Can you dry fire a 1938 K. Kale Mauser?

[Scout21]

I've always been of the opinion that, with few exceptions, all military small arms are safe to dry fire. However a friend of mine was asking me recently if it was safe to dry fire his 1942 manufacture 1938 K. Kale Turkish Mauser. I told them that I'm fairly certain that they could dry fire to their heart's content. Given that it's not my rifle I feel as though I should ask some more knowledgeable folks. I'd feel bad if it caused damage to his rifle.

 

[tark]

There are some military weapons that don't take kindly to dry firing The CZ-52 immediately comes to mind. They are notorious for breaking firing pins. The Japanese Nambu is another. I am sure there are many more.

I think most Mauser rifles are ok to dry fire, at least a reasonable amount. I don't think it is a good idea to submit any gun to a diet of constant dry firing, no firearm is designed for that.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Probably wont hurt it, but why risk it when there is no need to. Just pull the trigger while closing the bolt handle and it will lower the striker.
If you wanna impress your friends at parties, close the handle just a hair, then pull the trigger and the striker spring will pull the handle down the rest of the way.

 

[Random 8]

The M38 K Kale is a large ring mauser 98. You absolutely can dry fire it as much as you like. If it were a highly collectable version with rare stamped matching parts, I might recommend some readily available second hand parts for dry fire duty just in case you have a firing pin or bolt assembly that has lost case hardening. In the case of the K- kale, if you see an issue, it's time to replace those parts.

 

[Remington1911]

Snap caps are cheap

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

All of the above.

I like snap caps if you are thinking trigger practice, and prefer closing the bolt with the trigger held to relieve the spring for storage.

Your rifle has a rugged bolt and striker design, and spares are reasonably plentiful, but tend to be leery of dry firing anything (except maybe my Glock) without using snap caps. More of a personal quirk in my case.

 

[Scooter22]

I agree with all the above. My question is he dry firing it when he's fired a mag full and does so on a empty chamber? Or is he just cycling the empty rifle and pulling the trigger on imaginary targets? On the first no problem. The second get a snap cap. Thats a old gun and things can be brittle. Dry fire won't cause damage like a rimfire but the FP can crack/fracture from the unsupported stress/vibration.. Hitting a snap cap transfers that from the FP.