I have read somewhere, I can't remember where, that the more recently produced or modern rim fires are designed to have some sort of clearance between the firing pin and breech face. I'll see if I can turn up my source.

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I don't dry fire anything on purpose-although some semi's w/o bolt hold open I can loose round count and fire on empty.

I drank the dry fire kool-aid, ONCE. Brand new pistol, my son and I sat around dry firing it since the owners manual said we could. It may have taken <100 dry fire's that evening. Long story short....this gun the manufacture tried to repair several times and finally just replaced the gun, sending me a brand new one. I believe to this day we ruined that pistol that very night dry firing it. Even the maker couldn't repair it.

Lesson I have not forgotten, and never will.


DR

 

I don't dry fire anything on purpose-although some semi's w/o bolt hold open I can loose round count and fire on empty.

I drank the dry fire kool-aid, ONCE. Brand new pistol, my son and I sat around dry firing it since the owners manual said we could. It may have taken <100 dry fire's that evening. Long story short....this gun the manufacture tried to repair several times and finally just replaced the gun, sending me a brand new one. I believe to this day we ruined that pistol that very night dry firing it. Even the maker couldn't repair it.

Lesson I have not forgotten, and never will.

DR

If you wouldn't mind, can you give the make of the weapon. I've dry fired dozens of handguns over the last 30 years and only rimfires have suffered from to many dry pulls of the trigger.

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Ruger specifically allows dry firing of their rimfire rifles and pistols including the Mk-X pistols, the 10/22 and the RAR. Their owner's manuals and their customer service reps both agree on this.

All of their firing pins have a cross pin in the bolt to limit it's travel and keep it from hitting the chamber mouth.

That said, I don't make a habit of dry firing them even though it's not harmful. An old habit I guess.

 

with your 10-22 or Mk II you have to put it away with the hammer cocked or dry fire it. Been doing that with my Mk II for 30 years, still the original firing pin. Just an observation.

Rich

 

On my 10/22 I just pull the hammer halfway back and release the trigger, the I slowly release the hammer forward. Dryfiring every time I'm out of rounds tho...

 

I keep snap caps in all of mine and never store hammer cocked either. Just reall struck me as I was watching all of theses videos.

 

For many years Ruger has said it's safe to dry fire all their guns.
It's up to the maker to design them with clearance.

I don't like to snap single-action revolvers just because the heavy hammer really slams the frame.
But otherwise, writers have said that dry firing practice can help the shooter learn a feel for the trigger and improve accuracy.

This isn't magic, does the firing pin hit the breech/chamber or not? Easy to see when there is a problem.

 

This isn't magic, does the firing pin hit the breech/chamber or not? Easy to see when there is a problem.

Yes to this. Even if the manufacturer states that it is ok to dry fire, the owner needs to study the design to see what is going to prevent the firing pin from striking the chamber, and if you are going to do heavy amounts of dry firing, do regular inspections of parts that prevent the firing pin from striking the chamber to make sure that they don't show signs of fatigue or aren't broken. It's just like doing routine checks of parts of your car such as tires, brakes, etc. to make sure that they are in good condition.

 

Way back when I was just getting started in indoor paper punching with my new Ruger MKI .22 LR 5 1/4" bull barrel pistol, I would come home from the range, clean the pistol and then continue my sight picture, breathing control and dry fire training. Long story short, after about 18 months of that home dry fire training routine I took the pistol apart to clean it and when I removed the bolt the firing pin stop pin fell out of the bolt in two pieces. My dry fire training had caused the firing pin stop pin to shear in half where it was contacted by the firing pin. The easy fix was a piece of matching diameter drill stock cut to the original pin length. However, my dry firing training lesson was learned.

 

Dry firing

The yellow plastic drywall anchors are the perfect size for .22 snapcaps

 

It would seem that anything striking anything over time will gradually change the molecular structure of both. . the lighter the strike or the tougher the materials the longer the deformation will take. If a gun is designed so the firing pin stops before the point his the chamber wall then a shoulder or some sort of stop will strike first and it will eventually deform given enough hits. Replacing a pin with a drill bit will preserve the pin but not the part striking it.

A few dry fires probably will not hurt anything. A constant firing to improve trigger control is more likely. . Newton was pretty smart and last I read is still considered so by some. . Time is a major factor here.

Over my long shooting life, am 77, I try to avoid dry frying when ever possible. ruger might say their guns are fine with dry firing and they might well be if good design and materials are used but that may mean fine over the typical life span they expect over the life of the fun. Turbo chargers are considered a life of engine components too.....they should outlast the warranty !!

I consider continual dry firing gun abuse but that is my opinion only. Each owner has the right to do what they want with their guns, obviously. But to newcomers I would caution them of what might happen.

 

Older guns, maybe...

Most modern rimfires are designed, like the Rugers, to take no harm from dry firing. The most common problem in older guns caused by dry firing is a dimple swaged in the rim area of the chamber by repeated strikes from the tip of the firing pin. This can interfere with proper chambering and extraction, if it gets big or rough enough. FYI, Brownell's sells an inexpensive tool for burnishing out such dimples and burrs.

Similar things can happen in centerfire guns; lots of old S&W revolvers have a bit of a high spot around the firing pin hole caused by the impact of the firing pin. A significant one can drag against the case heads, interfering with smooth turning of the cylinder. Again, there are simple fixes. George Nonte recommended gently hand turning a drill bit several sizes bigger than the hole to remove the worst of it, followed by careful flattening with a file or stone.

Some guns are specifically designed to allow dry firing without harm. The S&W Model 52, an automatic designed to fire only .38 Special midrange wadcutter ammo, has a safety that, unlike other 1st, 2nd & 3rd generation S&W autos, does not drop the hammer. Instead it engages a hammer block that keeps the hammer from striking the firing pin, so that the gun may be dry fired for practice.

