Do any of you guys train with a mirror?

[too many choices!?]

I was practicing drawing and dry firing in the mirror today. I was wondering how many of you guys use a larger mirror(bady length or bigger) to train? When you look into the mirror you get a normal sized reflection to aim at.....the distance you end up with is double the distance to the reflected image....I like to try at the actual distances of 3yds, 7yds, and 15yds...Which appear in the mirror doubled out to about 6yds, 15yds, and 30 yds .....I also do muscle memory with my holster pulls in rapid succesion...usually 15-20 in a row or until I feel my muscles start to weaken....Each time pull from the holster I aquire a sight picture and then either re-holster or place the firearm along side the holster but not inside to get the same feel.....I also have a shirt that has a circle in the vital zone that I wear while doing these drills.....I usually start wiht com shots and then do the specialty shots like nervous system and then pelvis.....

I have noticed big increase in my target aquiring at all distances and my trigger pull has gotten much cleaner.....If you have the means, give it a try

 

[Barry in IN]

I've used mirrors to check cover in the house.

For example, should I hear someone trying to force open the front door, I wanted to know where I could observe from, but be best concealed. I put the mirror at the front door, then went to various locations that I had in mind. I could get an idea from my reflection how visible I might be.

 

[FirstFreedom]

You talkin' to me? (sorry, couldn't resist). No I don't.

 

[USP45usp]

Dang, First, you beat me to it .

I use a mirror to check concealment but not drawing and firing. I have used a video camera (back when I had one) to see what I was doing wrong.

Wayne

 

[BillCA]

Mirrors are handy tools.

If practicing before a mirror you need to evaluate where your point of aim is for each "shot". Most of us will likely start off pointing low -- bellybutton or belt buckle. Not that this is a bad place to hit someone, actually, though you want your shots to be COM. Just remember if a real aggressor is taller or shorter your "muscle memory" will be slightly off.

Practice looking at your ("opponent's") face during the draw. Not so much to get that "Tough Guy look" but to identify your opponent. This habit may save the life of someone you know.

Mirrors can be tactically advantageous too. Placed in the correct spots around the house they'll let you know what's around a corner. The caution is that they work BOTH WAYS. If you can see the BG, he can see you. Another idea is to hang glass covered artwork on the walls in key spots so that you can take advantage of the subdued reflections off the glass.

 

[too many choices!?]

Why did you shoot the mirror?

That guy wouldn't stop lookin at me funny....ha ha guys ! Why just last night I think I finally beat myself to the draw , man I am good.....Seriously, for dry fire practice indoors at different ranges, I don't think it can be beat without a fairly large and open room......

Feels kinda wierd aiming at my own head though, even in a mirror

 

[Jungle Work]

When I was a Chief of Police I had a full length Mirror in the Officers Briefing Room. I replaced the Mirror three time in 15 years. It cost the officers involved a 5 day suspension or A professionally given Thirty Minute Departmental Class on Firearms Safety.

Jungle Work

 

[tjhands]

I practice dry-firing in the mirror at the end of the hall about 3X a week. Like you said, it gives you a lifesize image to "shoot" at.

I think you may be confused about the distances, though. If the mirror is, say, 10 yards from where you are standing, then the reflection is that same distance, not doubled. ie, an image of you in a mirror at 10 yds should be the same size as a real person at 10 yds. Not a big deal, but I just didn't want you having to adjust your sights to twice the distance!

 

[1BadF350]

What I do in the mirror is none of your business..

 

[brickeyee]

Not really a good idea. You should be concentrating on muscle memory and the front site, not learning to watch yourself.
In a real emergency you will do what you have practiced the most.
A video camera is a much beter idea. You are reviewing after the fact and are not distracted.

 

[tjhands]

Yeah, if he's actually WATCHING himself in the mirror I agree with you, but my impression was that he doing it as I do it: instead of aiming at a dot on the wall, you are using a life-size image (yourself). I'm not watching my myself at all, i.e. my focus is on the front sight the entire time with my reflection as a blurred image to aim at. Maybe experts would find something wrong with this, but logically it just makes sense to me to be used to pointing at a human target if, God forbid the need should arise in the future.

 

[Hard Ball]

I do. I find a large mirror very useful for practicing close ramge techniques. However no matter how hard I try I cannot draw faster that the man in the mirror.

 

[missourigunner]

Training with a mirror

didn't like the looks of the dude staring back at me. Almost shot hiim. just joking. I do sometime to test my reflexes.

 

[78rm400c]

I use a mirror to shave.

 

[4V50 Gary]

Shooting with mirrors goes back to at least the Late Great Unpleasantry between Kinfolk or the Mother of All American Family Feuds (Civil War). Oh, you mean practicing in front of a mirror. I use to at home whenever I got a new holster. Practiced the draw 1k times to get it smooth and then fast.

 

[wayneinFL]

It'd be a real shame to have to shoot somebody that looks that darned good.


I used to practice with a mirror in my old house. I don't have a mirror in the new house that has a good backstop.

 

[mc_oliver]

You guys are savvy enough to use the computer, you should take advantage of that technological innovation called webcams (if you don't have it then buy one). Imagine drawing only once, yet have the option to view it over and over, forever.

Plus you get to send it to your friends and brag about that sub second draw or reload or even show it live.

 

[Jack Malloy]

I bought a mirror just for that.
Next to video tape, a mirror is one of the best training aids available to the serious shootist.
I seem to recall one of the old timers like Bill Jordan pointing that out.

I use mine to see what I am doing wrong.
For example, by hitching my holster in a different position on my hip, it helped me to avoid grabbing shirt tail on a speed draw or "presentation" as the cooper troopers call it.

In a pinch it can also be used to check on your form and sight picture. With your back to the mirror, draw your arm spin around, and get a flash picture then stop before you pull the trigger.
Are your sites lined up properly?

Because of this mirror training, my fine motor skills are a lot finer than they were before I began using the mirror as a training aid.

 

[HankL]

Large mirror? I seem to remember a large mirror in the top of a four poster bed in the Monteleone Hotel down in New Orleans......
I would say it was

(bady length or bigger)

 

[J 92 Brigadier]

How a mirror may be used in training:

Stare into the bathroom mirror and practice saying "Are you talkin' to me?" This requires a variety of intimidating facial expressions to match the voice inflections. (Taxi Driver- Robert DeNiro)

Taking a hand mirror, holding it in front of me and looking downrange behind to aim at the target. (Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley trick shots)

Seriously, though I have used the mirror to practice quick draw techniques.