Howdy Again
Let me clarify my answer about dry firing a rimfire revolver, particularly a Smith and Wesson.
I did not mean that one should make a practice of repeated dry firing. In fact I am a big proponent of not dry firing centerfire firearms without a snap cap in place.
But dry firing a S&W rimfire revolver a few times, just to get a feel of the trigger, is not going to hurt anything, despite the disclaimer from S&W.
At last count I have S&W K-22 revolvers dating from 1932, 1935, 1950, and 1953, in addition to my Model 17-3 that I bought in 1975 and the 617 that I bought used a few years ago. I have a 22/32 Heavy Frame Target made in 1923 before S&W was rebating chambers, and a Bekeart made in 1940. All of these revolvers function perfectly. Do you honestly think that in all that time nobody ever dry fired all those old revolvers? I don't.
I do not make a practice of dry firing any firearm, I have suffered a few broken firing pins over time. But dry firing a S&W revolver a few times is not going to hurt anything.
Here are a few photos that may prove interesting.
This is a K-22 that shipped in 1932. A few interesting things to note:
The cylinder is peppered with firing pin marks all over the place. But if you look closely you will see that none of them are strikes made when the cylinder was locked in battery. All of those strikes are the result of careless handling over the years, the result of dropping the hammer when the cylinder was not properly locked up. Even the strike marks on the edges of the chambers happened when the hammer was dropped and the cylinder was not properly locked up. No, I did not do it, I bought the revolver about five years ago, all those strike marks were already there.
You can see by the fired case in the cylinder where the firing pin actually strikes. Notice that the mark left by the firing pin does not contact the cylinder at all, it falls completely within the recessed area of the chamber. Despite the abuse, this revolver functions perfectly, it never misfires, and it is the most accurate of all my 22 caliber revolvers.
This K-22 shipped in 1950. What is the first thing we notice? The recesses around the case head are a much larger diameter than on the older K-22. Notice that the firing pin mark on the fired case is in the same relative position to the chamber as the older gun, but there is even more clearance between the firing pin and the cylinder.
This is my Model 17-3 that I bought new in 1975. Pretty much identical to the 1950 K-22 with the same large diameter chamber recesses and clearance between the firing pin and the body of the cylinder. Looks like I have done a pretty good job over the years of not dropping the hammer with the gun out of battery.
Here is the 617 I bought used a few years ago. Again, the large diameter chamber recesses leaving plenty of clearance around the firing pin.
What about the firing pin striking the bottom of the chamber recess you may ask. I just dry fired each of these Smiths with nothing in the chambers, and I could see no evidence of the firing pins bottoming out on the chamber recesses.
Just for fun, here is the cylinder out of an old Three Screw Ruger Single Six. I checked the Ruger web site, and they say:
"All Ruger revolvers can be dry fired without damage, and dry firing can be useful to familiarize the owner with the firearm. However, be sure any firearm is completely unloaded before dry firing!"
Again, I am not advocating willy-nilly dry firing any firearm. But with a quality rimfire revolver, particularly a Smith and Wesson, dry firing it a little bit is not going to hurt anything.