Getting Better at Laser Targets

Benefits of Laser Training

Going to the range to shoot takes money, time, and energy. As you prepare, you need to pack your firearms, ammo, and accessories. Then you need to take the time to drive to the range and set up your shooting lane. When you add it all together, you could be spending half a day prepping for the range and shooting. Sometimes even more. There are solutions to help you get the most out of your range time. You can optimize your training time by adding in laser training to your regime. 

Laser Academy is almost like bringing the range into your home. It comes with targets, a laser cartridge, target stands, a tripod, and more. Basically, everything you need to dry fire and see your groups on target at home. When you use your gun for laser practice, you are saving yourself in ammo and range costs. Laser Academy Kits are caliber specific and available in different calibers so if you have multiple 9mm handguns, you can use the cartridge that comes in the kit for multiple handguns and get some cross firearm training completed. Or even share your system with other family members and friends when they stop by.

How to Set Up Laser Academy

1. Remove all ammunition from your dry fire training room.

2. Clear your firearm and take your laser cartridge and insert the laser cartridge into the chamber. The rubber back should be visible through the extraction port. The laser end of the cartridge should be in the barrel, target facing. 

3. Take your desired target out of the kit and hang it up on the wall or stick it in one of the target holders and place it down range. Always follow the rules of firearm safety and be aware of your target and what is beyond it. 

4. Pull the tripod out of the kit and place your phone in the phone holder with your camera/ back side of the phone facing the target. 

5. Open the Laser Academy App and select the drill that best matches your training needs. If you don’t know where to start you can select open shooting single or multiple targets. 

6. The target will need to be read by the phone's camera so place the tripod close enough that the codes on the corners of the targets can be read by the system. (Your shooting position can be farther back than the phone.)

7. If you see red spots on the screen, your area has too much light and will have trouble picking up on the laser hits. You will be ready to shoot when your target is surrounded by a blue rectangle. (The phone shades in the kit can help you adjust the light conditions in your room.)

Fundamentals

Dry firing can help you work on the fundamentals of shooting. By adding dry fire laser training practice, you are able to isolate and work on the fundamentals without the stress or “noise” live fire introduces. The best part is that you get instant feedback on where you hit, similar to seeing a hole on your live fire target. 

Laser Academy shows you the round count, total score, and total time of the drill you completed. Each target will score differently so if you want the same data from your targets, you can buy an additional target pack online or print some extra targets out yourself!

Take your training one step at a time. You want to work on the fundamentals anytime you are dry firing. If you are unsure where to start, the first four fundamentals are listed below.

1. Grip
2. Stance
3. Sight Alignment
4. Trigger Press

Having a laser training system in your home gives you the freedom to try out different types of grips and stances. You can run through your own practice so that when you go to the range you already know what grip gives you the best groupings on target. The data you collect gives you a starting point for your training and a way to set goals. Improvement starts when you know what skill level you are currently performing at and where you would like to be. 

You can track your training sessions like they are research sessions. Try out different types of grips on your firearm to see which one you have more control over. You can set this up by taking 25 shots at the bullseye target. Add notes about your session in the bottom right corner of the screen. This will help you reference all of your sessions later on.

Repeat the 25 shots every time you would like to test out different grips, stances, and trigger pulls. Be sure to make notes on every change you make. One easy visual to keep track of is your shot on the live screen. Is it a dot or a dash? If the mark shows a dash that means you were pulling the shot off of the initial break point during the trigger press. Work on controlling the trigger press so that the end result on the screen is a dot. 

Laser Academy Journey

The Laser Academy app has a built in training program. The videos will populate at the top of the Training tab. The journey starts with how to set up your targets and firearms with the kits contents. From there it will follow the natural progression of training and help you with proper grip, stance, and trigger press. The videos will help keep you on track.

Once you get through the set up you will be ready to start the Laser Academy courses. The Pistol Marksmanship course consists of thirteen challenges that use six of the targets in the kit. Challenge yourself to complete the course and once you complete it we will sell you a patch to celebrate your achievement. 

Situational Training

The right type of laser training can help you train for realistic situations and circumstances. Laser Academy supports your training journey by having a variety of targets available to pick from and a plethora of drills that allow you to customize each and every training session you start.

If you use the shot timer drill, you can set up a target at the entrance to your house or on the door to your bedroom. When the buzzer goes off, see how fast you can get from your couch or bed to the door. If you have some distance to cover, you will be able to see if your elevated heart rate affects your accuracy. Also how quickly can you get to your firearm from your “resting” spot. Do you need to evaluate your method of storage?

Test your skills during your training. The best time to see how you perform is not when you need your skills the most. Make sure you are safe while you are training but if you have never pushed yourself to see how fast you can really get to your gun, or get it out of the holster then you need to add in some of those drills to your training. Get your kit so you can push your training today!