Dry Fire

[PeeZee]

Hi
Hope this is the right spot to ask,
Ive seen alot of videos on dry fire, my question is,
Is dry fire damaging to your handgun?
Im pretty new to owning and i dont want to damage anything,
I have a Ruger p89 DC ,
Thanks in advance

 

[ColtPythonElite]

It depends on the gun.

 

[USAF_Vet]

The Ruger P89 is one of the most robust pistols of the late 20th century. Built like a tank, dry firing won't damage this gun.

Most center fire guns are perfectly safe to dry fire, but some manufacturers do not recommend doing so.

If you are worried about damaging your Ruger (I wouldn't be) buy a set of snap caps for each caliber you own and dry fire into those.

 

[stonecutter2]

With a little googling on P89 and dry firing, I see people who have done it with no ill effects.

More often than not, rim fire pistols (22LR) tend to not like dry firing much.

Dry fire away but be safe about it . A lot can go wrong when dry firing, but you can also get to be a better shot by dry firing.

 

[nettlle]

Most owners manuals state whether dry firing will hurt the gun or not.

 

[old lady new shooter]

Snapcaps are very cheap compared to the price of a gun, better to be safe than sorry.

 

[rcmodel]

P89 firing pins are getting to be made out of Unobtainium.

Better safe then sorry.

Use snap caps.

rc

 

[jmr40]

There are only a handful of modern guns that will be damaged by dry firing. Been doing it on a daily basis for over 40 years with multiple guns, never had a problem.

There are a few that advise not to do so, my Kel-Tec is the only gun I own that does not recommend it. If you break a firing pin on most guns dry firing, it would have broken at exactly the same round count from live fire.

 

[JDGray]

Dry fire a Ruger P345, without a magazine in the gun, and you'll be sending it back to Ruger! Worst FPB system ever!!

 

[vaupet]

Dry firing is one of the best exercises to become a good shooter, as you can see your errors.

That said, don't dry fire any rimfires except if they are designed to be (like the anschutz competition rifles) In rimfires, when you dryfire them, the firing pin will hit the side of the chamber pretty hard and they are made to hit brass, not steel.

In centerfires, there usually is less of a problem, and if you use snapcaps, there is no problem at all.

 

[AK103K]

Snap caps also add a level of safety, as you cant have a live round chambered, if you chamber a snap cap.

 

[vaupet]

the snapcaps I use in 9mm and 45 acp are the same size & form as the real bullet and about the same weight, so you even could fill the magazine to have a realistic weight of the firearm.

 

[C0untZer0]

Snapcaps are very cheap compared to the price of a gun, better to be safe than sorry.

I always use snapcaps.

 

[CaptTripps]

I used to dry-fire with with no hard feelings, until I broke the transfer bar on my SBH. If you don't know, that renders the entire gun SAFE until the part is replaced. It can put you in a jam at the wrong time.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I don't care to replace firing pins so I use snap caps.

 

[UpperAtmosphere]

I use a laser cartridge in mine.

Considerably more expensive than a snap cap, *BUT* I get feedback on my sight alignment and trigger manipulation. Has paid for itself several times over.

 

[PeeZee]

Thank you for the information,
I will grab some snap caps, im trying to learn ,
Appreciate all the help.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I use a laser cartridge in mine.

Considerably more expensive than a snap cap, *BUT* I get feedback on my sight alignment and trigger manipulation. Has paid for itself several times over.

Been thinking about getting some of those.

 

[nettlle]

I use a laser cartridge also. It was well worth the money for me.

 

[Jesse H]

With the laser cartridge do you have to load it back in the mag and rack the slide each time you dry fire?

That would seriously add time to my dry fire sessions.

Edit: Just Googled Laserlyte and learned they stay in the chamber. A bit pricey but I'm liking it! Only thing I dislike is that it's brass colored.

 

[nettlle]

I have this one:

http://www.opticsplanet.com/laser-ammo-surestrike-9mm-premium-kit.html

 

[Peakbagger46]

Dry fire the snot out of it. It won't hurt your gun and will make you a better shot.

 

[stoky]

That said, don't dry fire any rimfires except if they are designed to be (like the anschutz competition rifles) In rimfires, when you dryfire them, the firing pin will hit the side of the chamber pretty hard and they are made to hit brass, not steel.

A nice feature, of the much maligned Heritage, is that it can be dry fired to hearts content with the (admittedly goofy) safety on.
Not so with the spaghetti SAAs (goofy) "Swiss" safety, present to duck import restrictions. It will raise a burr on the cylinder pin making it very difficult to pull it out to the firing position.

 

[Jim K]

The advice on not dry firing rimfire guns dates from the time when firing pins were made to hit the chamber edge, and in addition broken firing pins were often replaced with badly fitted pins. Modern guns have firing pin stops that keep the firing pin from hitting the barrel and dry firing won't hurt them. Checking a given gun is easy.

FWIW, I have dry fired a Ruger Mk I and a K-22 thousands of times with no ill effect.

If you want to use a snap cap in an auto pistol, cut away the part of the rim the extractor would engage; that way the snap cap will stay in the chamber when you retract the slide/bolt to cock the hammer. A cleaning rod easily removes the snap cap when you are done dry firing.

Jim