Dry Firing a 22 Semi

[briang2ad]

Most people conventionally believe that you NEVER dry fire a 22 (rimfire). BUT, many semi-autos (like my Rem 552 Speedmaster) were designed WITHOUT a bolt hold open, so naturally, they WILL get dry fired - probably once a magazine fill (15 rounds), unless the operator is meticulous about counting and really checks the chamber when he's done. So - does this eventually mess up the rifle?

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

If it did there would be a bunch of messed up rifles, including some of mine which, by the way, have suffered no ill effects.

 

[fineredmist]

The dry firing you mention is really not a big problem, the problem comes when you continually dry fire for practice. The pins in most rimfires are long enough to strike the breach and that is where the problem comes in. The repeated strikes will weaken the pin and finally it will break. This can also happen in centerfire weapons that do not have spring loaded pins. It is always a good idea to use snap caps in centerfire guns.

 

[cobra2411]

I've checked on my Rossi 62 and there is no way for the firing pin to hit anything when dry fired. Some rim fires like my ruger super six shouldn't be dry fired because the pin can hit the side of the cylinder.

 

[RH822]

My response was the same as Fineredmist's so I deleted it...that's what happens when you're a slow typist.

RH

 

[WardenWolf]

Most modern rimfires are designed with a firing pin stop that makes it physically impossible for the firing pin to ever reach the chamber edge. It's a problem that's been largely resolved on all quality firearms. It's only the older ones where you'll run into this.