STOP RACKING THE SLIDE: A BETTER WAY TO DRY FIRE YOUR HANDGUN

If your “dry fire practice” is just draw–press–click–rack–repeat… you’re wasting time and possibly building bad habits. In this video, Riley Bowman (Director of Training at ConcealedCarry.com) breaks down a smarter way to run dry practice that actually builds shooting skill without living on the slide stop.

You’ll see how to set up your gun with tools like BarrelBlok and mag blocks, why a “dead trigger” is still incredibly useful, how to work transitions and throttle control without constantly cycling the slide, and why obsessing over perfect trigger reset in dry fire is overrated.

Whether you carry a striker-fired pistol, DA/SA gun, or even just a blue gun, this approach will help you get more out of every dry fire session while avoiding bad habits that can show up under stress in a real defensive shooting.

Chapters
0:00 – Are you dry firing the hard way?
0:21 – Riley Bowman intro & training background
0:53 – Using BarrelBlok and mag blocks for better dry fire
1:54 – The problem with constant slide racking
2:41 – You don’t need a “click” every rep
3:51 – Using a dead trigger to watch your sights
4:20 – Red dots, sight movement, and grip pressure
5:14 – Applying this to different pistols (striker, DA/SA, 1911)
6:09 – Dry fire modes: when full trigger presses matter
6:43 – Transitions, throttle control, and uninterrupted reps
7:39 – Maximizing training time vs. working the slide
8:21 – The hidden risk of “press–reset–press” dry fire
9:18 – Effective practice with a blue gun
9:51 – Draws that don’t end in a shot
10:44 – Finger in “home position” and safety mindset
11:39 – Summary: smarter, more realistic dry fire
12:03 – BONUS: The truth about trigger reset in training
12:43 – Why micro-managing reset is overrated
13:42 – Avoiding trigger freeze with better finger mechanics
14:17 – What actually matters: how you press the trigger