Can dry firing hurt a striker? Take a snap cap when shopping?

I went to a LGS once with a gun to trade in to offset the cost of a new one of the same model in Stainless. I removed my snap caps from the one I brought and they inspected my gun. They gave me an offer that was close to what I expected they would but still low.

The gun they claimed was "new" had all sorts of surface dings, some scratches and the cylinders were cruddy but when I asked them if it was new they said, "Yes" twice. I started to put my snap caps from MY gun into theirs and asked if I could drop the hammer to get a feel for the trigger. They said no. I said goodbye.
 
Jackalope, I bought my USP Compact new in the late 90s. The firing pin design doesn’t look like the strongest. I have another USP Compact now. I don’t dry fire with it.

When I have brought snap caps shopping I have showed them to the clerk and asked if I could use them.
 
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When I'm in a gunatorium or show I always ask if I can pull the trigger (making sure the gun is empty of course) or any other manipulation. This is a simple matter of courtesy.

So I've been shopping for a pistol and have been trying different pistols and dry firing them quite a bit to really get a good idea of the triggers.
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I wonder what "quite a bit" is? 3-4 times? 20?

It only takes a few to get an idea.

I recall being at a store and watching a fella pic up a used, on consignment 1911, he was racking the slide then dropping it. Repeatedly, like 9 or 10 times. He said it was his test to see if the hammer followed and dropped. OK. But it wasn't his gun. He'd finish with one and move on to the same thing with the rest. Till the clerk told him to stop.

tipoc
 
With most modern firearms dry firing will break something at exactly the same round count as live firing. But some guns can be damaged with just a few dry fires. Checking 1st is always a good idea.

The Ruger 345 was an example. Actually Ruger encouraged dry firing in the owners manual, but AFTER the guns were released it was found that dry firing without a magazine in place would damage the magazine disconnect and make the gun inoperable. And it only took a handful of dry fires. With an empty magazine it place it doesn't hurt anything.

I always ask for permission before dry firing a gun in a store. Most employees agree, some won't. A few dry fires in the store won't hurt anything with most guns. But if everyone who looks at that particular gun cycles the slide and dry fires it a dozen times the gun will start looking very used in a few days.

I can understand store clerks wanting to limit the number of times each gun is dry fired. Especially on new guns. Or the clerk doesn't know what they are talking about. Either is a possibility.

A blurb in the manual stating that dryfiring won't hurt the gun isn't a guarantee that the gun will hold up to an hour of dryfire practice every night for the next several years.
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Maybe not a guarantee, but I've done just that with multiple guns, some I've owned for 40+years without a single incident. I have one rifle that I'd estimate has had 100,000 dry fires.

Some day something may break, but all that dry firing has made me a much better shot. When/if it breaks, I'll get it repaired.
 
Myth 5: Dry-Firing A Gun Is Harmful
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Pretty much spot on with the caveat of unsupported firing pins and rimfire. If your firing pin breaks dry firing, it would have eventually broke anyway when firing.

Target box:

Each soldier will dry fire the exercise
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Dime Washer:

This dry-fire technique is used to teach or evaluate the skill of trigger squeeze and is effective when conducted from an unsupported position.
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https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/3-22-9/appa.htm

Done lots of dry firing and consider it an essential for developing muscle memory and good technique.
 
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You can not strike a piece of metal with another piece of metal without causing work-hardening and metal fatigue. This is not an issue with occasional dry firing on guns engineered to minimize the above. Excessive dry firing will eventually break something. A live round's primer cushions the firing pins blow-minimizing damage to the firing pin.
 
Several of my pistols have seen thousands of dry fires and I've never used a snap cap in my life. If one of them happens to break because of it I will simply repair it.
 
