Dry Firing
Why can some guns be dry-fired and others not? How do you tell which ones can?
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I have talk to people that tell me two different stories about dry firing a gun. So say no big deal others tell me to get those mock shells to use so that the pin is hitting something what is your advice 0 -
With most (but not all) rimfire designs, a dry fire will cause the hardened steel firing pin tip to strike the chamber rim. Repeated metal-metal impact can damage the chamber wall, firing pin nose, or both.
The damage can break the tip of the firing pin, or peen metal from the chamber rim, eventually making it impossible to properly chamber a rimfire round.
That's why most (but not all) *RIMFIRE* (eg .22LR) guns should NOT be dry-fired. There are a FEW rimfire designs (including the Ruger 10-22) where the firing pin is not free to strike the chamber wall and dry fires are OK.
With centerfire guns, in most (but not all) cases, a dry fire just means the firing pin hits air and is stopped by the firing pin return spring or metal-metal contact at the BASE of the firing pin block, causing no damage.
This is why most (but not all) CENTERFIRE guns can be dry-fired safely.
In SOME cases centerfire guns have brittle firing pins that are easily damaged by dry-firing, for example the CZ-52 pistol has a weak firing pin notorious for breaking with only a few dry fires. And there are a few other designs where dry firing is not good for centerfires.0 -
Good information and glad to learn about this.
What about dry firing of shotguns of various types, like double, semi-auto, pump?0 -
quote:Originally posted by glewisjax
Good information and glad to learn about this.
What about dry firing of shotguns of various types, like double, semi-auto, pump?
Its not a great idea with any gun, to repeatedly dry fire it. The firing pin is hardened steel, and can peen things internally, and/or get very brittle and break itseld. If you must test, use a spent case or a snap-cap. One or two times dry firing might not hurt, but who knows how many times someone else might have done that? Is it worth taking the chance?
Best0 -
On a related note, always ask permission to dry fire a firearm that is not yours.
If permission is granted, only dry fire once or at most twice.0 -
quote:Originally posted by glewisjax
Good information and glad to learn about this.
What about dry firing of shotguns of various types, like double, semi-auto, pump?
Similar to centerfire rifles, and again depending on the specific design of the gun in question, this is generally safe.
Lets face it, if a few dry fires would damage centerfire guns, most of them wouldn't be working!
Also there are some guns (I'm thinking about particular target pistols) that were designed specifically to be safe to dry fire or even a specific dry fire mode. A gun like that can be dry-fired as many times as you like.
In general, for other guns, while occasional dry fires are OK if you want to do hundreds or thousands of dry-fires for trigger practice (eg sit there for an hour dry firing), then its probably a good idea to get the appropriate caliber snap cap to cushion the firing pin a bit.
For rimfire guns, a spent shell can be used for a few dry fires, if you rotate it in between trigger pulls so that the firing pin get to hit different (ie uncrushed) parts of the rim.0 -
bowbrad.........I know that the Browning Medalist .22 can be dry fired as that is (was) used a selling point for the pistol years ago. I still use it on mine today! But for most weapons it is not a good idea for the reasons you are reading. 0 -
I do not dry fire anything unless there is a snap-cap in the chamber 0 -
I had a Winchester model 70 (I think) youth model and someone dry fired it so much it peened the front of the bolt forward in a big bump. It was a mess. I won't dry fire one very much at all (any firearm).
Good Luck....Pete0 -
In general, the models of firearm with a captive firing pin (rides in a bushing with a spring)AND are not rimfires, are safe to dry fire, BUT why not put a fired case (centerfire) or a snap cap (rimfire) or even a fired case with a pencil eraser instead of a primer in the chamber to lessen any metal/metal contact.
Certain revolver makers have integral firing pins on the hammer instead of the frame, and should not be dry fired without the aforementioned cushioning to keep from snapping off the pin.
So, short list of dry fire capable revolvers would include any Ruger centerfire, most recent Taurus centerfires, Dan Wesson, Korth, and almost any gun with a transfer bar type mechanism.
Don't dry fire list would include Colt, S&W, Cimarron, Stampede, almost any gun over 60 years old, or without a transfer bar.
Semis, shotguns and oddities should be cushioned just because.0 -
As an example of dry firing being bad policy if you're not intimately familiar with the particular gun's characteristics, many don't realize they shouldn't be dry firing the otherwise highly reliable SIG 'Classic Series' pistol.
Without a primer or snap-cap to stop it, when struck by the hammer the firing pin's forward motion is stopped by it slamming against the firing pin positioning pin. This pin, which is visible just to the rear of the breech face, is what holds the entire firing pin assembly within the slide.
Whether it be the older style double-roll pin, the solid pin or the newer 'spiral pin' type, the firing pin repeatedly impacting it can eventually cause damage that will result in the pistol seriously failing on you.
Dry firing is an effective and IMO indispensable training tool, but using a snap-cap of some sort with any type of gun is generally the best policy.0
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