Dry Fire S&W Model 63 (22LR)?

I used to dryfire mine all the time with no ill effects.

I've always been taught to never dry fire any rimfire weapon. Use a snap cap or a fired casing.

Dry firing a rimfire can result in peening around the chamber or peening or breakage of the firing pin.

I own an M63, have had it for 30 years or so, purchased it new. The steel in the cylinder is relatively soft compared to the hardness of the firing pin and dry-firing WILL peen the chamber openings.

The extent of the peening will depend on how the firing pin was fitted. Some will extend further than others due to tolerance stacking, which seems to be the case with my gun. The solution is to obtain a chamber swage from Brownells and 'iron out' the dimple in the chamber face. After this treatment, avoid dry firing without using a substantially constructed dummy round.

These are great little guns and other than a hard DA trigger pull they are great companions for fishing and walking in the country.

Ron in Texas

Even with a drywall anchor or empty casings you don't really want to dry fire these guns a LOT. A few times for functional testing but other than that I'd pass. Especially if a dry wall anchor peens through the plastic completely in 3 or 4 dry fires. If it does then that suggests that it will hit the cylinder chamber walls once the softer items wear out.

If it were my revolver I surely wouldn't dry fire it. Snap caps are a good idea and don't cost much at all...

It is not recommended to dry fire any S&W .22RF revolver, regardless of the model. Period.

rc

snap caps would make for safe dry firing

That said, I don't do it, even with snap caps

Guillermo said:

snap caps would make for safe dry firing

That said, I don't do it, even with snap caps

Click to expand...

I agree...

There is so little recoil with live ammo there really is no downside to shooting ammo. (unless you want to shoot in your living room @ Midnight LOL)

I have the newer 8 shot model that I have occasionally dry fired with no ill effects, even with a magnifying glass I can't find any marks on the cylinder. That being said I wouldn't sit on the couch dry firing it for hours at a time.

No need to dry fire your .22.....With the low cost of ammo, just buy a few bricks and shoot em up!! I've never quite grasped the concept of dry firing .22's when the ammo is so cheap and shooting them is so much fun.

Most older .22's shouldn't be dry fired and it's usually stated in the owners manuals. Smith and Wesson has manuals available for downloading or you may request a paper copy from them.

I dry fire all the time with center fire handguns, usually with snap caps just for grins. Rimfire .22 ammo is so inexpensive and fun to shoot there's really no reason to risk damaging your revolver. That m 63 was made for inexpensive fun. Plinking, vermin control, and can dancing.

22lr snap caps are fun to use but do not last for very long. I have had to replace mine several times.

I do not dry fire any rimfire pistol. I also avoid dry firing my CF pistols.

I wouldn't dry fire a M63 without snap caps or a spent round. The first thing I look at in a 22 revolver is if someone dry fired a particular gun.

even with a magnifying glass I can't find any marks on the cylinder.

Click to expand...

No modern .22RF will ding the chamber / chambers when dry fired.

But the S&W .22RF revolvers are prone to break firing pins when dry fired a lot.
And that can ding the chambers.

Also, firing pins for Model 63's are getting kinda scarce if you have to replace one.

rc

Never dry fire a .22. The firing pin will peen the edge of the chamber.

I repeat:

No modern .22RF will ding the chamber / chambers when dry fired.

Click to expand...

If it does, the firing pin broke, or the retainer pin broke.

If you think about it, very few .22RF semi-autos have last round bolt hold-open devices.

So they get dry fired most every time you run the magazine dry if you don't count rounds.

And they don't ding the chambers do they?

rc

yes,

my ruger mark I has been dry firing the last round in the mag for over fifty years now.

murf

Murf, the Ruger pistols have a very substantial firing pin stop and are fitted well. The chance of a Ruger MK auto pistol marking the chamber mouth is very slim. In the many I have owned and worked on I have never seen any chamber peening.

However, many S&W .22 revolvers have too much firing pin overtravel so will ding the hell out of the chamber mouth. I have owned several and all but one showed this characteristic.

As for Ruger revolvers, I have never noticed any marking of the cylinder mouth.

Ron

lorddunsany,

the mark I pistol bolt does not stay locked back when the mag is empty. unless you count your shots, the trigger always gets pulled on an empty chamber after every last shot from the magazine.

murf

dry fire

If your going to dry fire try using snap caps.If you want to improve trigger pull you might consider sending it back to S&W performance center for tuning