pistol, rifle, shotgun, archery)

Collecting thousands of data points per second, the X10 analyzes your shooting in real-time. For pistols, rifles, shotguns, and archery. The X10 works with dry fire, live fire, airsoft/CO2, and simulated firearm systems.

Some will find it a little pricey,,,,,,,,,the penny guy ......at $250 that's a bunch of pennies, other models less pricey. But, it really offers a flexible training tool providing a lot of performance feedback info to analyze and improve techniques. Visual analysis via phone/tablet/computer can be saved and techniques compared, improvement tracked. Money saved via dry fire pays for the tool quickly, and then you have it to monitor your live fire performance for maximum performance analysis. Soften the cost by going together with several buddies to get all the performance analysis the penny technique misses.

QUESTION for "penny guy". Did you buddy up with several friends on the initial capital investment in the penny??? Sorry, just couldn't resist.... I'm a cheapskate also....imprinted by 20s Depression parents. Their early mentoring allows me in early retirement to not need to consider dollars in my decisions. And, now, have no adult supervision in my life.