“It’s a funny thing, the more I practice the luckier I get.” - Arnold Palmer

Daily practice, done purposefully and deliberately, is the path to mastery. For shooting, the only way for most of us to practice daily is through dry fire. Dry fire allows us to work on every aspect of our shooting skill, apart from recoil control, without going to the range or expending ammo.

In the last ten years or so, there have been many products marketed as dry fire aids. And in my opinion, the overwhelming majority of these simply aren’t necessary. All you really need for dry fire is your gun, shot timer, some empty magazines, and some targets. Having said that, there are some products that I’ve found to be valuable for your dry fire practice.

The first is scale targets. I get mine from Tim Myers at the Ben Stoeger Pro Shop. The Pro Shop is my first go-to for all my shooting supplies and gear, and especially for my dry-fire targets. Another good source is the scale target decals from Go Fast Don’t Suck. Scale targets are the closest thing to an essential piece of dry fire kit, although you can do a lot of work without them.

There is a smart phone app called Dry Fire Timer. I prefer this for my dry fire practice over my shot timer, primarily because I can save drills with strings, reps, par times, etc. this saves me the time of setting and resetting par times as I go, and makes my practice sessions more efficient.

Another tool that I really like for my dry fire practice is the various YouTube videos made for that purpose. My favorites are the paid ones from Dry Fire King. He only charges three dollars a month, and his videos are well worth the nominal subscription cost. There are also several channels on YouTube with free dry fire videos, but they aren’t as well done.

The final aid for your dry fire training that we will talk about is also my favorite. I’ve been beta testing a new virtual reality application for the Oculus Quest called AceXr. The controller is a full scale weighted 2011, and there are multiple practical shooting stages and drills, including some with movement. While there is no recoil, you have to track the sights as you would in live fire, and you receive immediate feedback for accuracy and speed. I’m already seeing that regular practice with this app is going to be a game changer for my training.

While none of these aids are essential, they will help make your practice more enjoyable, efficient, and productive. And that will help you stay disciplined and focused, which in turn will help you get better. Put in the work and you will earn the rewards.