what not to dry-fire

[Pancho]

To give some perspective I'm 65 raised as a Kentuckian, and the number two rule was to never dry-fire any gun.
Somewhere in the 60's or 70's the market offered "snapcaps" which made perfect sense to me and my training. Recently I've noticed on Youtube many of the fire arm experts routinely dry-fire without the use of snap caps.
I can readily understand that one should never dryfire a percussion gun. My core question is what guns would you not dryfire.

 

[mljdeckard]

Rim fires. But at the same time, I dry-fire my .22 conversion on my 1911 every time I finish a magazine.

Todd Jarrett was asked the best way to improve, and he said to dry-fire endlessly. For those who are worried about damage, he said; "I have done it more than a million times. I didn't damage my guns, I doubt you will damage yours."

 

[rcmodel]

The list is many and varied.

Conventional wisdom is, never dry fire a .22 rim-fire.
But all modern .22 RF's are perfectly safe to dry-fire and will not suffer chamber dings..
Except S&W .22 RF revolvers.
They just might break firing pins due to the high-speed impact of the fast hammer on the tiny FP.

Then this IS TRUE.
Never dry-fire old guns.

Like old Winchester lever-actions, as the firing pins take a heck of a whack from the big hammer, and the firing pins are sometimes over 100 years old.
They will, and do break from dry-firing.

Never dry-fire shotguns, as even modern pump guns have no positive firing pin stop inside the bolt to prevent damage.


1911 pistols and most other modern hammer fired center-fires can be dry fired until the sun doesn't come up some day without damage.
The FP spring on a 1911 may get weak eventually, but it can be easily & cheaply replaced every 200,000 'snaps' or so.

Plastic fantastic Tupperware guns!
Gofer it, as you can't hurt them.
You have to dry-fire them to get the slide off for cleaning!!

Bottom line is?
It depends on the age & design of the gun.
And I can't cover all of them ever made in one post.

rc

 

[silicosys4]

Good thread! RC definitely knows better than me, and I trust his knowledge, but I have read that I shouldn't dry fire a few modern center fire pistols, such as the Colt trooper mkIII .357 without snap caps....any truth to this, and can anybody name a modern centerfire handgun or rifle that can be damaged by consistent dry firing? I have a few guns I won't dry fire just because if something did go, it would be a PITA to find replacement parts.

 

[JoePfeiffer]

Browning Buckmarks should not be dry fired (some of them have firing pins long enough to hit the chamber face).

 

[jmr40]

There are only a handful of guns today that cannot be dry fired safely. I wouldn't dry fire any double shotgun. I'd check any 22 rimfire's owners manual. Most can be dry fired, some not. The only centerfire rifle or handgun I own that cannot be dry fired is my Kel-Tec P3AT.

I've been dry firing since the 1960's. I have one bolt rifle I've owned since the 1970's that has to have been dry fired over 100,000 times in the last 40 years. I've never owned a snap cap and have never damaged a gun. It is my opinion that if a gun breaks while being dry fired, it would have broken at exactly the same round count had it been live fired.

Even if I do manage to damage a gun it is well worth the money I saved in ammo costs. It would have cost me at least $75,000 to have bought the ammo to have live fired just the one gun mentioned above.

 

[Gunner58]

So, is it OK to dry fire a newer Ruger 10/22 rifle? I sometimes lose count with the 10 round magazine when I hear that "click" after firing all the rounds in the mag. I've often wondered if I was causing any damage.

 

[Jim K]

The worst guns for dry firing damage are the old single shot .22 rifles, mainly the fallling blocks and such. Many never had any way to keep the firing pin from hitting the edge of the chamber, but a whole lot of them, especially the cheap ones, had broken firing pins replaced by amateur gunsmiths who used any handy piece of steel or iron, mainly nails, with no knowledge at all of what they were doing. Inevitably, they made the firing pins too long and the result was battering that eventually kept the chamber from being loaded at all. So they then used a rat-tail file to "clean up" the edges, allowing a round to chamber, but with part of the case support eliminated. Not a good situation at all.

Jim

 

[eldon519]

Freedom Arms indicate not to dry fire the model 97, not sure about the 83 as I don't own one. I have heard CZ52s have brittle firing pins. Most of the time it will say something in the manual if you should not dry fire. I've never had any trouble with any gun breaking from dry fire though.

Just like most training though, PERFECT practice makes perfect. Dry firing can be detrimental or beneficial to your training depending on how well you simulate actual firing. I've gotten myself into limp wrist habits at times from doing poor dry fire practice. Make sure you concentrate on all elements of your form when practicing.

 

[RaceM]

I wouldn't repeatedly dry fire anything with an aluminum or zamak frame. Not worrying about chamber edge strikes or firing pin breakage so much as deformation of the metal around the firing pin cup.

