Dry firing rimfires?!

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bullethole1

Moderator
Okay I asked about this before on here but Im still kind of concerned since my rimfire was dry fired 1-2 times at the most. Could somebody who is a gunsmith or guru of guns or even people who had experience with stuff like this,answer me a few questions?

1. How many times does it really take to ruin a component or "mess up" a rimfire from being dry fired

2. If done ,will it cause a drop in accuracy or to say lose the guns accuracy and make odd random shots?

3. What does dry firing a .22 or other rimfire do to the rifle as far as the only damage that comes from dry firing? Basically Im asking what is the only thing that will happen thats bad to the rifle?

4.Now to get off the subject just a little,so rimfires you should not do it at all but will it hurt a centerfire if the gun is dry fired. Now Im not talking about a 100 times a day :eek: but just a few times?

Thanks for any help/info.:confused:
 
It depends upon the gun. You can f-up the chamber, or break the pin. if it fires fine and chambers fine, your guns are OK, and no, accuracy loss will not happen as long as the bullet seats fully in the chamber, if dry fired excessively you can make a peen in the chamber, which can and will prevent a round from chambered. If a gun cannot be decocked without firing, just put a snap cap or spent round in there.

With a centrefire, it is fine, because the pin hits thin air.
 
So if done plenty of times,the round will not fit snug into the chamber or it might just jam everytime a bullet tries to enter the chamber? The funny thing about all this is I had a marlin 60 semi auto that would dry fire after every last shot because I didnt know if it was the last shot. Now I have a Marlin 60 semi with the bolt lock hold that activates after every last shot. :o
 
It probably really depends on the gun. In the insruction booklet for my ruger mark 2 it has you dry fire it before you can disassemble it for cleaning. I haven't been able to see any signs of contact around the chamber area. THat said I dont dry fire it other than for this reason.

Similar to what was stated earlier, I have seen a lot of rimfires get dry fired after the last shot and the shooter hasn't been keeping count. I have yet to see a problem stem from this. In most cases its probably not going to cause an issue but I would avoid dry firing rimfires if all possible.

As far as centerfires, smith & wesson says its okay. The US military thinks its okay. But again it probably depends on the firearm.
 
There are .22 snap caps available. A-Zoom makes some nice ones. But they won't last forever. Everytime you use them, they get dinged on a portion of the rim where the firing pin hits. I imagine after enough times, they may need to be replaced.
 
jagwire
Junior Member


Join Date: July 18, 2011
Posts: 3 It probably really depends on the gun. In the insruction booklet for my ruger mark 2 it has you dry fire it before you can disassemble it for cleaning. I haven't been able to see any signs of contact around the chamber area. THat said I dont dry fire it other than for this reason.
Click to expand...

Your manual also advises being certain the little pin in the bolt that restricts the forward travel of the firing pin isn't dropped/left out on reassembly - that pin makes it safe to dry fire without damage to the mouth of the chamber from the firing pin strikes it.
 
I know of 4 or 5 people that would dry fire their 22lr at least once everytime they use it, and its done no damage at all.
Same with a 12ga and a lot of different center fires
 
It really depends on the individual model. If in doubt, check the manual.

When dry firing a rimfire, it's possible for the firing pin to go too far and over time, peen the chamber. This is more of a problem with older rimfires, as modern guns tend to be engineered to prevent this. In fact, the manual for the Ruger 10/22 specifically states that you should practice dry firing so that you can learn the feel of the trigger.

It's different with centerfires. Some centerfires can be damaged by dry firing, but it's less common. However, there are exceptions. Old milsurp CZ52 pistols are well known for brittle firing pins that tend to break when dry fired. Or, even modern pistols such as Ruger's SR series can be damaged if you dry fire it without a magazine in place.

Again, you'd have to check the manual.
 
I have 2 old Marlin .22s that have both been fired off probably 25 times or more and it doesnt hurt them. It doesnt affect accuracy of the weapon either, all that may happen is eventually the rifle just wont fire do to the pin being broke or rubbed off but honestly Ive never even heard of anyone with this issue around my area. 1 or 2 times is nothing to worry about, if it fires now, it will forever
 
Some 22s are designed so the firing pin will stop short of contact to prevent barrel peening. That being said I've never been comfortable dry firing any rimfire at all....
 
Cooper says no dry firing of rimfires. Once again, I lose count and pull the trigger on an empty chamber. I just can't count to five.

Kimber says... "The new Kimber .22 can be dry fired without damage to the firing pin or other components."
 
My 10/22 always dry fires after the last shot since I don't keep count. When I am done using it I also dry fire it to decock the hammer. No problems yet.
 
If you ask me, "Dry Fire Paranoia" is a bunch of poppycock. I've got many guns, pretty much all the common types, and they all have been dry fired --- A LOT. I'm not going to say that I've never had a problem, because ONE TIME, the firing pin broke on the 870 shotgun that my friend and I had dry fired THOUSANDS of times. It was easy and cheap to replace, and well worth it for the value of the dry fire practice we received.
I have been in possession of several of my guns for thirty years or more, and I detect no issues with any of them that could be caused from dry fire.
I've tried snap caps before but they wear out and I've pretty much given up on them.
If I am too cavalier about my dry fire behavior, and someday cause damage to one of my guns, I'll fix it and perhaps refrain with that gun. I imagine that there are guns that absolutely shouldn't be dry fired, but I'll bet that it's a pretty short list.
Dry fire practice is very valuable, and it's a shame that so many folks cheat themselves of it because of unfounded fears.
I hope I haven't offended anyone who disagrees with me too much, especially if you happen to sell snap caps.:p jd
 
It sounds as though you are concerned about your rifle - a Marlin 60, if I recall correctly.

Inspect the chamber face - that is where the most problematic damage will be apparent (if there is any, which I seriously doubt). Look for a spot where the firing pin might have contacted the face.

If you believe that it might be a safety issue, you should have a qualified gunsmith inspect it.

Purchase some snap-caps or save a few spent .22 LRs to use as snap-caps.

Just be very careful that you are actually dry-firing EMPTY, SPENT, ALREADY USED, INERT, NOT-DANGEROUS .22 LR cases.

Have fun with your rifle, and be safe.

Monty
 
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Thanks folks,If I can remember correctly it only happened about twice.Im going hunting today with it at our farm,I just had so much work at our shop with no time to go shoot it since I bought it about a month ago:eek:
 
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