Is there a reason for saying no?

I agree with you Kevin.

If they do it again, I'll draw the line.

I am sorry for not mentioning this earlier, but I believe I failed to mention the part regarding snap caps.

The shooters I was talking about use snap caps, and they told me they don't consider that dry firing because the pin is actually hitting something.

I do the same thing, I don't pull the trigger unless I am ready to fire a live cartridge. Or unless I have a snap cap in there.

Now to clarify something, do the competition shooters you guys are referring to dry fire with a snap cap or without?

Also, for those of you that dry fire, do you do so with a snap cap or without?
 
i said it, snap caps, its cheap insurance, plus you can play with the action of the gun too. or rather, check the feed from the magazine to the chamber fo the gun functionality.... :P
 
My Dad always had us put in a spent shell for this stuff, Said the firing pin needs to stop, no spent shell the pin may over travel. Dont know if this is true today or not but it is what I do to make sure I dont do any damage to the gun.
 
Here is one word of caution regarding safety though. Always make double sure your firearm is unloaded and even then only dry fire at something you would not want to destroy.
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:eek:

Of course we know you meant something you would be prepared to destroy. :)


DogoDon
 
As some have said it really depends on the gun. I had a Sigma SW40VE that I dry fired a ton because I read numerous places that it would not hurt the gun, and that it might help break in the stiff trigger. My Beretta 92FS on the other hand I won't dry fire without snap caps though because the manual from beretta says specifically not to do so. My advise if read the manuals for your guns. If they say don't dry fire, buy some snap caps. Otherwise have at it.
 
Old revolvers with fixed firing pins should not be dry fired as it can break the pin off of the hammer.
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When my sister became a sheriff's deputy many years ago, they issued her a 686. They also told her that they wanted her to have 10,000 trigger pulls on it by graduation.

I dry fire the hell out of my older S&W revolvers, and have never seen a hammer nose get broken. The Smith and Wesson manual says it is OK to dry fire centerfire revolvers.
 
It depends on the gun. I dry fire my S&W's routinely, but S&W says that it's OK on centerfires. I will not dryfire my H&R 999 Sportsman or CZ-52 however.
 
Quote:
Old revolvers with fixed firing pins should not be dry fired as it can break the pin off of the hammer.
When my sister became a sheriff's deputy many years ago, they issued her a 686. They also told her that they wanted her to have 10,000 trigger pulls on it by graduation.

I dry fire the hell out of my older S&W revolvers, and have never seen a hammer nose get broken. The Smith and Wesson manual says it is OK to dry fire centerfire revolvers
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I have a S&W model 13-1 with the firing pin on the hammer. I dry fire it all the time. The only way the firing pin on the hammer is going to break, is if some home the pin didn't line up with the hole. In which case, it wouldn't matter if there was a live round, snap cap, or anything else on the other side of that hole.

Arggggg. The good old dry fire myths. A couple of guns specifically say not to dry fire, so it must mean it's bad for every gun in the world. And of course, the people who make snap caps feed on the fear to build and sell you something that you don't need, but you will pay for anyway. "Because it's better to be safe than sorry". And of course, the same snap-cap manufacturer will tell you that certain snap caps are only good for so many shots.

The only time I use snap caps is when I am working on a gun, so I can the hammer strike. Usually, I put "White-out" on what would be the primer, so I can see the mark after the firing pin hits it. I also use some to test feeding, ejection, ramping, etc... This way I'm not playing with LIVE ammo. Empty shells don't help. In a revolver, I don't even use it for that obviously. Other than that, it's just a waste of $10. "But it's better to be safe than sorry and it's cheap insurance". Yea, I know....
 
You don't need a reason to say "no". Your gun, and your decision.

Do what you believe is best for it.

Daryl
 
However, the people who told me not to dry fire are competition shooters with $3000 1911s.
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Any gun that cost`s that much, better be capable of being dry fired.
I have probably dry fired my guns more than I have shot live rounds. :rolleyes:
Except for my T/C Encore. Those are the guns you do not want to dry fire.
 
I think that people often worry too much than they should about dry firing. Generally, a modern centerfire gun will not be damaged by dry firing. Older guns, and rimfires (old and new with some exceptions like the Ruger .22 LR pistols which specifically state in the manual that dry firing will not damage the gun) you should use snap caps.

That said, snap caps are cheap, so there definitely is nothing wrong with insisting that they be used in your guns. Snap caps also can serve in other roles than dry fire training. They can be used for malfunction clearance drills. They can be randomly mixed with live ammunition at the range to help identify and fix flinching or trigger control issues. And so forth.
 
Depends on the gun yada yada and then god invented snap caps.

This is the part that bugs me.
But for some reason, they still insist on making me dry fire my guns or in some occasions, they try to dry fire my gun.
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If you let people "make" you do this with your property and then let them do things with your property that you don't want done; then the problem is you not your friends and not dry firing.
 
Dropping the slide on an empty chamber not a good idea. The brass cartridge in the chamber cushions the slide slamming forward. It's like taking the shocks off your car, it will beat the other parts to death.
 
