dry firing...here we go...

[chevyforlife21]

i dont think its a good idea or necessary so i dont but maybe once or twice if i had it apart. and not at all on rimfires

 

[Guns and more]

Dry fire to your heart's content.
Then IF it breaks, you'll know why so many people told you about........you know what.

 

[DaveShooter]

Because being a lever gun you can let down the hammer down just like on revolver etc!!!
You sure must need a lot of trigger practice by dry -firing a lever gun. You can feel how much pressure it will take by holding hammer with thumb pressure at same time pulling trigger. You sure are smacking the heck out of firing pin and the sudden stop of the hammer etc. Okay just head your car or truck into a brick wall just to see how it feels at 30 MPH. Sure Dosen't make sense does it. So why dry fire a lever gun?????

 

[Maverick223]

So why dry fire a lever gun?

Again, for practice. I am not saying that I do it...but that is the answer.

 

[jmr40]

So why do you think dry firing the lever gun is causing any more damage than live firing?

 

[rbernie]

So why do you think dry firing the lever gun is causing any more damage than live firing?

In a loaded weapon, the firing pin has something to hit. In an empty weapon, it doesn't. Slamming the firing pin forward against its stop without benefit of hitting the primer cup to slow it down has been known to cause firing pin damage/breakage in many different types of firearms, 'modern' centerfire rifles included.

A wee bit of dry fire without snap caps isn't likely to cause much of an issue, but for prolonged practice you should always use snap-caps.

Snap caps are easy to make, if you don't wanna buy one - just goop a dollop of RTV sealer into the primer pocket of a spent shell (deprimed). As the RTV gets worn, pick it out and replace. The deprimed casing won't feed, so it won't let you verify the action after you've worked on it (the other purpose for snap caps - to act as dummy shells) but it will let you dry fire with impunity.

any real gun techs here who can answer?

And please, don't tell me about snap caps...Thanks!

How can a 'real gun tech' answer the question if you refuse to listen to part of the answer?

That attitude just makes my head hurt.

<sigh>

 

[jmr40]

Heard that argument before. Have been dry firing too many guns for too many years with zero problems to buy it. There are some guns that should never be dry fired, but with the vast majority are not hurt at all. If in doubt find out. If snap caps ease your mind use them. I am of the opinion that if a gun breaks during a dry firing exercise it would have broken at the same round count of live firing. I am a much better shot for the practice.

 

[DaveShooter]

You do it your way I'll do it mine and we will all be happy!!!!! No Dry Fire for me!!!!!!

 

[jmr40]

And that is fine. But for any one undecided consider this. In 1974 I paid $175 for a new Remington 700 ADL that I still own and use. In the nearly 36 years I have owned the gun it has been dry fired at least 100,000 times with zero problems. That works out to about 7-8 times per day. That is the gun I have owned the longest, but all of my centerfires get dry fired 100's of times for each round actually fired through them.

It is great practice as well as a great way to smooth up an action and trigger. My old rifle may break tomorrow, but at todays prices it would have cost me $200,000 in ammo to have gotten that much trigger time, not to mention wearing out several barrels. I bought the gun to use. If it beaks I will repair or replace it. I have never seen any evidence that dry firing will wear out most centerfire guns any faster than live firing. There are exceptions, and you should be sure. There are some of my guns I rarely or never dry fire, because they are not designed for it.