Dry firing in apartment with no safe direction

[M1911]

People mess up. If you do something enough times, the chances are good that you will eventually make a mistake.

Rule No. 1 is the final protection from screw ups. If you have the gun pointed in a safe direction and you have an ND, then nobody gets hurt.

 

[Hamar]

Dry firing at home for a couple hours every night helped me progress to Master Class in the USPSA ( not an easy task ). Dry firing has its benefits and can be done safely.

You will find the top shooters in USPSA, IDPA, Steel challenge and other upper level competitions spend a large amount of time, at home dry firing. It helps with target aquisition, trigger squeeze and control and fine tuning reloads.

Dont say:

I also have found dry firing mostly pointless and I don't spend any time doing it. I see no benefit to it

Because you have no idea what on earth your talking about.

 

[adweisbe]

See:
http://www.grayguns.com/Grayguns_Dry_fire_Safety_packet.zip
http://www.rangemaster.com/rm_dry_fire.html

 

[Dick]

Why is it that most, if not all, of us subscribe to the idea that "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" and yet somehow an almost mystical sense takes over such that we can never truly know if a gun is unloaded.

Excellent, bordering on brilliant, observation - and you pose an interesting paradox. Unless one can honestly subscribe to the latter proposition, i.e., that it is possible to truly, absolutely know if a gun is unloaded (which seems to be problematical for many here), then it seems disingenuous to profess the former.

 

[KMaurer]

Sorry, but this just flies in the face of everything I've been taught regarding safe firearms handling.

Reality check time. Any time you handle any gun, it's pointing in some direction. Do you refrain from ever handling a gun in your home, since "there's no safe direction, and the rules say ..."? Of course not. Dry firing is no different. If you were taught in an NRA firearms course, then you should have been taught the advantages of dry firing and how to do it safely. I hope that your instructor never suggested that you needed to go to a range in order to practice dry firing safely.

First, make certain that all drapes or curtains are drawn, so that some nervous neighbor doesn't catch a glimse of your practice, draw the wrong conclusion, and call 911. Second, as was mentioned, there should be absolutely no live ammunition anywhere in the room. Of course, you still avoid pointing the gun at any people, pets, plasma TVs, windows, etc. Finally, when you're done practicing, put the gun and any accessories awat. The real danger is when you finish practice with your carry or home protection gun, re-load it and set it aside. A few minutes later you forget having done that, and decide to resume "dry" fire practice, with predictably disasterous results.

Ken

 

[Coyote33]

...Still is there really no way to safely dry fire when a safe direction cannot be had? Maybe there truly is no way, I don't know....

Maybe it is possible to MAKE a "safe area" to dry fire. Perhaps the person can buy several sheets of the cement board they use for bathroom walls and make a box a couple inches thick to point at when practicing this technique.

Anyone?

Reality check time. Any time you handle any gun, it's pointing in some direction. Do you refrain from ever handling a gun in your home, since "there's no safe direction, and the rules say ..."? ...

Yeah, but THIS POST is about in an apartment building where the poster said there is no safe direction.

... If you were taught in an NRA firearms course, then you should have been taught the advantages of dry firing and how to do it safely. ...

GOAL headquarters. I don't remember any "dry firing" discussion.

...Of course, you still avoid pointing the gun at any people, pets, plasma TVs, windows, etc....

How does one do that in an apartment again?

 

[KMaurer]

Reality check time. Any time you handle any gun, it's pointing in some direction. Do you refrain from ever handling a gun in your home, since "there's no safe direction, and the rules say ..."? ...

Yeah, but THIS POST is about in an apartment building where the poster said there is no safe direction.

So then it's OK to have a gun if you live in a single family house, but not in an apartment or multifamily unit? Maybe that's where Mumbles got the idea for running Meminostan the way he does. I wonder if you'd feel the same way if you though about the fact that most walls in your home won't do much to stop a bullet either, unless you live in a bank vault.

... If you were taught in an NRA firearms course, then you should have been taught the advantages of dry firing and how to do it safely. ...

GOAL headquarters. I don't remember any "dry firing" discussion.

Since I know that John and Darius follow the course outline scrupulously, I have to conclude that your memory is starting to fail or you were dozing during that part of the class.

...Of course, you still avoid pointing the gun at any people, pets, plasma TVs, windows, etc....

How does one do that in an apartment again?

