You know you’re supposed to practice dry firing, but you most likely don’t make time for it. If only you had a way to take the “dry” out of “dry fire”…
Enter LASR (Laser Activated Shot Reporter). For a surprisingly low cost ($120), LASR allows you to construct a completely custom at-home practice range, where you can go anytime, even for a short time, and genuinely enjoy yourself. Like, for a half hour between when you get home from work and when dinner’s ready. Or for 10 minutes before heading into the office. (Nobody has to know).
Besides being fun, it’s also an effective way to get a lot more out of your dry fire practice. You can set it up however you want and shoot at anything, literally. Once that’s done, LASR provides instant feedback on where you hit (with audible sounds if you choose) so you can work on accuracy; you can combine that with a shot timer to work on speed.
The long list of features and modes makes the system extremely flexible. The diagnostic mode gives you feedback on trigger control and movement during the shot. The “call targets” feature can issue audible commands for which target to shoot when. “Target down” mode can be used to simulate failure to stop and shooting until the threat is down. There’s a race mode designed for use by multiple shooters at once. You can remotely control the software by shooting a specially designated target and, of course, save all your results for later review and analysis.
The system involves a few parts, and you can choose to get some or all of them from LASR’s website:
1. Any laser training device, such as a laser cartridge to use with your actual firearm or a SIRT (Shot Indicating Resetting Trigger) practice gun.
2. Any dedicated webcam (built-in webcams aren’t recommended)
3. The LASR (Laser Activated Shot Reporter) software
LASR is unique in that you don’t need a special target or gizmo to log your shots. You can fire at anything, as long as it’s in view of your webcam. Once your webcam is hooked up and pointed in a safe direction, you click and drag to define your target.
Here’s what it looks like when you’re defining targets:
You don’t have to stick with rectangles; you can make other shapes (circles, triangles, etc.) or draw a free-form outline for a custom target of your choice.
After this, when LASR detects a shot, it will instantly produce an audible tone, mark the location on the screen, and list the hit in the timesheet. You can customize everything you see and hear. There are various settings for the shot timer (including “untimed”) so you can challenge yourself to improve your speed and draw time.
Here’s what LASR’s basic shot reporting looks like:
The LASR team is constantly adding functionalities. Some that are already integral to the software include a race mode (multiple shooters can compete at the same time) as well as a diagnostic mode you can use to identify trigger control problems.
Here’s a video from LASR that helps show how it all comes together:
LASR comes highly recommended from professional trainers from the NRA and USCCA, as well as a money-back guarantee. Use their Build My Kit tool to help you figure out what you need.
Your base cost for the software is $120, and that includes lifetime support and updates (no subscriptions or pay-to-upgrade). LASR even includes an online training portal, where you can download specialized drills as well as training programs designed for law enforcement qualification and competition shooting. You can even make and upload your own drills.