how much dry fire is too much for the gun?

K

Kyo

New member
I make it a point to practice every day for at least a half hour. Sometimes an hour. During this time, I might dry fire my p345 at least a few hundred times? Don't worry, a mag is always in place, and so is a snap cap. How sure can I be that all this practice will not put wear and tear on it? Or is it just one of those things that you deal with?
 
That depends on the gun. Call the maker and ask.

A Ruger should be able to be dry fired till your finger falls off. I have a .44 Redhawk that has been dry fired at least 4,000 times. The trigger on that gun is smooth as glass now.

I dry fire my Glocks like it is my job.

Beretta told me not to dry fire the 92FS so I didn't. I also hated the trigger in that gun...

If you break a firing pin, having it replaced is a small price to pay for the DIY trigger job the gun will have and the muscle memory that you built up with that trigger.
 
I was raised to never dry fire (and yes I know it is safe in most modern firearms.) and I still feel like I am making a mistake every time I dryfire a gun.
that being said when I bought a p3at a while back I had a real problem jerking the trigger becuse the grip was so small, I decided to do a few dry fires to see if i could correct the problem. after about 20 dryfire's it occured to me that even though this is a modern firearm perhaps I should take a looksee in the manual and of course it says not to dryfire the pistol:barf:. yeah, I know I should have read the manual first, but you know.... old hands like me know all there is to know so I didn't need to read any GD manual:barf:
so I learned a couple of lessons that day. and it reinforced my habit of not wanting to dry fire anything, snap cap or no, I realize this is costing be a lot of usefull practice but darn, I cant shake my dads voice out of my head every time I Do it.
 
I would think not because you have to dry fire a Glock to take it down.

Bbbbuuuutttt... Glock says (not in their manual) that snap caps should be used for "extended dry fire practice."
 
A Ruger should be able to be dry fired till your finger falls off. I have a .44 Redhawk that has been dry fired at least 4,000 times. The trigger on that gun is smooth as glass now.

I dry fire my Glocks like it is my job.
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Interesting...


I've recently come to not appreciate the very stiff break point of my Glock. I've been considering the trigger job on it , to smooth it out a little.

But I've also read that after about 2k rounds through it ( I'm at about 900 ) the trigger will smooth itself out.

So will dry fire help this process ? I hate the fact that I have to rack the slide everytime I dry fire practice, as it throws off the pattern of firing in a real situation, so I don't do it that often.


Am I under a poor impression also ... does the trigger job on a glock actually lighten the break point after takeup ? Or will that remain there ?


I've also considered switching to the 3.5 lb trigger and just taking it to a local gunsmith to have it done ( depending on price ) as I'm not sure I would be comfortable enough to do it myself.
 
As far as Glock's go, I do not believe it damages the gun at all to dry fire them. We use Glock 17's in the academy and I am sure they have been dry fired a few million times each with the amount of cadets going through. And they still never fail.
 
How sure can I be that all this practice will not put wear and tear on it? Or is it just one of those things that you deal with?
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Dryfiring a gun puts wear and tear on it. There's no way around it.

If you're dryfiring for 30-60 minutes a day I'd recommend snap caps (which I see you're already using).
I would think not because you have to dry fire a Glock to take it down.
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Dryfiring to strip the gun is one thing. Dryfiring a few hundred times a day is something else entirely. Most guns don't get field stripped a few hundred times in the whole life of the gun, let alone in a single night.

Dryfiring doesn't "hurt" most guns (see manufacturer recommendations for your specific firearm), per se, but it definitely puts wear on them, especially if you spend a lot of time every day doing it.
If you break a firing pin, having it replaced is a small price to pay for the DIY trigger job the gun will have and the muscle memory that you built up with that trigger.
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Unless, of course, it breaks when you need it.

I'm NOT recommending that people not dryfire. I do a lot of dryfire practice with a variety of guns and it's very effective for learning and maintaining good trigger control. But it's good to have realistic expectations. Dryfiring without a snap cap tends to stress the firing pin and the breechface in ways that normal firing does not. I don't worry about a few dryfires, even a few dryfires daily without snap caps, but if I settle down for a long practice session I use some method for cushioning the firing pin (snapcap) or the hammer drop or both.

Dryfiring with a snap cap is very similar to firing the gun, but, of course, even firing the gun puts wear on the various internal parts. Things wear out and break even in normal operation. The more you use them the faster they break.
 
+1 johnksa

I have a glock and dont mind the dry fire to take it down, but to me, dry firing has the same effect of fingernails down the blackboard :eek:

A mate of mine in CAS, has a habit of whenever he gets a gun out (usually a revolver, Vaq) he checks it is empty, then all you hear is snap, snap, snap.... drives me nuts.

With SA's, (apart from my P22 which is a NoNo for DFing.... rimfire, they pein & bust pins) I agree PROLONGED DFing can't be good for any gun. The reason being, when the hammer/striker hits the pin, it transfers Kinetic energy, in firing, the KE is transferred to the cushioning of the primer, so the pin never 'bottoms out' so to speak. I look at it this way, if a hammer/striker hits a pin and there is no primer/snapcap to stop it, whatever stops the pin from coming out and falling on the ground in front of you (probably shoulders or a step on the pin) will themselves start to pein. I liken it to a baseball hitter taking the mega swing at a ball, if he hits it fair on, great.... nice and smooth :D.... if he misses it altogether, the bat keeps going and he has to struggle to pull it up (not the expected outcome) :eek:

Same with firing pins, they are fully charged with KE & if there is no primer to stop it, it must wear/pein whatever does stop it....

So, IMO, more than a few DF's at any one time, do yourself a favor and use some snappers ;)

Does anyone else get what I am on about?
 
Compared to the price of guns, ammo, and accessories, I find the price of snap caps well worth the peace of mind, whether or not dry fire really hurts the weapon. Snap caps are a PITA in Glocks though.
 
Keep a spare firing pin handy and practice until you need it, the art of controling the actual hammer fall is critical with any guns accuracy.

I had a 10.5" .44 mag Ruger Super Blackhawk that had quite a weighty hammer, the physical hammer strike will move the gun more than you might think, dry firing is a must do, until every time you shoot (or dry fire) the gun does not move when the hammer falls.

All that any loaded handgun must do is to go click, as if dry firing it.

Click, click click etc etc.
 
Dryfiring a gun puts wear and tear on it. There's no way around it.
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So does shooting it with live rounds! Like any machine, sooner or later something is going to break. Hopefully it will be an issue for your heirs to deal with.

Scott
 
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