DryFire 

Clay and game shooting simulators

This web site is under construction and contains details of products that will become available in 2024. Details of current DryFire products may be found at: www.dryfire.com

Why and how it works

"How can a system operating indoors, in a relatively small space, possibly replicate what we do when shooting outdoors?"

Why it works

It works because clay shooting is all about angles. Let's take an example of a crosser going from left to right.

  • The trap is located a certain angle to the left of your straight ahead position.
  • Before calling "Pull", you wind back (rotate your body) a certain angle to the left to face your hold point - the point where you will start gun movement after you acquire the target.
  • The target is released, you acquire it and you start your gun movement.
  • You swing through the target (or you keep ahead of the target depending on your style), allow the right amount of lead, and fire.

    You swing through a certain angle and you try to fire in your comfort zone - as close as possible to straight ahead.

The glass wall

The animation below starts with the outdoor target and your wall/screen is shown as a transparent rectangle.

With DryFire, even though you are standing fairly close to the wall (between 2m and 2.5m), the whole of the target trajectory fits on the wall and all the angles can be replicated accurately.

Outdoors, indoors - the angles are the same

Outdoors:

  • targets travel through specific horizontal and vertical angles.
  • targets travel at specific angular speeds - slowing down from trap to ground in 1.5/2.5 seconds for example.
  • you move your body through specific angles at a specific speed before firing and following through.

Indoors with DryFire:

  • targets travel through exactly the same angles,
  • targets travel at exactly the same angular speed,
  • you move your body through exactly the same angles and at exactly the same speed.

Indoors with DryFire, target movement and shooter movement are exactly the same as outdoors.

  • That's why it works.
  • That's why champions practise with it.
  • That's why it will improve your scores.

How it works

  • The software generates targets that follow the same angular trajectories, at the same angular speeds, as those outdoors.
  • The targets are laser dots (DryFire Laser System - DLS) or projected clay images (DryFire Projection System - DPS).
  • The Standard Gun Assembly (SGA) clips under your barrel.
  • The trigger switch fits round the blade of your trigger.
  • When you press the trigger the SGA sends out a very short (1/30th second) pulse of infrared laser light - invisible to the human eye.
  • The pulse bounces off the wall or screen and is detected by the cameras in the simulator.
  • The software calculates exactly how far the centre of your shot string was from the centre of the clay when they were closest to one another.
  • The software calls a hit or miss along with how far your shot string was above/below/ahead/behind the clay.

How it is used

  • Put the simulator on a table, camera tripod (or DIY stand), and point it at your wall.
  • Connect the simulator to a PC - USB for DLS, WiFi for DPS.
  • Fit the Standard Gun Assembly (SGA) and trigger switch to your gun.
  • Run the DryFire software.
  • Provide the software with measurements about where the simulator is and where you are.
  • Select the discipline ("English Skeet", "ATA Handicap Singles" etc.) and target ("Station 4 high", "Rabbit" etc.) you want.
  • Stand behind the simulator and take up position ready to take the shot directly in front of you - i.e. within your "comfort zone". Wind back towards the "trap" position.
  • Call "Pull".
  • The target will be "released" and you must see it, swing, fire and follow through as for a normal clay.
  • Lower the gun and relax for a moment. (An 8lb gun can soon feel like 20lbs if you don't relax between shots.)
  • DryFire will tell you if you had a hit or miss - you will see where the cloud of pellets from the cartridge went in relation to the clay. Of course, you will have to allow for lead and elevation just as with a real clay.
  • Take up position, call "Pull" and you will get the same target again (if you selected an individual target) or you will get the next target in the sequence (if you selected a discipline).
  • Keep going as long as you have the energy and as long as you can maintain concentration.

Warning

DryFire shooting is addictive - just like real clay shooting. To create the muscle and other memories required for shooting outside it is essential to lower the gun and relax after each shot. You should also take a break after each round and have a cup of tea when your concentration starts to fall off.

Hit or miss?

The DryFire sofware knows when and where you fired - it then calculates hit/miss based on a number of variables:

  • The type of cartridges you are using: weight, muzzle velocity, etc.
  • The type of chokes you are using - if any.
  • The direction and speed the clay is traveling when the shot pattern gets closest to it.
  • The angle of the clay in relation to the shot pattern - edge-on clays are harder to break than belly-on.
  • The energy remaining in the pellets when they are closest to the clay.
  • The energy required to break the clay.
  • Wind direction, speed and gusting.

Clays are weird object - they don't fly like birds or bullets and they don't obey standard ballistic calculations!

Clays leave the trap edge on, travel quickly to the highest point in their flight (slowing down as they go), then almost parachute to the ground because of their concave ("under cambered") underside. As clays slow down and begin to fall they are at the mercy of the wind - as anyone will testify who has seen a going away clay suddenly become an incoming clay in a strong or gusty wind!

The software exactly models the flight of a clay based on:

  • Mass of clay
  • Area flat-on
  • Area edge-on
  • Energy required to break it flat-on
  • Energy required to break it edge-on
  • Drag on top surface
  • Drag on bottom surface
  • Minimum drag angle (in degrees)
  • Drag shape on top
  • Drag shape on bottom
  • Positive lift
  • Negative lift
  • Lift angle zero
  • Lift angle negative
  • Friction

Feedback

DryFire calculates the point where the centre of the clay is closest to the centre of the shot pattern.

DryFire declares a hit if sufficient pellets, with sufficient remaining energy, strike the clay to break it - taking into account multiple variables (see above) including the angle at which the clay presents itself to the incoming pellets.

DryFire immediately stops the clay trajectory if the shot results in a hit - and, in the case of the DryFire Projection System (DPs), it shows the clay exploding or breaking!

The feedback provided includes:

  • Error: the distance of the centre of the shot pattern from the centre of the clay.
  • Left/Right: how far the centre of the shot pattern was to the left or right of the clay.
  • High/Low: how far the centre of the shot pattern was above or below the clay.
  • Range: how far the clay and shot pattern were from the shooter at their closest point to one another.
  • Time: the time from clay release until the shot pattern was closest to the clay.

Technical stuff

There are two versions of the DryFire system and details on how they work are provided on their own pages

DryFire is a Wordcraft International product