Dry firing rimfire with empty brass cases okay?

[BCR#1]

I use a chamber flag when I dry fire my Ruger MKII after shooting it.

Bill

 

[243winxb]

What works in a match grade gun may not work well in my Ruger MK1. Fired brass OD is .233" New ammo OD is .224" The round is going to lay in the bottom of the chamber. The firing pin in the Ruger is at 12 Oclock. The pin is going to hit high on the rim, like in my photo.

Looking into a fired case, i can see where the pin has pushed metal to the inside. No support there. The pin strike length measures .072" on the outside of the case head.

When i run a paper clip, pick, down inside to the case head, there seems to be a recess deeper into the rim. The burnt priming compound needs to be worked loose. Almost like what a case head separation would feel like. A few thousands deep. Has to be where priming compound runs towards the rim. See photos in link.

https://m.imgur.com/gallery/OdiSa

 

[243winxb]

I would not use fired brass to dry fire, because of the case head design. There is no priming compound left in the rim to cushion the pin strike.

 

[TTv2]

Wouldn't the pressure from firing a round cause the metal to push back out making it appear that the firing pin is being cushioned?

 

[243winxb]

Dont know. Maybe take depth measurements of both indents. ? Pull a bullet. Dump powder. Fire . Measure. Index case, chamber, pin strike, measure. Compare.

Edit- 1 Primer fired. 2 and 3 dry fire. Ruger MK1

 

[JONWILL]

I think it depends to a great extent on the gun. Some can be dry fired indefinitely without harm, other models are notorious for broken firing pins....the Walther TPH comes to mind......

No way im dry firing an M17!
View attachment 855663

This is true. Ruger’s, at least the mkII and mkIII have a firing pin block to keep the firing pin from hitting the edge of the chamber
A semi automatic is a pain to get the empty cases in and out. I would use it on a revolver though

 

[czhen]

You can remove the firing pin in Ruger III and practice your trigger routine.

 

[Caplock]

I know my Ruger mk2 was damaged from dry firing. I started getting ftf jams. The firing pin contact caused a bur that was causing rounds to hang up. Filed away the bur and no more FTF.

Now I keep several empty 22 cases with my cleaning gear. I wont dry fire on an empty chamber even to disassemble for cleaning.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

If I had a Ruger MK that dinged the chamber, the first thing I would inspect is the firing pin stop pin to see if it were bent or damaged.

 

[mnrivrat]

OK - My 2 cents worth. 1.) Personally I do not like to dry fire any gun. That includes center fire as well as RF but that is my personal preference. 2) To answer the OP's ? my opinion is go ahead and use the empty brass if you desire, but rotate between shots so you are hitting fresh metal each time. (brass does not bounce back into shape once struck) 3.) Know the design of the RF gun you are using. The truth is some are designed so you can dry fire without the FP hitting the face of the chamber, and some are not.