dry fire or leave cocked? or somethin else?
Which is worse - leaving a gun cocked (so not necessarily good on the spring if left too long) or dry firing it with nothing in the chamber?
or should i just use something that I can dryfire with that won't do any damage?
or should i just use something that I can dryfire with that won't do any damage?
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On automatics, pull the bolt open with one hand and keep pulling the trigger with the other, while slowly allowing th bolt to slide forward, you'll feel it click and the bolt will close.
On bolt actions where the handle cocks the bolt, do the same thing while pushing the bolt handle back down.
At least, that's how I was taught. Or you can get the snap caps.0 -
You don't say what kind of gun, but most modern guns today it will not hurt to dry fire them. If it will hurt them it usually says in the manuel.
Also todays springs should not have a problem with staying compressed. I have 2 of my 45 that I leave cocked and locked for home defence (they are loaded but the springs are just as compressed as if it was empty) and I notice no loss of spring power.
If you are not comfortable dry fireing get some snap caps or use a spent round in the chamber.0 -
I'm a big believer in snap caps. I have a couple dozen for my .22 rimfire guns. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Henry0Reilly
I'm a big believer in snap caps. I have a couple dozen for my .22 rimfire guns.
I did fail to say in my reply that ALL rim fire should use snap caps! Center fire should be fine on most guns.0 -
Generally, on a good quality weapon, neither will hurt materially and is of little concern. 0 -
as the other kevin fastidiously defended his favorite firearm, i shall do so with mine:
not only are glock ok to dry fire, its is a REQUIRED step in the disassembly process. if its required, it must be ok. with the exception of rimfires, all modern semi auto wont be hurt by dry fireing unless you df a gun a thousand times a day every day(competition practice and such). in that case, snap caps or spent rounds should be utilized. i limit my response to semi autos because i have very little experience beyond basic competency with wheel guns. maybe one of our revolver experts could shed some light on that.0 -
Hard to get out of the "never dry fire" habit even though it may be OK for some models. [:)] 0 -
My XD requires dry fire for the disassembly process to. Must be OK.
Depends on the gun I suppose.
What do you have??????????0 -
dry firing is the worse of the two.
and quality has nothing to do with it. dry firing damages firing pin holes in breech faces. and the sudden stop of a firing pin hitting nothing will cause it to crack off and break...as it desires to keep going forward without resistance. follow me?
never dry fire w/o snap caps.
ive found guns loaded and cocked for years and they functioned fine.0 -
I also use snap caps and do not either dry fire or leave firearms cocked. Even with my O/U shotguns, I use a horn block to release the firing pins before putting them away. 0 -
For my 22's, I take the bullet and powder out of a round and fire it and leave the empty shell in the gun. Right there I have my snap cap, I keep an empty case in all of my 22's. 0 -
i started this post because i just bought a brand new XD-45. i would like to leave it cocked and loaded for self-defense. i imagine that occasional dry-fire is fine because it is required for disassembly as someone else mentioned before. i don't have any spent casings or snap caps but it sounds like i should get some. after all, it's a cheap preventative measure to potentially costly damage. better safe than sorry right? thanks for all the insight everyone! 0 -
you are not going to hurt your Xd 0 -
cm - will you be leaving in condition 1 in your home when you are absent ??
I think that is a bad idea.
I carry my single action autos in condition 1.
D.0 -
my pistol is almost NEVER not on my person, thanks to my CCW permit [8D]
if i do leave my pistol at home it's because i'm going to the bar, in which case i unload it and lock it up. i live in a less-than-upscale neighborhood so i know not to leave it accessible.0 -
Rimfires, especially older ones shouldn't be dry-fired if you can help it. It can cause peening to the chamber's rim seat or mushrooming of the firing pin itself. Most modern rimfires are machined to the technological age and times and you don't have to worry about the unintended contact between the firing pin and rim seat. Some older shotguns were notorious for the softer metals in the firing pins and when a firing pin would rebound it would re-contact the plunger that pushed them with a bounce or a slap and it would crack or break them. Usually this occurred in older double-barreled shotguns, but alot of older firearms had some pretty intricate firing mechanisms that had many well machined but smaller moving parts and any of these could in turn take the shock-load of a dry firing and possibly fail.
It is not much of an issue nowadays, but in .22's and other rimfires it is still not a good habit to practice without snap caps. And if you are going to spend time practicing real world situations/scenarios while practicing (dry-firing... because using live ammo in a mock home invasion drill has a tendency to lower the R-value of your home's insulation [:D] ) your personal defense handgunning Snap-Caps are always a good thing and probably should be required.0 -
This is another reason why I like guns where you can actually see the hammer ... lever guns and revolvers. On my others I just dry fire. The occasional dry fire doesn't seem to hurt all that much. I don't think leaving a gun cocked for indefinite long periods of time is a good idea. 0 -
If it does not hold up under dry fire,why do you have it? 0 -
quote:Originally posted by cmccullo
Which is worse - leaving a gun cocked (so not necessarily good on the spring if left too long) or dry firing it with nothing in the chamber?
or should i just use something that I can dryfire with that won't do any damage?
Leaving a gun cocked really doesn't wear down the spring that much... that's more of a myth. It is the going back and forth that wears it out. Think about if. It you bend a paper clip, does that cause it to break? No. It is bending it back and forth, rapidly and repeatedly, than thins the wire and heats it up.
Dryfiring, on the other hand, is generally highly discouraged; especially with rimfire guns. Using snap caps is the best thing for this. You may not necessarily break the firing pin, but you can still mess up the gun.0 -
quote:Originally posted by git_r_done
You don't say what kind of gun, but most modern guns today it will not hurt to dry fire them. If it will hurt them it usually says in the manuel.
Also todays springs should not have a problem with staying compressed. I have 2 of my 45 that I leave cocked and locked for home defence (they are loaded but the springs are just as compressed as if it was empty) and I notice no loss of spring power.
If you are not comfortable dry fireing get some snap caps or use a spent round in the chamber.
That's not a bad idea, but make sure you're using a casing that was fired from that weapon. Otherwise it may get stuck in the chamber and you'll have to put a cleaning rod down the barrel and tap it with a hammer to get it out.0
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