 

[MedWheeler]

So, is it OK to dry fire a newer Ruger 10/22 rifle? I sometimes lose count with the 10 round magazine when I hear that "click" after firing all the rounds in the mag. I've often wondered if I was causing any damage.

No problem at all. Even the oldest ones will tolerate the occasional "over-fire".

Over-firing one's magazine capacity is easy for any of us to do. I've done it plenty with even a cheap Jennings J-22 without any ill effects.

jmr40 writes:

The only centerfire rifle or handgun I own that cannot be dry fired is my Kel-Tec P3AT.

I don't own that one, but I do have the PF9 and the P32. Both have the same hybrid DA trigger. I was not aware that they are not to be dry-fired. I have dry-fired mine with (so far) no issues. I do have to retract the slide a quarter-inch or so after each time to reset the hammer against the sear if I want to do it again, though, or rack it all the way back.

 

[4season]

No one has mentioned revolvers. Any Revolver that has the firing pin attached to the hammer should not be dry fired.

 

[tuj]

rimfires. Unless they have a firing pin stop like the Ruger MK series, which is ok to dry-fire in moderate amounts, but eventually the stop will bend. Should never dry-fire a rimfire rifle if you can help it. Will one or two be a problem? No, but repeated dry-firing will peen the chamber.

 

[oneounceload]

Except S&W .22 RF revolvers.
They just might break firing pins due to the high-speed impact of the fast hammer on the tiny FP.

Those can be dry-fired WITH the use of #4 (yellow) dry wall plastic anchors. A box of 100 costs about $4 at Lowe's and each will last several strikes before needing replacing - even more if you slightly rotate them in the cylinder

Dry firing my Marlin 39A and Ruger MKII required each to need firing pin replacements after a while. I will not dry fire (without snap caps) my first year production Colt DS, my pre-model 10 or 66-2 with pins attached to the hammers either

Snap caps are cheap enough anyway - cheaper than firing pins being replaced

 

[JohnKSa]

But all modern .22 RF's are perfectly safe to dry-fire and will not suffer chamber dings...

SOME (definitely NOT all) modern .22 RF's are safe to fire, some are not. I own one that isn't safe to dryfire (and can show the chamber dings to prove it) that hasn't been mentioned yet on this thread and there are others out there.

The manufacturer is the best source of information on which guns can be dryfired and which ones shouldn't be. The information is often in the owner's manual.

 

[tuj]

But all modern .22 RF's are perfectly safe to dry-fire and will not suffer chamber dings..

Not at all. I have a Savage 93 I bought new in 2011 that I damaged from dry-firing it.

 

[lobo9er]

Yet how many times at the range have we all heard "click" and our guns carry on. Also RC's word is gold around these parts I would heed his advice.

 

[km101]

ALL of my S&W revolvers (except .22 rf) have hammer mounted firing pins. I have dry fired them countless times with no problems. Many of the handgun "gurus" of the 70's & 80's recommended dry firing the S&W revolvers as the best means of learning trigger control. I have never broken a hammer mounted firing pin in 45+ years of dry firing!

So again, I think the best answer is: "It depends on the firearm."

 

[SwampWolf]

I won't dry-fire rimfire firearms, at least some Taurus revolvers, or double barreled shotguns.

 

[jstein650]

One specifically, (an older gun, of course) is the Star BM and BKM's. Found out the hard way on that one - and good luck finding parts! The only other broken pin I had to replace was an older Model 39 Marlin, as has been mentioned.

 

[Dframe]

Colt MK III revolvers of whatever model should NOT be dry fired since it can damage the firing pin. As a general rule I don't dry fire ANY gun without snap caps. There are just too many exceptions, and besides the presence of a snap cap guarantees that the gun will never be accidentally fired with a live cartridge in place. I was taught as a youngster NOT to dryfire guns. I still consider it a good "practice" even today when I'm NOT young.

 

[benzy2]

I dry fire all centerfires but to be safe (warranted or not) I buy snap caps and use them. They are cheaper than a firing pin and simple to insert. For ~$10 I'll take the peace of mind.

 

[Pyro]

I use snap caps on everything when dry-firing.

 

[lobo9er]

I dry fire everything with snap caps

even ruger revolvers?

 

[Potatohead]

This is a bit different but:
Ruger SR9 manual says dont dry fire without an empty mag. I believe it has something to do with the mag disconnect.
So, would this be the same with all guns with a mag disconnect?
If it does involve the disconnect, since I removed mine, is it now ok to dry fire without a mag? I guess it really doesn't matter but I have wondered.

I asked Ruger and they said they couldn't give advice about an altered gun.

great thread btw.