There's a difference between what you point a gun at, and what might be behind that. The former is usually referred to as "your target", while the later is "what's beyond it".

Ken

 

[Coyote33]

So then it's OK to have a gun if you live in a single family house, but not in an apartment or multifamily unit? Maybe that's where Mumbles got the idea for running Meminostan the way he does. I wonder if you'd feel the same way if you though about the fact that most walls in your home won't do much to stop a bullet either, unless you live in a bank vault.

Since I know that John and Darius follow the course outline scrupulously, I have to conclude that your memory is starting to fail or you were dozing during that part of the class.

There's a difference between what you point a gun at, and what might be behind that. The former is usually referred to as "your target", while the later is "what's beyond it".

Ken

1. Don't try to put words in my mouth. I never said it isn't "OK to..." as you imply. What I said is that the individual said he couldn't guarantee a safe area to shoot. If I were to attempt this at home, I would be sure of a safe direction or that nobody was home.

2. Jon (not John) was my instructor. I think someone else was also, but not sure if it was Darius. Maybe my memory is failing, but I was certainly NOT dozing during any of the course. I really don't think it was mentioned. At all.

3. And I like to be sure of both, as I was taught as a teenager.

 

[The Goose]

Maybe it is possible to MAKE a "safe area" to dry fire. Perhaps the person can buy several sheets of the cement board they use for bathroom walls and make a box a couple inches thick to point at when practicing this technique.

Anyone?

Arguably the best comment in this thread. I quess sometimes I am a bit slow. Make a safe area. A much better solution then abandoning any safety rules. I like it!

John Farnum had one of those safety things that you point a gun at to load or unload. He specifically mentioned hotel rooms, but the same concept would apply in an apartment. We spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars on firearms, ammo and equip. Certainly another hundred or two to be safe would be a reasonable investment. Great comment!!

 

[Jose]

is it really true that an otherwise cautious and intelligent individual can never, ever know that a gun is unloaded?

No. It is not true.

 

[matt]

Issues of if you should do it the "usual way" or not aside, I've seen advertisements in the American Rifleman for a device that installed in the barrel and prevented a round from being chambered. The trigger was free to do it's thing, but it was safe because you couldn't chamber a round.

It is something like this: http://interbore.com/ but a little different. This may work too. It had an orange tip to indicate the gun was safe.

It is an option for you.

However, I also have found dry firing mostly pointless and I don't spend any time doing it. I see no real benefit to it.

wow... I think you will find yourself all alone on that one... but to each his own.

 

[Len-2A Training]

It is something like this: http://interbore.com/ but a little different. This may work too. It had an orange tip to indicate the gun was safe.

I saw these at the IACP Expo. Wish I could recall the mfr but I was talking to the exhibitor about them. Apparently these go in the $20s each, 1 for each caliber.

Check out this site for pricing and info (the links off the above-mentioned website are dead). Cheaper than I had been quoted and has the potential for a group purchase if many are interested in pursuing this.

http://www.fenrir.com/interbore/interbore.htm

 

[daceman63]

I saw these at the IACP Expo. Wish I could recall the mfr but I was talking to the exhibitor about them. Apparently these go in the $20s each, 1 for each caliber.

Check out this site for pricing and info (the links off the above-mentioned website are dead). Cheaper than I had been quoted and has the potential for a group purchase if many are interested in pursuing this.

http://www.fenrir.com/interbore/interbore.htm

That interbore looks nice. I might have to pick up a few....

I agree with making the safe are and practice safe gun handling. Make doubly sure no ammo is around and maybe get some sand bags and sandbox sand they sell at toys r us or home depot and fram off an area and stack the bags. Drape a curtain over the are and it will look like a window or something....

otherwise, if you feel your situation still isn't safe practice at the range.

you know.....if you do have an accident and even if nobody is hurt, you're still screwed. The only bonus is that nobody got hurt.

 

[adweisbe]

Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 12:27 PM
From: "Bob Muller" <[email protected]>
To:
Subject: Re: Dry firing with the interbore gunlock


Yes. The designer told me the nylon tip was to protect the firing pin.




wrote:

>Hi,
>Is it possible to dry fire a semi-automatic or revolver that is locked
>with the interbore gun lock?
>Regards,
>

.
I wonder if we could custom key cheaply for a group order. Acknowledging of course that only NES members are allowed to run or participate in group buys.