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I try and dry fire once a day, about tens minutes. I know it's good practice and I feel solid doing it but wonder how much it cares over to match shooting. It feels like a big difference in releasing a dry fire shot in my kitchen and then going to a match and releasing a shot. I guess what I'm asking is it better to go shoot 30 shots everday or am I missing something with dry firing.
What is your views on trigger set screw stops. My trigger will release with a business card between the trigger and the stop. This is with a 41. Do some of you not use one? My thinking is if you pull to hard or to fast maybe your causing movement when you hit the stop. If you didn't have the stop you would have more time before you hit the wall.
Ok one more question, and that is about trigger shoes. Would they help with pulling the trigger straight back, causing less torque? Again this is on a 41.
Thanks

I think the idea is to make the real range time feel like dry-fire.
Condition your hand and eye to not flinch, because the loud noise and explosion in your hand is the exception, rather than the normal course of events. Or at least to flinch after, when it doesn't hurt anything.

That's what I use dry-fire for, anyway.

Sounds like your 41 will set the trigger pretty tight. My Mark III is the only gun I've ever owned with stops, and the design is such that you can't set them perfect and get good function. I have mine too loose. I probably have a 16th of travel at both ends, but that's still way less than out of the box. I don't do any competing, though.

My buddy at work found out that you can ingrain some misled memory while dry fireing that can be described as detrimental. He doesn't get to the range for live fire too much and dry fires every day.... While his trigger control is excellent he started to rack the slide after every shot when doing a live fire drill! He had ingrained this into his subconsious. Now this wasn't for bullseye shooting, but a balance between dry and live fire is needed to produce good habits and not silly ones.

Some folks work the trigger differently during dry fire practice because mentally they know it is just practice. When live firing they over compensate because they know it is real and not practice. Often this is phenomenon is called "match pressure". The goal is to train as you would in real competition. When you're relaxed knowing it is just practice your hold and trigger control function differently but add in a little adrenaline and things can go quite differently.

R,
Bullseye

By train as you would in real competition your saying more live firing? Seems with dry firing it will take you up to a point but when you add match pressure and recoil things start to change.
I never feel different, pressure wise, between shooting a practice match and real match but my scores show different.
Can I get some more ideas on the trigger set screws settings and trigger shoes?
Thanks

You don't have to be "knee-deep" in brass to improve your scores. The idea is to make your dry fire practice sessions more meaningful to you the shooter. Here you're making each dry fire trigger squeeze important and after the hammer falls determining how that shot would have went were it a live one. Some folks just hold and squeeze and not really put much thought into the results. The object is to create the hold and squeeze you'll be most satisfied with during competition by creating habits that will lead to success. Taking those into the live firing competition reduces the feel of match pressure because your following the training routine you've established instead of reacting to the external stimulus of the event.

Trigger shoes have their advantages and disadvantages. They can distribute the weight of the trigger across a wider portion of the finger pad and therefore create the feeling of less trigger pull. Plus some folks prefer them for consistent trigger placement on the trigger finger. However they do add weight to the trigger and this can lead to trigger bounce, especially in the 1911 platform. Mostly the trigger shoe is a preferential accessory for a shooter and can have an impact on results because they are more comfortable with the feel of the trigger.

Set screw settings vary widely. The main object is not to set them too close and have the sear striking the hammer hook or the half cock hook, that will damage the sear face. Each shooter has their preference for where the stop should be set. Too little and when the sear breaks the trigger finger travels at hyper speed to the stop point due to the sudden release of tension when the sear broke. Too much and you can get sear face battering or sight diversion by the trigger finger, especially if the shooter has a quick paced squeeze.

R,
Bullseye

Hi All, I just joined this forum, and that's the reason my response will be so
untimely.

What I'd like to add, is that Keith Sanderson recommends that we ISSF and
Bullseye competitors perform Dryfire training at a 100 to one ratio. That's right;
100 dryfire pulls to one live round release. I've recently started his
holding and dryfire drills and I am noticing that my hold(and stance) is much
more stable and my triggering is far more controlled.

I have been shooting 10 meter Airpistol and 50 meter pistol(Free Pistol)
for the last four years and I came back to Bullseye last December. I started
his training suggestions about two months ago. Keith Sanderson
is competing at the London Olympics in the Rapid Fire event.

Tony

Dry firing builds stamina and confidence within a shooter, which is why it is so important. In other words its exercise for marksmen.

R,
Bullseye