10/22 Dry Firing

[Newbie22]

This may be a silly question with an answer already provided, but is it safe to dry fire my new 10/22? The instructions provided with it say to dry fire the gun after unloading it and not planning to continue shooting. The manual also seemed to indicate that the gun was safe to dry fire as long as the gun is completely unloaded, but I'm not sure I really want to try this. Does anybody know if repeated dry firing (for practicing trigger pull, etc.) is safe for the gun?

Thank You

 

[easy]

Repeated dry firing any rimfire will eventually end up peening the barrel nib and the firing pin. Use a spent casing or get a dummy round.

The occasional dry fire, such as to drop the hammer prior to storage should be acceptable.

 

[Geckgo]

I do on occasion, but I don't think in good conscious I could justify telling someone too. Using a spend casing on a 10/22 is a pain in the rear, but see if you can make it workable. When I want to do dryfire rifle practice, I have my 06 that is much better for it.

 

[gfpd707]

I dont worry about it they are cheap enough that it doesnt really matter. If you are really worried I was showed a little trick. When the gun is cocked pull the bolt back slight and pull the trigger. Then slowly allow the bolt forward and you have droped the hammer without dry firing.

 

[spartand003]

I've tested dry firing damage by dry firing with a piece of paper in between the bolt and rear section on the chamber. Didn't even leave a mark on the paper. I think the warning might just be a precaution. But it might just be me though, so try it for yourself.

 

[Mamertine]

It is my understanding that the 10/22 has some sort of mechanism to stop the firing pin from hitting the barrel thus making it okay to dry fire. I have been to a few appleseeds and the all of the instructors encourage those with 10/22's to dryfire.

 

[Jeff F]

Repeated dry firing any rimfire will eventually end up peening the barrel nib and the firing pin. Use a spent casing or get a dummy round.

Not true on the 10/22. Firing pin does not hit the barrel when empty. Dry fire all you want.

 

[Red Cent]

A factory 10-22 firing pin will not peen the barrel. If you do some headspace adjustments on your bolt, you may have to adjust the firing pin. Proper headspacing removes some of the metal in the forward most part of the bolt. I headspaced mine and the firing pin does not reach the barrel.

Remove the bolt. The firing pin rides in a groove on top of the bolt. The pin is spring loaded holding the spring back. Push the rear of the firing pin until flush with the rear of the bolt. Examine the bolt head and see if the firing pin extends past the the longest part of the bolt face.

 

[tcrace]

Although I wouldn't advocate dry firing any 22 gun the Ruger 10/22 is "safe" to dry fire because it uses a firing pin stop pin and won't allow the firing pin to make contact with the chamber end of the barrel. The 10/22 gets dry fired every time a user doesn't count the rounds and tries to shoot the non-existent 11th round. I know I have done it many times
The occasional dry fire at the end of a magazine full, or to release hammer spring tension shouldn't harm the gun but I wouldn't continually dry fire it.
Of course this only applies to guns in good working condition and checking firing pin protrusion to ensure no contact can be made with the chamber area is a good idea.

 

[bigfatdave]

Repeated dry firing any rimfire will eventually end up peening the barrel nib and the firing pin. Use a spent casing or get a dummy round.

No, not "any rimfire". The 10/22 (and a LOT of modern designs, examine your parts diagram and actual hardware) has a "firing pin stop pin" built in that limits forward travel of the FP quite well.

 

[bdbecker]

...The 10/22 gets dry fired every time a user doesn't count the rounds and tries to shoot the non-existent 11th round...

I've shot that 11th round hundreds (if not thousands) of times when I was a kid, never had a single issue with my Ruger.

 

[bobbo]

The manual also seemed to indicate that the gun was safe to dry fire as long as the gun is completely unloaded,

From Page 19 of the manual:

The rifle can be “dry fired” for practice as long as it is empty and pointed in a safe direction.

'Nuff said. There is no discussion about this. it is OK. If it wasn't OK, Ruger wouldn't put it in the manual, or if they did, they would be sued and/or deal with a whole lot of service work on their own dime.

 

[WNTFW]

Most modern .22s won't have an issue. I think a lot warnings are being overcautious on the internet. I have never seen any gun damaged by dryfiring.
That said, nobody from the internet is going to fixed a peened chamber or any other problem you incur.

If you are worried about dry firing a .22lr you can use a #4 plastic wall anchor as a snap cap. In general I don't like using anything in a chamber. Nothing is safer as it is harder to make a mistake with. Since I have gone to air rifles for practice I dry fire very little.