New Buckmark clearing it? dry fire ??'s

[davera]

I just got a NIB Buckmark Camper yesterday ... love the look and feel! I have a couple of questions though.

I know it is not a good idea to dry fire a rim fire type gun but, what do most folks do when you have racked the action, either to clear it, or to indicate "it's empty" when showing it off ... or after you fire the last round?

Can you leave it "cocked and empty" for storage for perhaps long periods of time? I don't get to the range nearly as often as I might like so it could be left that way for weeks at a time.

I understand that modern springs really do not wear out under long term compression but I'm curious as to how others store their Buckmarks.

Thanks for the answers.

 

[hksw]

The firing pin of the Buckmark will indeed hit the edge of the chamber. At least the ones I have will. Some (few) .22 lr guns don't like the Ruger MkIIs.

For dry firing the Buckmark, I use either a plastic .22 lr dryfire round (IIRC from Pachmeyer) or, more usually, a spent .22 lr case. If the case gets stuck in the chamber, just pick it out with your fingernail or toothpick under the rim or use a cleaning rod from the front. I also insure that the firing pin will hit the case on an area not yet dented in.

 

[HSMITH]

I have dry fired my buckmark several hundred times over the years with no ill effects. I dry fire it before putting it away each and every time without fail.

 

[Standing Wolf]

I leave my match pistols cocked and empty, and have been doing so three decades and longer with no ill effects. I don't dry-fire them, but use plastic dummy cartridges. They don't last long, but they're considerably less expensive than replacement barrels.

 

[curt]

so what happens if you dry fire a rimfire too much, notch in barrel? Fractured FP? If a notch what is the effect? Blown cases? Anyone with first hand experience?

And just to finish up my quota ???????????

 

[hksw]

The firing pin of a rimfire firearm hits the cartridge at the rim and pinches it against the flat face of the edge of the barrel chamber. If there is nothing between the firing pin and the face, the pin could pound the edge of the chamber inward and cause chambering problems.

Some manufacturers, like Ruger, limit the travel of the firing pin and stop it short of hitting the face when the chamber is empty.

Others, like Marlin, have the front of the firing pin stepped so that the part of the pin that hits the face is farther away from the chamber if it is empty. The actual part of the pin that ignites the cartridge has been stepped down to prevent it from hitting the face but not enough to keep it from firing the round.

And others just leave the firing pin flat and don't limit the travel and so it hits the edge of the chamber. These need to have something between the breech face and the chamber face to prevent the pin from pounding a burr or ledge into the edge of the chamber. Some manufacturers include a dry firing tool of some sort to place between the bolt and barrel. My Hämmerli 280 came with a little rubber tab that you put in the action for dry firing.

 

[curt]

aah i see, thanks hksw. So has anyone ever had a 22 fail to chamber from this peening ? The reason i ask is that pretty much every 22 i have will be inadverantly dry fired as i loose track of how many rounds i've fired and i'm wondering how prevalent this problem is, or maybe its not really a problem and like many other things has been...amplified a bit over time.

 

[davera]

Thanks for all the answers

It seems the consensus isn't ....

Some leave theirs cocked in storage all the time with no reported problems, some dry fire at least on occasion with no reported problems.

I suppose I will do either depending on the circumstances, if another range session is planned within a few days or a week or so, leave it cocked, if I don't think I can shoot it for a long time ... dry fire and release the spring.

Either way sounds pretty safe at this point.

 

[hksw]

IMO, if you do it on a gun that allows the pin to hit the face on limited occassions like at the end of a shooting session or after reassembly from cleaning and not do it regularly at a high number of cycles such as dry fire practicing, you should be OK. But, to help prevent the possibility even further, you can do some preventive measures like the spend case or plastic cartridge.

 

[Coot]

>So has anyone ever had a 22 fail to chamber from this peening ?<

Yes, my son's Rossi Gallery Gun.