Dry fire to clear shotgun?

You can work the action by depressing the bolt release. You don't have to dry fire to open the action. I don't dry fire after emptying the chamber. I will hold down the bolt release and cycle the gun several times to be certain both the chamber and magazine is empty. It isn't unheard of for a round to get stuck in the magazine and if it does you could inadvertently chamber a round later.

When I'm ready to use the gun the next time I depress the bolt release, open the action and drop one round into the chamber. Close the action, then top off magazine.

Don't know if it's sop but I dry fire mine before storing it. Suspect it doesn't matter a whole lot either way.

I look to be sure I can see the base of the shell follower before I think it is empty. I put the gun up with the hammer cocked. I do not think a dry fire would hurt it nor do I think it is needed.

The police carry shotguns in "cruiser ready"....... They check the gun, close the action and pull the trigger, then load the magazine.
All they have to do to use the gun is pump it.

This leaves the gun with the chamber empty, the hammer un-cocked, and the magazine loaded ready for use.
Dry firing a shotgun like the 870 or Mossberg will not harm it.
One police department bought new 870's in the late 50's and used the same gun in the academy for new recruit training.
They have no idea how many tens and tens of thousands of times the gun has been dry fired in training.

I dry fire mine when it is stored empty. Long ago I was told this takes pressure of striker/hammer/firing pin etc springs. Not much truth in that statement anymore. Still do it today just out of habit. And I can pick up any firearm I own and know what condition it is in. Always do what is best for you as long as it is done safely. Any time I put up a firearm I check and recheck for ammo. Shells can get stuck in the tube. One of the best (and cheap) upgrades you can get for shotguns is a high visibility follower.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1005268179?pid=218305

As a range-master/instructor for many years, my first suggestion is reading the manuals and putting in time to gain more familiarity with your shotguns. I will recommend buying some dummy rounds to ensure safety as you work on the loading, unloading sequences until they’re super familiar to you.

Both the Mossberg and Remington designs will let you release the slide when cocked. If you can’t get the slide to release when utilizing the slide release, it is operator error or a damaged mechanism.

As for loading for patrol, we do teach to ensure the 870 mag is clear, lift the follower and look for a shell, pump the action several times and watch for a shell loading, if none load and you’re sure it’s unloaded, pull the trigger on the empty chamber. Once done, load four (or more depending on the capacity) and lock it in the rack. Under stress its grab, rack, go. There is no need to fiddle with little levers when primary focus is elsewhere on a threat and manual dexterity is at its worst.

Stay safe.

I store my shotguns with the firing system de-energized. This can be accomplished by using a snap cap (when being stored unloaded) or just a dry fire on guns be loaded for duty use.

On my shot gun just pull the trigger way out of battery so the hammer drops, let's go, barely moves before its stopped by the bolt and doesn't hit the firing pin with full force.

Is there any harm done, leaving a snap cap in the chamber? Aluminum bodied or plastic?

X62503 said:

Is there any harm done, leaving a snap cap in the chamber? Aluminum bodied or plastic?

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I have used both in the dry Colorado climate, sometimes leaving them in place for years with no ill effect. Of course, since this is the internet, somebody will chime-in about how that is the dumbest thing to do on the face of the planet.

How do you remove a round from the chamber if you want to unload the gun? You push the release. Making this too difficult. Or buy a snap cap if you can’t master the unloading, opening technique.

I tend not to keep the magazine loaded, but I keep several shells in a holder on the side of the stock; I keep the action open when the gun is stored. If i need it in a hurry, I'd drop a shell in the breech and "half rack" the gun; you're chambered and ready, and can then feed more into the magazine if you need to.

I don't dry fire to clear my shotgun, but I do dry fire to let the pressure off of the firing pin spring after I have gone through the clearing procedure.

>>Is there any harm done, leaving a snap cap in the chamber? Aluminum bodied or plastic?<<

I've done this for years with no ill effects.

