As a Professional Marksman for Bass Pro Shops, I have a lot of gear. This is something many gun owners share in our continual quest to optimize our rigs and training routines.
A big portion of my training takes place off the range, while at home. I live in San Francisco, so I don't have a huge backyard where I can shoot whenever I want. Hopefully one of these day, that will change. I optimize my time for convenience, because we know we will train more when we have easier access to gear and training facilities.
One of my primary pieces of training gear is the SiRT training pistol. Created by Top Shot Season 3 runner-up Mike Hughes and his company, Next Level Training, the SiRT pistol is a laser based platform which gives you the opportunity to dry fire thousands of times with each set of batteries.
Based off a Glock 17/22 design, the SiRT pistol has an auto-resetting trigger so you don't have to continually rack the slide as if you were dry-firing a real semi-auto pistol. Not only does manually racking the slide waste time, but it also makes it challenging to effectively practice transitioning from target to target. The SiRT accepts weighted magazines, so you can practice your reloads. You can also use a Glock 17 holster to practice drawing and shooting from concealment or in competition.
There's a neat trigger prep feature that can be turned on or off. When turned on, a laser will project when the trigger slack is taken up. You can watch the laser and see if you are able to hold it steady. When you break the shot, a second laser emits and you can see if your shot is steady based on the movement of this laser. This exercise will help you develop your fine motor skills in your trigger finger, as well as your gross motor skills by developing your shoulder and hand muscles.
While there is no simulated recoil with a SiRT pistol, it is still extremely helpful to practice smooth trigger presses, acquiring a good sight picture and sight alignment, and to refine these skills through thousands of repetitions. I personally enjoy getting a good trigger finger workout by ripping through as many shots as I can get hits. I'll aim at my TV, speakers, light switches, screw on a light panel or whatever objects are in the room.
Not only am I able to practice in the comfort of my own home, I'm saving a ton of money on ammo. And once I transition to live-fire practice at a shooting range, I know with my SiRT pistol training more of my shots will be hits where I want them.
Chris Cheng's SiRT training pistol exercises:
1. Aim at a lightswitch. Prep the trigger and active laser. Hold laser on target for 10 seconds. Rest. Repeat and increase duration with each repetition. Try and get to 30 seconds, or 60 seconds if you're a pro!
2. Select three targets of any size, but at different distances. Imagine a buzzer going off in your head and then draw or raise the SiRT pistol and see how quickly you can shoot two shots at each target and get hits.
3. Select three to five smaller targets that are at the same distance away from you, and equidistant apart. Candles, fruit, or eggs are good objects to try. On the imaginary buzzer, fire one shot at each object. As you let off the trigger you should already be transitioning to the next target. Repeat until you have shot at all targets in succession. Repeat the drill until you go as fast as you can.
