Dry Firing - Yes, No, Maybe So? - The Definitive Answer...

I have an S&W K-22 that I have dry fired only about 50,000 times with no damage at all. I have dry fired other S&W and Colt rimfire revolvers and auto pistols many, many times, with no damage. I have Ruger .22 pistols I have dry fired thousands of times with no damage. I have never used snap caps in any of them.

Most modern .22's are made to be dry fired with no problem. But some old guns and even some modern ones, should not be dry fired for the reasons given. Any rimfire gun in which the firing pin or hammer nose can contact the breech face is either broken, badly worn, or poorly designed and should not be dry fired. It is easy to check out firing pin protrusion and to determine if there is contact.

Using snap caps is never a bad idea, but sometimes it can be a nuisance. One way to make things easier when dry firing an auto pistol is to cut the rim of the snap cap so it won't be caught by the extractor and will stay in the chamber while the gun is re-cocked.

Jim

Be sure to read the manual of any firearm you own in regards to dry firing. Some guns are okay to dry fire and some guns are not (per the manufacturer).

I like using snap caps regardless of manufacturers statements, and I use empty (fired) rimfire brass for my rimfires.

I was under the impression you never dry fire any gun that has the hammer directly contact the firing pin (such as the PF9)

First off I love the title of this thread.

As a rule of thumb you can dry fire most centerfires and should not dryfire most rimfires. However my ruger 22/45 .22 pistol has to be dry fired to be disassembled. I use snap caps just because for all my guns.

The best reason to use snap caps is loading/unloading/clearing drills, and for random insertion into magazines and cylinders to catch flinching.

As a rule of thumb you can dry fire most centerfires and should not dryfire most rimfires.

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I don't know that I'd say "most" rimfires by any means. I'm with Jim Keenan on this one.

When I was very young my grandfather gave me his old Ruger Mark 1. He told me to Never Dry fire it! He had said there was a rebound spring and a firing pin stop that kept the firing pin from striking the side of the chamber But you never know when that spring may weaken or when that stop may break. I should have listened to him and just never dry fired it, I didn't and after many years of shooting and never breaking the gun down all the way to inspect things got me. That spring was broke in half and the firing pin stop was so lose it fell out of the bolt before I could pull it out. The chamber was so marred that the pistol wouldn't even load a round. All of this happened in 2 dry fires, Went from just fine to costing me 40 bucks cause of two dry fires.

It was those two dry fires that marred up the chamber. There is no telling how many dry fires and shooting it took to get that wear and tear. The parts failed and I Failed by not breaking the pistol all the way down during inspection and cleaning.

What damaged it was the pin stop not being in place when you dry fired it. Many Rugers .22s have a loose enough fit on that pin that it will fall out. As long as the pin stop is in place dry firing will not harm the mechanism. The spring that broke had nothing to do with dry firing. They commonly break when they become that old.

Usually the owners manual for a particular gun will address this. I don't dry fire my rimfires because I know it would harm the ones I have. I don't worry about it with my centerfires with the exception of my Kel Tec P11. The P-11 has a light weight firing pin & dry firing can cause problems with light primer strikes.

You have to dry fire most semi-autos unless you want them to remain cocked. In storage, for example.

You have to dry fire most semi-autos unless you want them to remain cocked. In storage, for example.

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What's wrong with leaving it cocked while in storage?

Be sure to read the manual of any firearm you own in regards to dry firing.

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Usually the owners manual for a particular gun will address this.

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For those who are suggesting to read the manual.

I pulled a Taurus box off the shelf, and read these words, "never dry fire your firearm."

I read further in the manual in the cleaning section and it reads, always dry fire your firearm after reassembly to check the function of the firearm.

So, after reading the manual, I'm confussed.



Maybe we skip the manual, and look at what happens when a gun is dry fired. If the firing pin simply doesn't hit anything but stops only when the firing pin spring has compressed enough to stop it, there can't be any harm done.