Dry fireing is a pretty amature thing to do IMO. Its just bad practice. The majority of guns are affected by it even though some say its OK in the manual. Lots of broken strikers are the result of dry firing.

snap caps for centerfires. Empty fired cases for rimfire. Just good sound firearms practice along with cleaning and lubing firearms.

of course you dont dry fire. Not only is it bad for the firearm its also an accident waiting to happen.

other bad practices...
snapping shut revolvers
dropping slides on empty chambers
useing slide releases with the thumb
useing most safeties as a decocker
dropping mags on hard surfaces when its not needed
Bumpfireing
snapping shut break open shotguns
useing the butt of your gun as a hammer

etc. etc. etc.

its all just basically abusive handling or maintinance practices which lead to issues that are not necessary. I know we live in a world of mass production throwaway junk for the most part but its best to take care of your things if you care about them.... which I assume we all do since guns along with parts and free gunsmithing services are not supplied free of charge.
 
magnut said:
Dry fireing is a pretty amature thing to do IMO. Its just bad practice.
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I've been shooting for over 40 years and I don't believe I have ever heard such a thing from anyone I considered knowledgeable about handguns.
 
not sure what to tell you. Sounds like you hang around dumb people or dont pay attention. I learned about the negative aspects of dry fire pretty much the first day.

Its not that hard to use a snap cap and it saves fireing pins and strikers from wear or breakage.

Never ever dry fire a rimfire.

Or you can just mishandle your firearms then complain they are junk when they dont function properly anymore. I have fixed a lot of firearms from dry fire damage. Most of the time its just replacing a fireing pin or striker. Do it enough on a semi auto rimfire and you will end up replacing a barrel. Damage it just the right way on certain guns can produce slam fires or runaways under certain conditions.

maybe get a replica gun or toy for dry fire practice LOL. I mean.... afterall we are talking about real firearms here. It seems like handling with care might be good practice.

if people are too cheap for snap caps you can use a wood dowel, pencil etc. Maybe even a clean cut stick from the local tree if the wood dowel costs to much.
 
Dry fireing is a pretty amature thing to do IMO. Its just bad practice........of course you dont dry fire. Not only is it bad for the firearm its also an accident waiting to happen.
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"not sure what to tell you. Sounds like you hang around dumb people or dont pay attention."
Might be good advice for yourself

Also, it is spelled "firing" as in "firingline"!LOL:D
 
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Good advice for ANYBODY when it come to firearms or anything else that can potentialy get you killed through bad or reckless handleing. Be it guns, motocycles, power tools etc. etc.

I have seen LE who practice dry fireing and go to qualify with a pistol that does not function. Would not be a good thing to need you gun in an emergency then find out you have a broken striker.

I have also seen negligent discharges from people "dry fireing" guns. They swore the gun was empty though!

Its just a bonehead practice. Even if the gun can handle repeated dry fire its a bad habit. Anyone who has never seen a disabled firearm from dry fireing any damage to the fireing pin or striker has not seen much in terms of gun repair. Its a common cause of malfunction.

Just because one gun can handle it does not mean others can as well.
Example....

Ruger P89. You may indeed wear out your finger before causeing damage by dry fireing. After the P85 recall for the fireing pins breaking upon decocking looks like ruger decided it was not going to have that issue again and overbuilt the fireing pin to the point where its shaped more like a cone and cant be broken.

Ruger P345 (I Think...its been a while) Dry fire without the magazine in place a few times can render the pistol useless and would need to be sent in to the factory in some cases.

These are just two examples. There are lots out there. Not just old stuff either.
 
Back when I lived in Canada, now live in Orlando. While visiting the Firearms Unit in Toronto, a customer put what we all thought was a snap cap in his AR15, to let the clerk try the trigger! BANG a shot into the ceiling.

Turned out this SNAPCAP, was a failure to fire round. A dent in the primer, until one day it fired! That was loud as well. My ears rang for a couple of hours. Not sure what was done about this AD, but I was not impressed.
 
yeah I dont think I would trust a customer with his own homemade snap cap. Maybe if its obvious like an Azoom but it really should be provided by the shop if nothing else for liability reasons.

Probably best for most people to just ask before they dry fire a gun in the shop. Good manners is good practice. Especially when you dont own the object your handling. Same goes for a quick field strip to check the internals before purchasing.... always good to ask first. Many gun shop counter folks may not know how to reassemble the gun.
 
I would think that shop owners might be nervous about seeing someone put anything into the chamber to test fire! Unless they personally check the snap cap to make sure it's safe, they don't really know what the customer is doing.
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That was my first thought as well, I wonder if asking the clerk for a snap cap to prevent any possible damage to the firearm would be a simpler route.

If nothing else, it gives the store the opportunity to make the decision with which they are most comfortable.
 
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