 

Dry firing

As a handgun chairman of a large club, I too did my research on dry firing. I called every major gun manufacturer a number of years ago and asked this specific question, will dry firing damage your guns. The common response was NO, all modern handguns are designed to be dry fired.
I was told by S&W that guns sold to Japan, if returned, would be most probably worn due to dry firing for practice - not damaged from dry fire as the myth implies. In Japan I was told there were few places to live fire a handgun, thus dry fire practice was very prevalent. They assured me the Japanese guns would be wore out no differently than wear due to firing live ammo.
I have dry fired my Ruger Mk-series hands guns thousands of times as a skills exercises along with all my CF handguns. Many have over 50,000 live firings each and are still as functional and accurate as the news ones. I also do gun smith repair work handgun shooters in this region and never have seen a modern handgun damaged due to dry firing. I have replaced one or two broken firing pins. But in each cases no damage to the barrel or other sensitive parts, just replaced the firing pin (in most cases only a few bucks). In one case the owner told me he never dry fired the handgun, just live fired it over its life time.
If in doubt, take your handgun apart and look at the firing pin and housing geometry. I will be apparent if a stop is employed or not.

 

Been using those drywall anchor things for years on all my .22 Semi's, work great. Don't trust the manufacturer statements that dry firing is OK on .22's. You do have to be careful of it becoming a habit on non-22 arms. Pistols in particular that you may keep loaded. Chamber check always.

 

I am a bullseye shooter and participants in this sport dry fire their centerfire guns many thousands of times per year. High quality (mostly European) rimfire target pistols usually come with a plastic chamber plug called a dry fire plug. 22 snap caps work, but a gun without an exposed hammer requires racking the slide, and hence ejecting the snap cap, to cock the gun on each shot. Aside from being tedious as hell, the rim rips off the snap cap after 10 or so dry firings.

 

Have my vote and I started it! LOL

I use them in all my firearms. I worry less with my centerfire, but if I am doing drills will use snap-caps.

I appreciate everyone chiming in on this with your thoughts. I agree, as I have been working on the trigger pull on my Target it can be a pain but as stated I see it as cheap insurance.

 

I agree 100% I never dry fire any of my guns without some form of snapcap in them. Being a cheapskate I like to save money by not damaging my guns thru stupidity.

 

Please read the above postings. For any reasonably modern gun, dry firing is not stupidity. Snapcaps certainly can't hurt but they aren't necessary.

BTW, Ruger's owner's manual for the Mk-series pistols has an emphasized note to be sure the cross pin in the bolt is in place when you assemble the gun. That pin goes through a hole in the firing pin and limits it's travel so dry firing is safe. If that pin is left out, you will damage the chamber by dry firing.

 

Dry firing is some of the best practice a serious marksman can do. IMO a properly designed firearm can handle 10's of thousands of dry firings, period.

 

Except for 22

 

I've made it a habit to pick up my .22 brass as I shoot from my deck usually. I recycle my bad centerfire and 22 brass but I always keep some .22 to dry fire with and drop my .22 hammers on. Safely relieves the mainspring tension. If dry firing just turn it a little to get to a new place on the rim each time.

 

I like the idea of a cross pin stopping the firing pin from reaching the chamber. But I also consider that to be a "last resort" option. While rare, firing pins and stop pins have been known to break.

My preference is to decock - easing the hammer down while closing the bolt. Then there's no worry about losing/forgetting/wearing out any type of snap cap. This should be a standard offering on all rimfire guns IMO.

If you need to dry fire to disassemble for cleaning, spent brass make acceptable snap caps. But if your gun is already clean and you need to dry fire for storage, they are not good. The reason is that there is burnt primer mix still in the rim. That residue will be blown into the chamber and bore during a dry fire. Wall anchors won't do that.

If you're one who finds benefit in "dry fire practice", simply remove the firing pin during your practice sessions and fire away. It's much easier than installing an anchor for each shot.

Edit- Another example of a peened chamber due to a broken firing pin was just posted while I was typing this post.
http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9466489#post9466489

 

...If you're one who finds benefit in "dry fire practice", simply remove the firing pin during your practice sessions and fire away. It's much easier than installing an anchor for each shot.
]

You dont have to swap a new anchor in for each shot.

 

Dry firing.

When didn't have access to target shooting would use snap caps. But since retired, If need to exercise a weapon, go shoot it. As previously stated. Look at manual for weapon and then follow. If in doubt, use snap caps. Life is to short to worry about it.

 

One thing that hasn't been brought up here, is using a pencil. I use a simple pencil dropped into the bore ERASER FIRST, dry fire your weapon, the pencil is quite fun to try and catch! For spring tension release, muzzle UP. This will not work for a .22LR, but it sure does work great on most centerfire.

DR

 

It depends on the gun

I have a Walther, that is NOT safe to dry fire. The firing pin will hit the area around the chamber.
It is very easy to tell. Take the slide off or bolt out, and use a properly sized, sufficiently strong tool to push the firing pin out to is absolute full extension. If, while holding it fully out, the firing pin extends beyond the area cut for the rim, it will strike the chamber area.

Also note, even though the firing pin may not protrude, the forces from the hammer or striker assembly are designed to be "cushioned" by the round's rim, which is not present during dry fire.

This may stress the pin, the pins stop, and the spring.

I try to dry fire as little as is necessary. For practice, and to break in a trigger, I use live fire. I am however aware that not everyone has a range to go to easily, or the resources to throw bricks down range so, read the above, and proceed accordingly.

Rich