Why does the USA price appear to be higher than the British price?

The primary reason is the USA product and the British products are quite different.

Cost comparison: The British price is 690 pounds sterling (at the current exchange rate of 1.44 the British price in American dollars is $993.00).

Shipping from the United Kingdom: Approximately $120.00, therefore the total out of pocket cost for the British product is (993.00 + 120.00 = $1,113.00).

Based solely on cost, the British product is $151.00 less (USA price is 1250.00 + shipping 14.00 = $1264.00).

Now let’s consider the differences to which we can attach a value.

1) The gun assembly shipped with the USA product is what we describe as a Combo Gun Assembly. That means there are enough pieces to equip one gun, but it can be equipped to shoot using the Trigger Switch method (which is the only way the British product ships) or it can be equipped to shoot using an Acoustic adapter, which allows you to cock you own gun, place a snap cap in the chamber of your gun, and pull the trigger. When the Acoustic adapter hears the sound of your firing pin hitting the snap cap, the laser in the muzzle of your gun is fired. This can be very important if you shoot Olympic Bunker Trap. We had a very qualified American Air Force Major (who had over 10 years experience on the US Olympic Trap Team) test the DryFire system on Olympic Bunker Trap. He reported that although he liked the idea and most of the implementation, he found the accuracy lacking while shooting Bunker Trap. He also told us his fifteen (15) year old son was progressing in ATA Trap at a rate of about three (3) times faster than he had progressed when he first started shooting. He attributed the faster learning rate to the DryFire system.

Our response at DryFire USA was to develop an Acoustic method of shooting your gun indoors. With this method, the laser in the muzzle of your gun fires indoors at the same moment pellets would leave the muzzle of your gun when outdoors. This method also was a good answer for trapshooters who used a release trigger. They simply don’t like the feel of the switch on the front surface of their trigger and being able to use their own trigger was what they wanted. In the process of developing this product, it was necessary to come up with a way of rigidly anchoring the laser in the muzzle of the gun. This was necessary because those who choose to use the Acoustic method will be opening and closing the breech of their gun, causing a whipping action at the muzzle. This whipping action is strong enough to alter the position of the muzzle laser provided in the original British design. Once the position of the laser was altered (by the muzzle whip) it would be necessary to realign your gun. Not something you would want to do every few shots. The DryFire USA solution to this problem is to insert a 2.5" cylindrical Barrel Anchor containing "O" rings inside the muzzle of the gun and then expand the "O" rings to hold the Barrel Anchor firmly in place. The laser is mounted in an aluminum carrier and attached to the shaft of the Barrel Anchor.

Feedback: The USA customer base likes the rigid muzzle laser, which is secure enough that the laser assembly can be rested on the floor without altering its position in the barrel, much like many shooters do when resting their barrel on their shoe or a pad.

The cost of this improvement is $100.00.

2) The servos, which cause the heads to move, do not all create a smooth moving trajectory on the wall. Through much experimentation DryFire USA has added parts to dampen both the horizontal and vertical servos. Small magnets are used with the horizontal servos (providing a constant drag). In the vertical direction a rubber "O" ring is used to create a little bit of friction (again to dampen the movement in the vertical direction).

The cost of this improvement is $40.00.

3) We also include a copy of the Replay Report Generator as part of the standard software you receive. This software package allows the novice (computer person) to analyze and print the Replay file. The British product stores the Replay information in a (cvs) file and leaves it up to you to analyze and print the information stored in the file.

The cost of the Replay Report Generator had always been $29.00.

4) When you receive the USA package it includes printed documentation amounting to well over 120 pages. This information has been put together to make it easier for our customers to get the system operational. The British product provides no printed documentation, but relies on you to print the documentation provided on the software disc.

Feedback: We have found our customer base very much likes our documentation package and more than 100 customers have commented on how helpful the documents (filled with the exact pictures of what they saw on their computer screen) were and how it helped them learn the system. At one time we asked the ATA, "What is the average age of a registered shooter?" The answer was 56 years of age. What we think this means, is this group is not exactly the computer generation and many customers would have a lot of difficulty if the documentation package were not written at a novice level.

The cost of printing this documentation package is $15.00.

After factoring in the cost of these additional items, the USA price is $33.00 less than the British price.

Read "The Rest of the Story."