Practicing at Home

Dear Fellow Survivalist;

I live in a small town, near a larger city. The move was a good one for us, but it puts me almost an hour from the nearest shooting range. I haven’t found anywhere around where people go, to go plinking, so getting in my practice time is difficult. I do a lot of dry fire practice; but sometimes you just need to punch holes in paper.

That’s why I was thrilled when my wife gave me one of the laser practice systems for Christmas. I won’t bother mentioning which one, as I’m not here to promote any particular brand. As best I know, they all work pretty much the same, with a laser at the gun, “firing” at a target which can receive it and send the information to an app on your phone. The system I have uses a “bullet” with a laser in it, while some others use a laser sight mounted to the gun’s rail.

First of all, let me say that it really isn’t just like shooting at the range, regardless of what anyone else might say. While the targeting system works well, giving you an accurate picture of where your shot would have landed, there’s no recoil and no noise, both of which can affect your shooting accuracy.

The other downside is that you can only fire one shot, before needing to re-cock the gun. That makes it virtually impossible to use it for practicing double-taps. I don’t personally use double-taps in my shooting; but I know a lot of people who do. Practicing them is different; because it’s all about overcoming the recoil so as to get the gun back down on target, after making that first shot. There’s no way of practicing that when you don’t have any recoil.

On the positive side, these systems can be used in the home, which is perfect for people like me, who can’t get to the range as often as we’d like. The practice is real, requiring all the same fundamentals of shooting that you would need any other time. that makes it worthwhile, even though I wouldn’t recommend it as the only practice that you do.

Once the initial investment is paid off, using one of these systems makes shooting practice free. There are no range fees to pay and you don’t have to worry about buying ammunition. Considering the ammo shortages we’ve seen through the last decade and what that’s done to prices, saving on ammunition is a big thing.

But being able to practice at home, without having to use ammunition, brings with it a whole bunch of other benefits too. Most ranges have a series of safety rules, put in place to help prevent dangerous accidents. You’re not allowed forward of the line, you must keep your muzzle up and downrange, you can’t practice drawing and firing, etc. etc. etc. Those are all good and needed, but they do limit what you can practice, in the interest of safety.

None of those restrictions apply at home, with a laser training system. Since there’s no ammo involved, the risk is eliminated. So, you can do pretty much anything you want… although it would probably be a good idea to draw the shades, so that the neighbors don’t see you stalking around the house with a gun in your hand. You don’t need a nosy neighbor calling the police, afraid you’re about to murder the kids.

So, using a laser training system allows you to practice key skills, like going from draw to fire in one smooth movement and shooting while maneuvering. It’s still not as good as the real thing; but about the only way you can get to maneuver and shoot or draw and fire is in a tactical shoot. While those are useful for training purposes, you really don’t get enough shooting time at one, as everyone has to take turns, shooting against the clock.

The other good thing I find with my laser practice system is that I can fit in a bit of practice just about anytime I want to. I’m not limited to only practicing when I have time to go to the range. Since I work from home, I can take my “coffee break” time, between working on different projects, and use it to get a little shooting practice in. That’s helping me get back in the groove, so that I can shoot those one inch groups once again.

All in all, I’d say that investing in a laser practice system is a worthwhile investment for the serious shooter. It may not do much good for getting you prepped for competition; but if you’re practicing to be able to defend home and family, it will definitely help. It’s one more thing to help you be ready, just like keeping your powder dry and your survival gear close at hand.

Dr. Rich

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