Bennj said:

Thanks Riomouse911, great suggestions. I have a habit of always reading the manual first thing whether it's a firearm or toaster. I have dummy rounds that I practice with too. I've only fired less than 100 rounds through it so could use more real time use for sure. The action lock on both works when the action is uncocked (if that's a word), but not when the trigger is cocked. The instructions state that the action lock lever allows the action to be unlocked and opened without pulling the trigger, which I'm able to do as long as it hasn't been cocked before using the action lock lever. I'll figure it out sooner or later. Hope everyone has a great day today celebrating our nation's independence, even you all who have to work.

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Hmmmm. The 870 action bar lock lever should be sticking a tad above the level of the trigger guard when the action is closed, cocked and ready to fire.

Check to be sure unloaded:

Action closed on empty chamber, the action bar should protrude like this:


If your 870 is not doing this, there is an issue.

With safety on or off you should be able to use a finger to depress the action bar lock lever and release the slide. With the 870 and the Mossberg, pull and hold the slide forward a teeny bit first. Then depress the action bar lock lever and rack the action open. This to be sure all is disengaged within the action, as under the recoil of firing a shot the action will disengage without any help.

If you are starting to put rearward pressure on the slide before you depress the action bar lock lever, this may be your issue.

Once the trigger is pulled, the action bar lock lever pops in flush, or slightly below, the level of the trigger guard:



Again, if your 870 is not doing this, theres an issue.


(Extra info:,My HD Wingmaster is set up with a 20” rifle-sight barrel, Rem +2 magazine extension, synthetic stock/fore end, a sling, and a 6-spot sidesaddle. Ammo is 6 Federal 1-buck in the magazine, 3 Federal 1-buck and 3 Winchester Segmenting Slugs in the sidesaddle.)

You’re on the right path, keep working and it’ll be second nature.

Stay safe.

One thing I didn’t see mentioned. If the forearm is being pulled rearward, it puts pressure on the action bar release button. And that makes it hard or impossible to press. So if you have a cocked hammer, the action bar release can be used but you have to press the button and hold it before applying rearward pressure to the forearm. This applies to both mossberg and Remington pumps.

It’s been a few years since I had a mossberg but I recall being able to disassemble the trigger group. The Remington 870 trigger group cannot be completely disassembled by us lay folk from my research. I always clean mine with brake cleaner or carb cleaner. Then oil with remoil and wipe it dry everywhere I can get with a rag.

While on the subject, I put a drop of oil on the locking block that’s below the bolt and smear it all over with my fingers. A drop on my fingers smeared down the action bars. And the residual from my fingers on the bolt. That’s on either mossberg or Remington.

On the mossberg I oil the pivot on each side for the shell lifter. If I disassemble the gun I just oil those little nubs before reassembly. If it’s just a wipe down then I put a drop of oil on each from the outside and wipe off the excess.

Very lightly lubed overall.

myself I verify she's empty, dry fire to release spring tension on the striker and store muzzle down with action closed. Just an old habit I guess

Bennj said:

Riomouse911, thank you for taking the time to post photos and descriptions. I did exactly as shown and it worked on both. Don't know what I was doing wrong before, but you can bet I'll pick my brain to figure it out since I won't be confident until I do, probably something simple. I've taken both of them apart several times between range trips, as I do with all my firearms to familiarize myself with how things work, but I haven't taken apart the trigger group on either. Also thanks Bazoo, I did make sure the lever was depressed before racking.

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Glad I could be of service

It is usually the operator pulling rearward on the forearm too early that locks stuff up. It doesn’t feel right pushing it forward a touch, then pulling it rearward to get to cycle. Recoil does the job for you when you’re shooting, so you aren’t used to doing that when cycling the action without firing.

My Winchester Model 12 is the same way with the forearm, it has to go forward to unlock. It also has no trigger disconnect so it slam-fires if you hold the trigger down. Learned about that feature on accident as a kid shooting at flying doves! (I went a big 0-fer that first dove season.)

But I just checked my Browning BPS’s, they do not need to be unlocked to cycle. I was able to pull the BPS forearm to the rear and simultaneously depress the action release to open it.

Stay safe.