What to do for dryfiring a .22 revolver?

jski

jski

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I’ve personally used spent .22LR brass in the chambers until they’re pounded to death. I’ve read about using drywall anchors in the chambers.

Any suggestions?
 
Drywall anchors work. You might have to try a few brands until you get the ones that fit right. Spin them in the chamber each time to get a fresh piece of "rim" to hit. You can get six to eight hits out of each one.
 
Is there a solution that doesn’t require you to spin the “thing” every time you dryfire it? What about using spent .22 brass without rotating that brass?
 
I personally don't dry fire 22 revolvers, but I did pick up some 22 dummy rounds that I used to use for training. They seemed to work pretty good but they were about $.75 each and the rims did get smashed.
 
If you use brass, the rims get smashed flat where the firing pin hits them. You would have to rotate them every time an area got smashed, which is every time you dry fire.

There are plastic ones, but they don't last long before the rims start cracking.

I just don't dry fire 22's anymore.
 
I generally don't dry fire my revolvers but I will occasionally after cleaning just to make sure everything is OK. When I get a new .22 revolver I measure the depth of the cylinder recess (usually .035" to .040") and then measure the maximum firing pin extension with a tool I made and make sure it will never hit the cylinder if dry fired. I have several .22 revolvers and all of them have clearance to dry fire. I have a Ruger LCR and was surprised to read in the owners manual that dry firing is OK to do. I live in the country so I just go outside and shoot if I want to work the trigger some.

Semi-autos are a different story for me, I keep thinking of my old Mossberg when I was a kid, the firing pin would break if dry fired too much. I when through a bunch of firing pins, I would shoot it until it clicked.
 
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Drywall anchors is also my preferred method. You can get 100 or more for a few bucks, they insert easily into chambers and they last a while.

Dummy rounds get pricy and since they aren’t made as “snap caps” they get damaged when you use them for dry fire.

You can always use spent cases. They are free, but since they have been fired sometimes they can be tougher to insert-extract in the chamber. Like the anchors they need to be rotated every shot or they won’t cushion the firing pin impact very much.

Some newer guns say in their literature that they are safe to dry fire. I still won’t dry fire with these guns just to be on the safe side. :)

Stay safe.
 
jski said:
Is there a solution that doesn’t require you to spin the “thing” every time you dryfire it? What about using spent .22 brass without rotating that brass?
Click to expand...

The point of using a snap cap in any revolver, regardless of caliber, is to cushion the blow of the firing pin.

Believe it or not, it is the short stop at the end that tends to separate the tip of the firing pin from the rest of the firing pin, particularly with a firing pin that has a narrow tip.

Once you have indented the rim of a spent 22 case, it loses its effectiveness for cushioning the firing pin.

The dented rim has taken on the shape of the firing pin and no longer cushions the blow.

So dropping the hammer on the same dent in the rim will no longer protect the firing pin.

So yes, if you are going to use spent 22 cases as snap caps you need to rotate them every time to continue to protect the firing pin.

Of course, the other thing to be aware of is you do not want the firing pin to smack the rear of the cylinder.

HOWEVER......................

Not all brands of 22 revolvers need to have the firing pin protected.

Ruger revolvers have hockey puck shaped firing pins that will most likely not separate if not cushioned. Ruger states that their 22 revolvers can be dry fired without a problem. It is right in the manuals that ship with new revolvers.

I took photos of a bunch of S&W 22 revolvers a few years ago. Notice in each case the counterbore surrounding the case head is large enough that the firing pin will not strike the rear of the cylinder.


Model 17 from 1975.

pnBE4yuhj.jpg




K-22 from 1950

pnbAm6lFj.jpg




K-22 from 1932. This poor old girl was abused over the years, with multiple strikes when the cylinder was not in battery. But notice the firing pin strike on the rim still would not strike the rear of the cylinder when the firing pin is dropped while the revolver is in battery.

potvecdMj.jpg




Modern Model 617.

pmA1iKVEj.jpg




Bottom line: I don't like to dry fire any revolver without a snap cap. With these Smiths, if I wanted to dry fire, I would rotate the spent case every time I dropped the hammer.
 
I NEVER dryfire rimfires. Ever. Never, ever, never, ever. Especially revolvers. The whole point of rimfires, in many cases but not all, is cheap practice. If I want to practice, I shoot them.

One year I received a Ruger New Bearcat as a birthday present. Which means I did not get to inspect it before the 4473. New gun but every chamber was peened by the firing pin that cartridges would not chamber. It went back to Ruger and they sent a new one. That experience only confirmed what I already knew, you don't dryfire rimfires.
 
I have dry-fired a whole lot of .22s without issue. The only .22s which I have owned that had been damaged by dry firing came to me used.

Tipton snap caps work, but do need to be rotated after every use, and only go for ten shots or so. For the price, I don't bother with them any more.

Drywall anchors actually function a bit better, and seem to "rebound" a little more, so I often hit them two or three times before rotation. They last for dozens of strikes and are much less expensive than Tiptons.

Generally speaking, though, I just use empties. I often hit them in the same place multiple times as well. If the idea is to protect the breechface and the tip of the pin, then even of a squished layer of brass seems to do. I have never come across the idea of firing pin separation during dryfiring and haven't experienced it myself. About the only downside of used cases is that they usually still contain some debris, which then ends up in the bore when dryfired.
 
Even when the owners manual states it's safe to dry fire, don't.

Ruger's GP100 22lr states it's ok to dry fire and what do I notice when I open the cylinder, FP marks on the edges of the chamber. :confused:
 
I often dry fire my 617s. I use to use wall anchors but can't find the ones that fit properly anymore. Now I use spent cases and have to segregate the ones for each gun. What comes out of my 4 inch will not work properly in my 6 inch.
 
As Driftwood Johnson pointed out, I'm not sure used brass really does all I want it to do unless I rotate it after every dry fire. Instead, get a small, thick-walled o-ring and position it under the hammer as shown in the photo below. It works for my K-22 and some other guns. To test, you can use some empty brass and see if the firing pin is still being struck by the hammer and flying forward via inertia despite the presence of the o-ring. If you get the right type of o-ring, it won't.

ozwWFLP.jpg
 
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jski said:
What size drywall anchors?
Click to expand...
#6. Try a couple of different brands. The ones I've gotten from Amazon don't work. The edges aren't wide enough.

Go to your hardware store and bring a .22 for reference. If you find them buy a box.

#8s are too big.
 
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