Dry firing? The truth

SnapCaps mandatory !

I needed to go get SnapCaps because I have a Tec-9M. The manual flat out says dry firing "causes the bolt face and or the firing pin to be damaged"

But if you don't want to store it with the striker & firing pin in the rear condition you have to pull the trigger. So I got snap caps. When I'm done cleaning it I put a SnapCap in the mag to do a function check. I just store it with a SnapCap in the chamber.

BTW - besides dry firing the M16, we used to dry fire the hell out of the M1911s.

And there is an exercise with the M1911 you can do for training for sight picture & proper trigger pull, you can put a pencil in the chamber and you aim at the wall where there is a mini target scaled to simulate whatever range... you pull the trigger and your pencil pops out and makes a dot on the target. If you are doing everything consistently your dots should all be in the same place.

I'm not recomending it for home use, I'm just saying we dry fired the heck out of those M1911s.
 
2. Using snap-caps is another layer of idiot-proofing. The habit of loading the snap-caps ensures that I always check my gun before I dry fire it.
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This is one of the main reasons I use them. You cant have a live round and a snap cap occupy the same chamber at the same moment. It just adds another level of safety.

I dry fire "something" daily. These days, its usually a Glock, and a rifle or two. They get dry fired constantly, as do most of my other guns, in a rotation of sorts, or just for S&G's.

In 50 some odd years of doing it, Ive only ever had one firing pin break, and it was on an M1A I used for High Power and DCM shoots. It was also dry fired pretty much daily, as well as shot constantly.
 
Snap caps aside..
Is there a rule of thumb on which types of,guns are ''ok'' to dry fire, like my speed six has a transfer bar supposedly ok, any thoughts?
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The transfer bar doesn't operate when you pull the trigger. It's a safety feature that prevents the gun from firing when finger is off the trigger. Such as when the gun gets dropped.

Talked to a SIG gunsmith, back in the days when you could. He said snap caps should be used. Firing pins break because the FP doesn't hit anything and wants to keep going. Snapcaps prevent that. Also, snapcaps keep the firing pin spring from weakening from the spring compression.

Yes, I know. Some have dry fired guns thousands of times without a broken firing pin and proclaim the practice to be ok. Others have broken firing pins. It's your call.

I personally use them for all dry fire practice. I don't worry about limited dry firing without them.

:cool:
 
I asked the guy at the gun shop about dry firing and he said that it does not hurt center fire guns. Only rim fire guns should not be dry fired
 
I HIGHLY recommend snap caps, and would very much LIMIT dry firing even on a centerfire pistol if I don't have the appropriate cap.
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Why? It's not common to break a firing pin, and if the price of dry firing is replacing the firing pin, big deal. What did it cost you?

Dry firing is a very common practice that will increase a persons familiarity with that particular gun and ultimately can fix many problems such as jerking or flinching and will increase accuracy and proficiency.
 
On 1911s, dry firing will wear the firing pin spring but the cost is minimal. It won't otherwise harm them the pistol (don't drop the slide on an empty camber). Just replace the FP spring when you replace the recoil spring. They sell them together in packages. Very cheap for the practice you get.
 
On a 1911 or almost any other centerfire the dry firing will not damage the gun any sooner than live firing. I can get in 10,000 trigger pulls for free. 10,000 live fires would cost me around $4,000 @ $20/box.

Practice is practice. Who cares if something breaks. Would we be upset because a $2 part broke after 10,000 rounds?

Now, not all guns are safe to dry fire. ALMOST any centerfire is fine, but there are exceptions. If in doubt read the owners manual or contact the manufacturer. I know my Kel-Tec specificaly says NO!
 
The original cautions about dry firing came from the old Colts with the pin as an intergral part of the hammer. Then the rimfires were added. Both still appy to guns of their type. Few other guns will be damaged with modest amounts of dry firing. Many of those who are dry fired may have the fireing pins removed to preclude damage.
 