I'd always check the manual to be sure. Some like the CZ 52 mentioned above, and other CZ-75-based designs have issues with large numbers of dryfires. Most designs can be dryfired in small quantity for function checks or disassembly.

You won't get a definitive answer. Too many people with too many opinions. I'm in the camp that says dry fire away with most guns. It is not a good idea with most 22's and many shotguns.

With most centerfire rifles and pistols it will be fine, but always check the owners manual because there are a few exceptions. Kel-Tec advises against it.

I always make certain the gun is unloaded and use dry fire practice as a regular part of my practice and have been doing so for 40 years. I have guns close to 40 years old that have been dry fired 10's of thousands, maybe 100's of thousands of times with zero problems with any of them.

I firmly believe that if most guns break while dry firing, it would have broken at exactly the same round count with live fire.

Most guns, with a few exceptions can be dry fired hundreds of thousands of times with no damage.
Many of my friends who engage in IDPA,USPSA, or some other gun game use dry firing as a regular practice. Some do it every day, most, such as me, do it several times a week and I have never heard of anyone doing any damage.
Rimfires are usually the exception, and some other specific firearms also but most are good to go.

From the Ruger web site -
Can I dry fire my Mark III pistol?
Yes. The Mark III has a firing pin stop that prevents the firing pin from contacting the rear of the barrel and damaging the edge of the chamber. If you are going to dry fire the pistol extensively, the stop pin and firing pin will eventually wear and contact could occur, and we recommend replacing both the firing pin and the firing pin stop from time to time. You should also monitor the contact of the firing pin with the rear of the barrel.

depends

sp101 is my finger workout.

my finger actually will fall off before i damage the gun

Wyocarp said:

or those who are suggesting to read the manual.

I pulled a Taurus box off the shelf, and read these words, "never dry fire your firearm."

I read further in the manual in the cleaning section and it reads, always dry fire your firearm after reassembly to check the function of the firearm.

So, after reading the manual, I'm confussed.

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If it's on or near the front page, along with other "silly" rules (Don't use while skydiving, Don't stick in light socket, etc), it's lawyerese.

Further back in the manual, where it is instructing you on how to operate the weapon is the meat-and-taters of the matter.

Thread Necro Alert:
You are posting on an outdated thread (see posts 16 and 17).

For those who are actually looking for an answer, you have found it.

For those who just want to chime in...press on. I'm sure you will anyway

jmr40 hit it.

Its like answering the question of engines with interference designed valves and pistons compared to none interference design.
Once you know the engineering you take care of it.
I don't dry fire my High Standard. I don't care about my S&W.
One Is not better then the other. They just take a different method of training.

Some of the older revolvers has the firing pin on the hammer. I wouldn't dry fire those. Only revolvers with transfer bars.

It's also a good idea to learn how to decock a hammer. Some guns have a built in decocker but others, like a 1911 do not.

Murphy’s Law = Don’t do what you think you maybe shouldn’t do so it will do what you want it to do when you want it too

I'd be very sad if I had to depend on my SDW and it didn't go bang at the right time because I dry fired it once too many times

Someone said the owner’s manual said in one section not to do it and in another section it said to do it?? So maybe it would be better to just use snap-caps to cushion the firing mechanisms.

I like the suggestion of trimming off the rim on snap-caps so they don't eject but will that cause it to get stuck in the barrel or get knocked in too far to be effective?

Can you use spent brass with a dead primer to cushion the firing mechanisms on center fire firearms?? If so how many times???

I once used a rule of thumb and I cut mine off.

I guess I'm old school, because somewhere I learned you don't dryfire any weapon. If I get the urge to pull the trigger, I just head for the club.

The only exception is my Glock. I have to drop the hammer in order to field strip it.

And I don't believe in snap caps. I have heard of instances where gun owners got so complacent re snap caps that they didn't bother to make sure the gun wasn't loaded, and ended up blowing a hole in the television, wall, toilet, etc.