Actually, it depends on the firing pin material. In the old days they used hardened steel (spring steel I believe) and they would break the tip off with extensive dryfiring. On hammer mounted pins, don't dryfire because it will peen the hole in the frame and the pin itself. More than likely it will break the pin eventually.

On newer guns they use a different material, I can't remember what it is called, but they are not prone to breakage like the older guns.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES dryfire a rimfire as it will peen the rim around the chamber and the firing pin face. That includes rifle and pistol.
 
Dropping the slide on an empty chamber not a good idea. The brass cartridge in the chamber cushions the slide slamming forward. It's like taking the shocks off your car, it will beat the other parts to death.
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Ok so let me go back and apologize for making such an unqualified statement. In order to clarify, I wasn't thinking that the owner would be sitting in front of the TV every night racking and letting the slide go. I just don't follow the logic of the store owners’ admonition to the customer when he was picking his gun up.

So what does the slide do when going into battery, cartridge loading or empty? The slide moves forward which moves the barrel forward and up to lock when the slide is in position. That's pretty much it. The extractor pawl doesn't lock into anything nor does it receive any cushioning effect of a cartridge. So, the real difference comes down to the amount of cushioning effect a cartridge loading has on the process of the slide locking in place. Is it reduced 10, 20, 30 percent or more with a cartridge as opposed to without? I've never seen a test measuring the force exerted on the frame with and without a cartridge. I've also not seen any evidence to show damage to the sear from slide locking on an empty chamber. Of course because I've not seen it doesn't mean it hasn't been done and proved one way or the other. If I'm:barf: wrong I'm:barf: wrong. Certainly won't be the first or the last time.
 
So what does the slide do when going into battery, cartridge loading or empty? The slide moves forward which moves the barrel forward and up to lock when the slide is in position. That's pretty much it. The extractor pawl doesn't lock into anything nor does it receive any cushioning effect of a cartridge. So, the real difference comes down to the amount of cushioning effect a cartridge loading has on the process of the slide locking in place. Is it reduced 10, 20, 30 percent or more with a cartridge as opposed to without? I've never seen a test measuring the force exerted on the frame with and without a cartridge. I've also not seen any evidence to show damage to the sear from slide locking on an empty chamber. Of course because I've not seen it doesn't mean it hasn't been done and proved one way or the other. If I'm wrong I'm wrong. Certainly won't be the first or the last time.
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Yes, the force is lessened in the actiojn of picking a cartridge up from the magazine and chambering it. I don't know if it's bad for a gun or not, but I don't do it myself on the few semi-autos I have.

Nor do I "fan" my SA revolvers, or spin the sylinder and then stop it by cocking the hammer or closing the loading gate. I also don't spin the cylinder and slam it closed on my DA revolvers.

While some think it "looks cool" to do such things, and I've seen people do it, it's usually a sign of how little they actually know about firearm maintenance and care.

In general, if there's really no reason to do it other than someone thinking it "looks cool", then why do it?

If I've learned one thing in my life, it's that nothing is indestructable.

Nothing.

Daryl
 
Daryl, I completely agree and I'm truly trying to understand. My first response to this thread was that the statement made by the store owner was pure BS and that is obviously not true. I've now read in Jerry Kuhnhausen's .45 Auto shop manual that the sear is subject to battering damage, so to always hold the trigger back when releasing the slide.

I'm just a little to anal about things like this I guess. :D
 
Dry firing does not harm quality modern firearms, including rimfires. Antiquated firearms with brittle metal or poorly designed firearms may be damaged. This old wives' tale stemming from the days of cap & ball still persists today.
 
Chris; I believe in the contrary. If a gun doesn't specifically say to NOT dry fire it, then I dry fire them. There are very few guns that can't be safely dry fired. There isn't anything wrong with dry firing the vast majority of guns.
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That's fine; you can do what you like with your guns and if anybody tells you that you can't do what you like with them, you contact me and the both of us together will set that person straight :)

But for mine, unless I can undeniably prove to myself that they can be dry-fired with absolutely no ill effects, then I reach for a snap cap. It has nothing to do with knowing my guns better, it has everything to do with an affinity for machinery and not wearing it un-necessarily. I would not more dry-fire my SiG than I would turn the 462 cubic inch V8 I built for my muscle car over by hand all afternoon. There's no reason to do it, so I don't :)

I have a Colt model of 1903 that has to be dry-fired whenever I put it back together and I hate it. I know I'm not hurting it but I hate it. Same with my M1 rifle. That thing was probably dry fired ten thousand times but still I hate to do it even once. My M1911 made in 1918, well that old girl deserves respect so no dry firing. Snap caps are too easy to come by and too cheap
 
re

kinda funny that dropping the slide on an empty chamber seems to be worse than a dry fire - and even funnier that just about every shop i have ever been into and ask to see a weapon when the clerk opens the case and clears the weapon before he hands it to me drops the slide on an empty chamber
 
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