Advanced Strategies for Dry Fire Practice
Getting better at being 'on target' after a transition is one of the best uses for your dry fire practice sessions. In situations where the shooter must quickly transition from one firing position to another, such as stages 2 & 3 of the AQT, the inexperienced shooter must make considerable adjustments to their positions directly after transitioning, in order to bring their sights onto the target. This effort unnecessarily wastes precious time; if your dry practice can reduce, or eliminate this unnecessary movement, you will find yourself in a position to engage your target(s) quicker, and thus you will be leaps and bounds ahead of your competition.
Achieving proficiency in transitioning properly is not difficult, but time consuming; it requires an ability to determine the necessary from the unnecessary, and to develop a level of consistency of motion that is unusual in our daily lives. I will attempt to describe below the efforts that I undertook, as a method of improving my own transitions.
To begin, place your dry-fire target at a maximal distance from yourself; the smaller the target the better- IE: instead of using the electrical wall socket as your target, use the screw holding the cover plate; when practicing standing, instead of using a 'stage 2' target, use a 'stage 4', etc.
Without magazines, or ammunition, but with every article of clothing and safety gear that you would ordinarily use, achieve a proper position, and place your NPOA onto your chosen target. Once you have established your NPOA on target, it is time to begin evaluating your position, as this is the desired result of your transition. #1 in importance is the angle of your body to the target. At Appleseeds, we teach that the optimal index for a seated or prone position is ~30-45*; while the actual degree is determined by your own body geometry in relation to the rifle. Once you've achieved a proper position, with NPOA on target, you need to *know* your index, and the relation of your entire body to the target. Not in generalities, but exactly. Know that your body & rifle require a 36* angle to the target, if that is what you require.
Next, you need to determine where your ammunition needs to be. This is typically done by dropping the trigger hand from the rifle, directly to the ground, while maintaining NPOA on target. Indeed, this is a great location for your SECOND magazine, but is it the optimal location for your first? In most cases, no. Most people, especially when transitioning to prone, will use their trigger hand to support their bodies as they transition into their position. Instead of wasting this initial hand placement, put your first magazine there- in this way, you will be able to grab the magazine *as your body comes into position*, rather than as an extra movement after achieving position.
Next up is inserting the magazine and chambering the round, or making a realistic approximation of same. Far too often, I see people, students and instructors alike, fail to insert their first magazine during live fire until after the rifle has been shouldered, and NPOA checked. Without the rifle being ready to fire, there is no useful reason to have it brought to the shoulder, and this position (rifle shouldered) makes it extremely difficult to load most rifles. When transitioning to seated, the magazine should be inserted into the rifle directly after your bottom has hit the ground. When transitioning to prone, this action takes place directly after your support elbow has been planted, while the rest of your body is still settling into its position. It is only after the round has been chambered, that there is any reason to bring the rifle to the shoulder.
Fumbling with the magazine is unacceptable under any circumstance, and is made doubly important when 'on the clock'. If you find yourself having difficulty with either the insertion or removal of your magazines while in position, this should be your primary exercise- practice those mag changes until you can do so in the dark, blindfolded, with gloves on. (a little exaggeration here, but not much)
If your rifle does not allow the bolt to go forward on an empty magazine in the same manner as it would on a magazine with ammunition in it, do yourself a favor and procure 'snap caps' for it. Especially with the M1 Garand, M1A, or M16 pattern rifles, you do not want to be practicing movements in your dry fire sessions that are not exactly the same as when you are on the range.
Lets take a look at the typical sequence for putting rounds down range during a transition stage:
1: Standing 'at the ready'
2: Upon receipt of the "Fire!" command, shooter begins transition
3: As trigger hand reaches ground to support the bodies' descent, it finds and grabs the first magazine
4: When either support elbow (prone) or bottom (seated) reaches the ground, trigger hand inserts magazine
5: Manipulate the bolt in the necessary fashion to chamber the first round
6: Disengage the safety
7: Shoulder the rifle and begin taking up slack on the trigger
8: Begin shooters breathing cycle, checking/verifying NPOA
When dry-firing your transitions, #8 is the moment of truth, and you must be honest with yourself. If your front sight is not ON TARGET, start over at #1. There is no such thing as an NPOA that is 'close enough', and a transition that does not place your NPOA on target from the outset, is a FAILED transition. Each movement in the above process builds upon the movement before it. Figure out where in the above sequence of events that your transition failed- is it while you were standing (initial index to target)? When you first began your descent into position? Or when you planted your bottom or elbow? Somewhere in there, you mucked something up- figure it out, and try again. Keep practicing until placing your NPOA on target through a transition becomes second nature; something that 'just happens', without conscious effort or forethought.
Once you've gotten to the point that your transition has placed your NPOA on target, NOW you squeeze the trigger, firing your first dry fire round. Call the shot! It doesn't matter if your transition and NPOA were great, if an errant jerk of the trigger, or inconsistent respiratory pause screwed up the shot. After each round 'fired' in dry fire, start back at #1.
Do this practice 2-3 times a week, stopping only after 10 called good shots. At first, your practice sessions may take 20-30 minutes, as you learn *your* position, and how to properly transition into it. As you become better at it, you should be able to transition into 10 called good shots within 5 minutes. Perfection is the result of perfect practice, practiced perfectly. The above exercises will allow you to reach closer towards perfection.
-ItsanSKS
Thanks, ItsanSKS for the wonderful list of great observations and sound conclusions.
