Good dry fire gadgets are well worth their initial cost. Things like the Mantis X10 aren’t cheap, but they provide a ton of training capabilities, even when the upfront cost seems rather high.
Revolutionizing dry fire isn’t easy to do, but occasionally someone finds a way. Today we are talking about the DryFireMag from a company called, well, DryFireMag.
Those of us who are part of the DA/SA master life know not the troubles striker fire pistol owners face when it comes to dry fire. Having to constantly work the slide to get a single shot of dry fire in is fun for about two whole minutes. So to solve this problem, DryFireMag created a magazine insert that allows you to replicate a trigger pull without having to constantly work the slide to reset the firing pin.
Installation is just shoving the magazine into the pistol grip and calling it a day. Well, ensure the striker is cocked prior to practice. Then toss it and pull the trigger. The initial trigger will be heavy because you are using the striker and the DryFireMag. After the first trigger pull, you‘ll also have the ‘clicks’ you want without having to cycle the slide.
How the DryFireMag Works
If you notice, the DryFireMag has a bit of a dongle at the top. The entire setup does not reset or release your striker. Instead, the Dry Mag Mag only contacts the trigger bag and simulates a fired trigger. The firing pin isn’t affected by any particular shot. What you might be saying is close is the DFM to my actual trigger pull?
Well, it’s as close as you want it to be. When I got mine out of the box, it was a little heavier and longer than my normal trigger pull. The trigger is my P320 is a little better than average, and I needed to tune the trigger to make it more like my actual trigger pull. A little screw in the front of the magazine can be turned slightly to lengthen or reduce the trigger’s travel before it breaks. With a little practice, I got it as close as I possibly could to my stock SIG P320C trigger. Additional spring packs allow you to add or reduce trigger weight as well.
The click sounds differently but feels identical to the trigger breaking when dry firing. It’s much more clicky and sounds almost like a pen clicking more than a striker dropping, and being able to constantly practice makes dry fire training so much more efficient and fast. The DryFireMag makes 15 minutes of dry fire practice seem like 20, and that’s a good thing!
What I mean is that I’m doing a lot more trigger presses per practice section since I’m not working the slide to cock the pistol. Efficiency is nice, convenience is nice, and also not doing non-typical movements while training is nice. Zapping through a few dozen perfect trigger pulls is quick and easy.
Interaction With Other Dry Fire Accessories
You can guess that this doesn’t work with your typical laser devices that require the firing pin to strike the rear of the device. However, it will work with the Mantis X10..most of the time. There is a SIRT/DFM mode that works well, and setting a profile with a higher sensitivity seems to work even better. I’d say 90% of the time the Mantis X10 catches the ‘trigger’ breaks and functions without issue.
This also isn’t a tool to work reloads with. DryFireMag advises that the DFM hitting the ground can damage it, and it will not drop free due to the design’s interaction with the trigger bar. It’s purely a traditional dry fire tool. If you want a reload tool check out the Rogers Shooter School TRT devices.
Design and Look
Mistaking the DryFireMag for a real magazine is downright impossible. It doesn’t look like a magazine at all, and the bright orange baseplate is also a dead giveaway. Additionally, the magazine is weighted to give it a more realistic feel.
It weighs almost as much as a full magazine, and that’s a nice touch for shooters out there training. I appreciate the gun feeling like a loaded pistol. I’m not sure if this is beneficial, but it’s certainly not a downside.
The DryFireMag is available for Glock medium and Large frame firearms, the SIG P320C, the Springfield XD, and the S&W M&P series. I really want them to bring out a P365 model, but I’ll keep waiting and practicing with my P320 variant. The DryFireMag retails for 99 bucks without the spring kit and 105 with the spring kit.
From a training perspective, the DryFireMag is pretty dang beneficial. You can train safely at home, adjust the mag to fit your gun, and don’t have to be part of the awesome DA/SA world. The DryFireMag is a luxury item, more or less, but it also makes training more efficient and much more enjoyable.