So if you cant dry fire a .22lr, then what is the correct procedure (bolt action)? I pick up the rifle to inspect, safety check, then put away with the action cocked? Wont it damage the spring to leave it long periods of time in that condition?
 
Just on the chance that dry firing with an empty chamber may cause wear, I use ST Action Pro Dummy Rounds. Using them has the added benefit of letting you practice malfunction drills, and they are extremely durable, even bouncing off the floor.

http://www.stactionpro.com/
 
If there is no warning to not dry fire it won't hurt your gun. If any part breaks, it would have broken at exactly the same round count from live fire.
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I guess one could argue that it's better to have a firing pin fail while dry-firing a firearm meant to be used for self-defense than have it happen during live fire when keeping a firing pin intact could save your life.
 
But I had always heard that it's hard on the firing pin of an older Smith and Wesson, where the firing pin is mounted on the hammer.
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I brought my old S&W to a gunsmith once for a checkup and he told me I could dry fire that gun until I was old and grey (which is a while from now).

His name is Rusty and he has John Wayne posters in his shop. I trust him.
 
NEVER, EVER, dry fire any gun that uses a spring driven striker. If I have to decock a striker fired gun, I place the eraser end of a pencil into the barrel to absorb the hit (AFTER it is checked to make sure it is unloaded).
 
So if you cant dry fire a .22lr, then what is the correct procedure (bolt action)? I pick up the rifle to inspect, safety check, then put away with the action cocked? Wont it damage the spring to leave it long periods of time in that condition?
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It theory it would probably be ok to leave it cocked. A good spring isn't worn by being stored compressed but rather by the cycling from compressed to uncompressed, as would occur with lots of normal use. At least that's what they say about mag springs, I would think the same holds true of firing pin springs, hammer springs, etc.

However, if it concerns you, it may be quite possible to decock your bolt action rifle. For example, Mosins and Mausers can apparently be decocked by holding down the trigger while the bolt is open, and then closing the bolt with the trigger still held down. The same thing works for my Romanian M69 trainer rifle, which is a bolt action .22lr.
 
My experience is that dry firing can damage even centerfire guns. Snap caps are CHEAP, MUCH cheaper than replacing a firing pin, particularly an HK firing pin. To me, it's a no-brainer.
 
Thanks raftman. Thats actually what I do with my bolt .22's, close the bolt with the trigger depressed but I wasn't sure how much different that was than dry firing. On my mosins, I'm able to hold back the rear section of the bolt when the trigger is depressed in order to cushion the discharge. I assume this is sufficiant?
 
I asked the guy at the gun shop about dry firing and he said that it does not hurt center fire guns. Only rim fire guns should not be dry fired
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Everyone working behind the counter at a gun shop isn't necessarily an expert on guns, although to hear them expound they like you to think they are. Twenty years of doing structural steel erection taught me about "work hardening." Live firing provides a soft primer for the pin to strike. In ironwork we would call that a "softener." A snap cap preforms the same service. If you dry fire without that softener you are work hardening parts of the firearm. Maybe you will get away with it for a lifetime and maybe not. I guarantee it doesn't do the gun any good. Iron beating on iron over and over eventually causes work hardening.
 
Quote:
I HIGHLY recommend snap caps, and would very much LIMIT dry firing even on a centerfire pistol if I don't have the appropriate cap.

Reply:
Why? It's not common to break a firing pin, and if the price of dry firing is replacing the firing pin, big deal. What did it cost you?
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Wasn't common that my firing pin broke on my SIG P239. But it did. Sigarms recommended that I use snap caps for the reasons stated in my earlier post.

1. When the firing pin doesn't hit something to stop it, it wants to keep going on it's own and it can break. And you may get away with if for years. I didn't.

2. AND, dry firing compresses the FP spring a lot more than actually firing. On a 1911 it's easy to replace. Not so easy for most other semi-autos.
 
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