dry fireing rimfire bolt action......

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tasco 74

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i got my savage mkII .17 mach2 home last week...... it's my first bolt action rifle and when i operate the bolt of course it cocks the fireing pin..... i read somewhere just the last couple of days i should NEVER dry fire a bolt action rimfire gun....... i always look into the action to make sure there is no chambered round so how do i take the pressure off the fireing pin spring if i can't pull the trigger on it? who has the answer??
 
Most bolt guns can be de-cocked by holding the trigger back while you close the action.

Whether dry-firing will hurt the rifle depends on how the firing pin is contained...or not. If it makes contact with the chamber when you snap it, you will quickly dull and deform the pin as well as indent the chamber face.

Many rimfires will not be damaged by the occasional dry snap as the pin doesn't reach the face and the impact is absorbed by a shoulder contacting the bolt internally.

You can see how much pin protrudes with the bolt out of the rifle by decocking it and looking at the business end.
 
I've heard that it's very bad to dry fire a rimfire....the firing pin will supposedly hit the chamber and could cause damage.....better safe than sorry
 
I would never dry fire any firearm....but this is just my philosophy. I would follow it especially if their are rimfires involved. I mean, why risk it? Get some snap caps; they only cost a few dollars. Or, an alternative could be to use already-used casings.
 
You can also find information about dry firing your gun if you have a manual for it. If not snap caps are a safe bet.
 
thanks bob .... my best friend and mentor told me the same thing this evening...... everyone insists that you can dry fire a ruger 1022 all you want and it won't hurt a thing.......
 
Ruger 10/22. You have to dryfire it to decock it. Whether that's something you NEED to do is a different story. Most folks don't like to leave a firearm in the cocked position (unless it's a 1911 :D )


A family member of mine has a very old Ruger 10/22 that has been dryfired more than most people have even shot theirs. Nothing wrong with it. Firing pin did not flatten out or break. Barrel face does not have a dent it in. Has never failed to ignite a rimfire primer yet. Like I said, has been dryfired more than others have shot theirs.


I used to wonder and ponder about the whole dryfire issue. Over the years I've just come to one simple conclusion. If a firearm cannot handle being dryfired for any reason at all - it isn't a firearm I want. Seriously, does that not sound like a negative? I expect a firearm to be tough enough for something as simple as a dryfire. If it can't do that, what else should I expect failure from during discharge and recoil?

How does a company rave on and on about their super-duty combat-grade torture-tested firearm, but then dryfiring is a bad idea?....LOL. Yes, you can trust your life to it in the most adverse conditions known to man, whether it be a beach landing warzone like in WW2, or a zombie SHTF like in the movies - but, whatever you do - don't dryfire it!


Maybe if companies would stop making firearms out of POT METAL this wouldn't be an issue.


Anyway, sorry for the dryfire rant. Not trying to hijack the thread. I know rimfires are a special case due to the nature of the system - but I can't see how it would be an issue even on a rimfire IF it is made of quality materials. If not made of quality materials (hardened steel) then perhaps dryfiring is a bad idea.
 
The Ruger 10/22 is designed so that the firing pin stops a fraction of an inch before contacting the end of the barrel. So you can dry-fire that particular design without any worry about damaging the breech face.

This is unlike many other .22 rifle designs where repeated dry firings will peen the firing pin and dent the breech face.
 
A firearm should never destroy itself through it's own normal function. Some could say that it isn't normal since there isn't a bullet in the chamber. That's like saying you're breaking the microwave because you're running it without a plate of food inside.


The materials of a firearm (slide/bolt), firing pin, hammer, barrel should be made of steel significantly stronger than the amount of force produced by a hammer strike. There is a threshold that all materials have that must be crossed before they chip, dent, break, or are compromised in some form. A properly hardened pin and slide/bolt should be much greater than that of the hammer blow force which will cause the firing pin to slam inside the bolt/slide. That force shouldn't cause the pin to shatter, bend or break. Nor should it cause to dent or deform where it contacts. Of course, there are limits. No one expects something to last 3 billion strikes. No metal is forever. The only alternative is, that the material is junk or the design is awful to the point where it absolutely requires that the copper rim or primer act as some sort of cushion to lessen the effects of the impact. Yes, copper is softer than steel - but a hammer strike in a firearm shouldn't exceed the strength of the steel.


Think of it like dropping a hardened nut onto a hardened plate from a height of 1 foot. The force generated by that is way below the strength and integrity of the materials they are each made of. As a result, the nut will just make a small bounce and neither will have any marks, dents or damage.


Look at how many various parts of various firearms slam together violently - and they do not deform or break. This exists in various forms of machinery as well. Impact isn't the biggest problem - abrasion typically is.
 
Won't hurt it.. I think

Well, from my experience, I know the Ruger 77/22 won't be hurt by dry firing, at the camp I used to work at the instructors for the past 7 years would have the boys try dry firing the rifles before they took their first shot for the class. so 5 classes a day, 7 weeks (new boys every week), 7 years:

5x7x7= 245

so approximately 245 dry firings per rifle, not including if they have been doing it for longer than 7 years, but it has been at least 7 years. Sorry I couldn't give you an answer for your rifle!

So why do you want to take pressure off the firing pin?
 
So why do you want to take pressure off the firing pin?
Click to expand...

An interesting thing about springs. They wear out by being cycled (compressed and released) not by being stored in a compressed state.
 
That's nice to know about the 1022s bolt design. Does anyone know about semi-auto Marlin's (model 60 or 70)?
 
Isn't it safe to hold the bolt halfway open and pull the trigger and dry fire? Couldn't you just do that to everything isn't letting the bolt all the way closed and risk ruining your gun?
 
Quality springs shouldn't have a problem remaining compressed. Poor quality springs will take a set and weaken.


It all depends on the grade of metal used and the way it was made.
 
Most bolt guns can be de-cocked by holding the trigger back while you close the action.
very true.

Some rimfires are designed so they can be dry-fired without damage
to the firing pin or barrel breech face, but I dare to say that most are
not; therefore, always check the instruction manual. I bought an AR7
used (abused) and had to cut the peen on the barrel breech face from
a previous owner's dry firing. (Ejection improved after that.)

If in doubt, put an empty casing in the firing chamber and snap on that.

I have heard that quality springs are weaken more by flexing than
by being left tensed. I have some pretty old rifles that have been left
cocked most of the years of their lives and they still go bang. If I
am putting a gun up for the season, I still prefer to decock it.
 
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