Dryfire

[J&J]

Can some one clear up the question of whether dry firing is harmful to a rifle? In particular my son has a "new to him" Marlin 925M 22 Magnum bolt action. We got it zeroed the other day and it is quite a shooter..

He dry fires a lot and I have read so many conflicting reports, I cannot remember if it is OK or not.

Thanks,

John

 

[gunsandreligion]

I'v heard the older marlins had problems with the pin breaking but I'm not familiar with the new ones.

 

[MutinousDoug]

Dry fire it with a recently emptied case in the chamber and relax. If you have a manual it should tell you if dry firing is safe for that gun; Google Marlin for a virtual manual if you don't have one.
HTH

Doug

 

[Sunray]

The 22 Magnum is a rimfire. Not a good thing to dry fire. Get him a snap cap.

 

[Moose458]

Never dry fire a rimfire.

 

[woof]

Snap caps are better than empties and cheap.

 

[briansmithwins]

Snap caps are better than empties and cheap.

They also prevent developing the habit of pulling the trigger with a cartridge in the chamber, which can lead to 'problems'.

If you follow the other 3 rules you'll not be shooting anybody, but the loud noise and holes may cause some excitement. BSW

 

[Grizfire]

I believe the firing pin on a rimfire will smack into the side of the chamber and cause the pin to wear, and/or wear a indent into the side of the chamber.

As opposed to a centerfire where the firing pin will just go into the chamber hole and not touch anything.

I would avoid this practice if you can.

 

[rcmodel]

I believe the firing pin on a rimfire will smack into the side of the chamber and cause the pin to wear,

That used to be the case in 1900 on cheap .22 single-shots.

Now, no modern .22 that I am aware of will suffer a chamber edge firing pin strike.

Heck, even John Browning & Winchester figured that out in 1890.

While not recommended because the firing pins are 100+ years old, a Winchester 1890 pump will not harm the chamber if dry-fired.

Many if not most modern semi-auto designs have no last round bolt hold-open, and no pump or lever action ever did.
They get dry-fired every time you run out of ammo in the magazine.

They suffer no chamber damage either.

I would say if you plan to spend hours on end doing dry-fire practice, a spent case wouldn't hurt.

But you will have to turn it to a new position quite often for it to do anything at all to cushen the firing pin after the first few snaps beats a dent in it as far as the firing pin is allowed to protrude.

rc

 

[Reid73]

A recent American Handgunner article.

 

[ishida]

I could swear I saw an American Rifleman or other NRA magazine article that talked specifically about this, and said that unless you COMPULSIVELY dry fired, you really didn't have to worry.