This is going into my store of materials to thoroughly understand as I improve in becoming a rifleman.
Theophilus
Excellent post!
Once you think you've nailed the advanced techniques, there's the uber-advanced technique:
Standing, at 'ready', (eyes on target) drop your magazines to the ground. (more than one step away from your body, don't just drop them at your feet, or toss them to the place where you'd want your magazines to be; if you've got a dry fire buddy, get them to toss your magazines for you!)
Glance to the ground to locate your magazines.
Return eye contact to target.
without removing eye contact from target, transition, load and verify NPOA.
Your goal: achieve a proper transition (rifle loaded, round chambered, safety off, NPOA on target, ready to fire) in under 14 seconds. 12 seconds is better, sub 10 seconds is optimal.
The point of this is to build into your practice sessions the concept of A: locating your magazines, B: building your position based on the location of your target and said magazines, C: inserting a magazine and chambering a round, all with D: minimal loss of eye contact with your target.
Definitely not for the beginner.
Thanks for the post. I see a lot of value in getting to NPOA right off. I'm not a precision shooter but I never will be without precision mechanics.
I've been working on Stage 2 transitions with my Garand. It struck me that developing the skill to load 2 rounds is kind of pointless, because I'd never do that in the real world. I'm developing lots of other skills alongside that one, and I'm on the way to shooting AQTs with a Garand, so no complaints. Loading two has taught me a bit about the workings of the rifle, which is all to the good.
I suppose in any test the student will run up against the arbitrary and artificial. The AQT is a test. I'm using it as an internal check to see if I've earned my Garand in a way that merely purchasing it can't. For that purpose, it's a pretty good test. As Shadowman says, the targets won't lie. My hits and misses in 3 positions, and with some significant time constraints, will mean something. But I'm wary about the "teaching to the test" that happens in schools, and "practicing for the AQT" as opposed to for applied marksmanship where they may diverge.
As a practical matter, the first clip will have to be on the ground, in my nest. The two cartridges will not stand for rough handling. I think I'll have the second in a mag pouch, at the cost of some seconds. If I'm in my zone, I should be able to afford it.
I'm not disagreeing with the post, it just solidified some thoughts I had. I think being intentional in a transition and arriving where you ought to be is solidly in what I'm trying to do. It'd be interesting to see what I can do with a variety of dry-fire aiming points and transitions. My area is pretty constrained, but I can see doing a drill that involves calling different targets and positions and seeing how close to arriving in NPOA I can get. "A-prone!....G-seated!....B-kneeling!"
This needs to go to the top.
Quote from: ItsanSKS on May 03, 2019, 04:36:37 AM
This needs to go to the top.
Do you use the special clip for 2 rounds only? example here on ebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/M1-2-Round-Garand-Clips-for-M1-National-Match-use-New-US-2rd-Clips-2-Rd/331561916320?hash=item4d32a157a0:g:4SQAAOxyaTxTS1L-:sc:USPSFirstClass!41311!US!-1
Quote from: CarrollMS on May 03, 2019, 08:18:28 AM
Quote from: ItsanSKS on May 03, 2019, 04:36:37 AM
This needs to go to the top.
Do you use the special clip for 2 rounds only? example here on ebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/M1-2-Round-Garand-Clips-for-M1-National-Match-use-New-US-2rd-Clips-2-Rd/331561916320?hash=item4d32a157a0:g:4SQAAOxyaTxTS1L-:sc:USPSFirstClass!41311!US!-1
Those are neat. I suspect though he means hand-load 2 rounds. Such as below...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=Jdw6p38nD1o (https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=Jdw6p38nD1o)
The idea (I imagine) being that if a Rifleman had found rounds or leftover rounds that didn't fill the clip completely, they would still know how to load the rifle and get rounds down range.
For my learning of how to re-establish NPOA I used an air rifle in the basement. The CMP sells the daisy 835's that are wonderfully accurate. Each shot fired from the air rifle requires a lot of movement of the arms and torso. Muscle memory of where your body position needs to be to obtain NPOA can be learned thru the firing of many rounds of these pellets. That support elbow stays grounded and the rest follows with memory.
Quote from: Crazyduckhunter on May 13, 2019, 12:17:56 AM
For my learning of how to re-establish NPOA I used an air rifle in the basement. The CMP sells the daisy 835's that are wonderfully accurate. Each shot fired from the air rifle requires a lot of movement of the arms and torso. Muscle memory of where your body position needs to be to obtain NPOA can be learned thru the firing of many rounds of these pellets. That support elbow stays grounded and the rest follows with memory.
Good point. I use the 853 almost daily for practice at 10 meters in my basement range. In prone I do not keep my support elbow planted when cocking and loading the gun, so each shot may force an NPoA adjustment. In standing, my feet remain planted, but variations in the support arm position on the rib-cage (no sling) force some minor adjustments in NPoA, mainly achieved by me with minute adjustments in the forestock position in the the open support hand. Same with kneeling. The 853 has many benefits for improving Appleseed performance through habitually and consciously practicing the six steps so they become second nature. The characteristic of a low-velocity air rifle also magnifies the effect of a lack of follow-through on accuracy. Shooters might also enjoy the quarterly Sporter postal matches under the CMP ACES program with the Daisy 853 or other air rifle. Fun, great training, and a good way to financially support a fine organization.
https://thecmp.org/cmp_sales/rifle_sales/air-rifles/sporter-air-rifles/
http://thecmp.org/air/cmp-aces-postal/