Dry Firing an AR?

Dry Firing Your AR, would you do it?

  • Yes

    Votes: 89 94.7%

  • No

    Votes: 5 5.3%
  • Total voters
    94
  • Poll closed .
B

Ballenxj

New member
Do you do it?
Have you done it?
Would you recommend it?
Would you do it?

I'm trying to decide if it's safe to dry fire an AR to get a feel for the trigger.
I would think so, but want to hear what you guys think. Thanks. :)
Before somebody says it,
Of course the gun would be safety checked and cleared first.
 
Knock yourself out.
You can do it until your finger blisters and it won't hurt the rifle.

In USMC Boot Camp in 1972 all recruits did a full week of snapping in before they ever fired a live round. And those were long days too. So each M-16 got snapped more times than you can count every day. And each rifle was issued to the recruit in the following training series, and so it goes for years and years.

Even if a pin were to break a new one costs $7

I know of no instance where an M-15 or AR15 has broken a pin in dry-firing and only one in live fire. And I believe I have more experience with the M16 and AR-15 than most men from my time as a combat tactics instructor with DOD and also doing gunsmithing for 48 years. Not saying a pin break is impossible, but I think your chance of winning the lottery are about the same.
 
I'm not a dry firing fan. Get a pellet gun and shoot your ass off, you'll learn much more. I have a Feinwerkbau that I can practice with anywhere.
 
Wyosmith said:
Knock yourself out.
You can do it until your finger blisters and it won't hurt the rifle.

In USMC Boot Camp in 1972 all recruits did a full week of snapping in before they ever fired a live round. And those were long days too. So each M-16 got snapped more times than you can count every day. And each rifle was issued to the recruit in the following training series, and so it goes for years and years.

Even if a pin were to break a new one costs $7

I know of no instance where an M-15 or AR15 has broken a pin in dry-firing and only one in live fire. And I believe I have more experience with the M16 and AR-15 than most men from my time as a combat tactics instructor with DOD and also doing gunsmithing for 48 years. Not saying a pin break is impossible, but I think your chance of winning the lottery are about the same.
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Thank you! This is exactly what I wanted to know. :cool:

101combatvet said:
Get a pellet gun and shoot your ass off, you'll learn much more.
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Not too worried about trigger time in general as much as actual trigger time on that particular gun when I'm not able to make it to the range.
 
I used to do it a couple hundred times a week when I was competing in Service Rifle matches. Doesn't hurt a thing.
 
+1 to Wyosmith. I can't even begin to imagine how many thousands of times each of our M16s were dry fired in the Marine Corps. It's completely fine, don't even begin to worry about it.

That said, never dry fire it when the rifle is disassembled; then the hammer just smacks against the lower and it's bad for it.
 
Just in the interest of completeness: Never "dry fire" the lower if the upper's been removed. That will cause damage.
 
I used to do it a couple hundred times a week when I was competing in Service Rifle matches. Doesn't hurt a thing.
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You might like a half-inch dowel inserted into the back of your bolt carrier. I do this not for the benefit of the rifle, but because the repetitive ping of the hammer hitting just inches from your ear may take a toll on one's hearing over time.
 
Certain non mil-spec AR hammers might be subject to breakage over time, with either live fire or dry fire. I'd feel more comfortable dry firing with a mil-spec hammer.

If you go to a training class...I would stick with a mil-spec hammer, including an extra firing pin, hammer & springs in your range bag --- A spare bolt might come in handy too.
 
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Not too worried about trigger time in general as much as actual trigger time on that particular gun when I'm not able to make it to the range.
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Than use visualization it will give you the same benefit. My method improves marksmanship with actual measured results.
 
I'm actually surprised that there are two people who voted "No" on this poll...
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I voted yes based on the original question, however, I feel that the benefit is nothing compared to actual practice with a rifle in .22 caliber or pellets. Dry firing is for someone that has nothing else to do.
 
101combatvet said:
Dry firing is for someone that has nothing else to do.
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You mean to say that all those Marines mentioned above had nothing else to do? :eek:
IMO, Dry firing the actual weapon you are going to use does at least a couple things.
#1. You get used to where the trigger breaks.
#2. The trigger gradually breaks in with use. Kind of like a poor mans trigger job.
 
Than use visualization it will give you the same benefit. My method improves marksmanship with actual measured results.
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Well, I can't fire a pellet rifle in my living room. I can dry fire in my living room.
 
101combatvet said:
Dry firing is for someone that has nothing else to do.
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I'm surprised to read that from someone who's got "competitive shooter" in their sig line. :confused:

There are manifold benefits to dry fire, and while top competitive shooters agree you've got to put in the time at the range, they also agree on the benefit of dry fire.

In my case, I can't shoot everyday, but I can dry fire daily; and when I do, I see a direct relationship to my performance at the range as well as at matches.
 
101combatvet said:
Dry firing is for someone that has nothing else to do.
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Seriously? Tell that to the Marine Corps. In three weeks, a Marine recruit is taught how to hit a torso-sized target at 500 yards using an M16 with a crappy trigger and iron sights (well, now they use ACOGs apparently, but that's a very recent development). And one whole week of that training is simply dry-firing all day long at a barrel with little targets drawn on it.

The Marine Corps is legendary for its high level of service-wide marksmanship, from the most hardened infantryman to the admin clerk who sits at a desk most of the day. And apparently the Marine Corps views dry-firing as important enough to have it compose a full third of every recruit's rifle marksmanship training.
 
. I voted yes based on the original question, however, I feel that the benefit is nothing compared to actual practice with a rifle in .22 caliber or pellets. Dry firing is for someone that has nothing else to d
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As a person who has over 225 hours of formal precision rifle training same or even a little more on an AR-15 and two to three times that on handgun I hear something like was stated above and I hear someone that doesn't know what they are talking about.

So if you have figured something out that the rest of the top shooters haven't could you please spend some time articulating it more in detail.
 
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