You can’t become a good shooter without practicing dry fire. That’s a fact; however, dry fire has some crucial deficiencies. There is no way to simulate recoil, and there is no way to reset your trigger if you use a double, single action gun. That is until now. The Cool Fire trainer allows you to do all this, using your actual firearm. Keep reading to see what it is, and how you can use it to take your shooting game to the next level.
The folks over at Cool Fire sent me their trainer in December, and I’ve been using it on a regular basis since then to properly evaluate it. In the last few months I’ve determined that the Cool Fire trainer excels at three things specifically, but before we get into that, let’s first speak about how it functions.
For those who like video better. Check this out.
The Cool Fire trainer is a unit that replaces the barrel of your firearm, as well as the recoil spring. The barrel stores CO2 gas, from a cylinder, which works the action when the unit is struck by the firing pin.
There is also a laser module that is screwed in on the end of the barrel which emits a pulse when the trigger is pulled, showing you where your bullet would strike in live fire.
It takes about 30 sec to install the unit and can shoot about 20 times one charge. You will find that after about 10 shots, the recoil starts to decrease as the CO2 runs out.
Now that we know how it works, lets speak about what it excels at.
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Trigger Simulation
This is bar far the greatest benefit to the Cool Fire Trainer. It will allow you to shoot any gun, striker fired, or DA/SA, and practice the trigger pull on your specific gun.
This is crucial to increasing your performance. This, combined with the ability to see where your bullet would strike via the laser, allows you to self correct any shooting flaws you may have.
It’s incredibly common for shooters to push their bullet strikes, to the left or right, depending on their trigger manipulation. Previously, you could only address this during live fire, but now you can do so during your normal practice.
Sight Tracking
The difference between a master shooter, and an intermediate shooter, is generally the ability to track the sights during the recoil cycle of the gun. This, in turn, allows them to call their shots during rapid strings of fire. Check this video out.
When you see shooter shooting at this speed it’s easy to say they are just pulling their trigger without seeing their sights, but that isn’t true. Through hundreds of thousands of shots, and years of practice, they have developed their ability to track their sights during recoil.
The Cool Fire trainer lets you do this without the distraction of actually firing a shot. The noise and concussion can be distracting, and it will slow your progress in mastering this skill, needless to say of the expense and time it takes to only practice this skill during live fire.
New Shooters
This is also a great tool for those who are coaching new shooters. This could be your children, spouse, or folks that you train as a professional instructor, it doesn’t matter.
I’ve found through the years that newbies often are intimidated of firearms and have to over come fear of the noise and recoil, which for some, can take a long time.
The trainer can shorten this time by allowing you to practice without these intimidating factors. They can get a handle on the feel of the recoil without feeling like they are being judged by other shooters at the range. This can be a huge benefit, because no one likes to feel like a fool.
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Areas for Improvement
When I test equipment for companies I generally like to make some recommendations for improvement. The Trainer is a great piece of gear, but there are two areas that I think might improve the unit.
I think the laser needs to be a bit brighter, as you can’t really see it unless you are shooting on the supplied, reflective, targets that it ships with. This is minor, but it would be a nice improvement.
The second area I might wish to change is the overall length of the laser unit. It is approximately and inch, which necessitates drawing the gun a little higher, from your holster, than you would without the unit.
This also is not a huge deal, but it would allow you to practice drawing in the exact same way that you do with your normal barrel installed.
Best Practices
I’ve found that this is a tool that should be used to practice the areas that it excels in. Use it for drills requiring multiple shoots, and sight tracking. Use it to remedy your shot placement issues that are most likely arising from trigger manipulation. I don’t recommend using it for every drill though.
Some drills are best done without the trainer. While you can practice combat reloads, as they supply plastic inserts that you put in your magazine that prevents the gun from locking open. You can’t practice slide lock reloads. Those types of drills should be done in normal dry fire.
Final Thoughts
This unit is a great piece of equipment and it can really accelerate your shooting ability. Like anything worthwhile it does cost. Most models are around $399 which sounds like a lot, but for me that’s around two months of my ammo budget.
In comparison it makes sense to use this unit if you expect to train new shooters, or you already practice a lot for both dry fire and live fire. It doesn’t really make sense for a casual shooter, but I’d imagine that if you are reading this you actually give a shit about getting better, and aren’t a casual shooter.
There is a Cool Fire Trainer for almost every type of pistol imaginable. Give it a shot, and pretty soon it will be one of the best parts of your training program.
