Dry firing a .22

[deadeye dick]

I have a Uberti stallion in .22 RF. I want to practice dry firing with the gun. Everyone says do not dryfire a rimfire. The chamber has a recess where the firing pin hits. If I keep the chambers filled with fired cases is it safe to fire dry. Will the empty's act as a snapcap?

 

[243winxb]

The chamber has a recess where the firing pin hits.

Thats a new one. Photo?

 

[Monac]

I know that dry-firing is bad for rimfire guns. But I keep doing it anyway, because I am not careful enough with nice things. So far (35+ years in) I have never broken a firing ping or ruined a firing chamber doing it. But all my 22s have been decent quality - H&R 999 and up. I have seen the cylinder of one very cheap 22 single action revolver that was ruined by dry firing, but I have no idea how much it took.

I have always shied away from the use of a spent case as a snap case, because I was worried about getting careless with guns with visible brass in the chamber. It seemed like only one short step to forgetting there was a live round in the chamber. I tried blaze orange plastic dummy rounds very briefly, but the rims came off them fast.

To sum up, in my experience, dry firing in a post-1945 decent quality 22 is not a problem if done in moderation. But just because I have been lucky doesn't mean you will be, of course.

Oh, and I have an early High Standard Sentinel 22 revolver that has a firing pin recess in each chamber. I have no idea how much they help or don't help.

 

[ironworkerwill]

Use snap caps. Eventually the snap caps will be peened to the point of failure.

I use spent cases, and they can be peened to the point that the extractor won't pull them out. But they are free!

 

[243winxb]

I dont dry fire. View attachment 757806

 

[BobWright]

The real problem in dry firing a rimfire is the likelihood of scarring the chamber where the firing pin may contact it. Rugers supposedly allow sufficient clearance. Uberti advises against the practice. Some folks have advocated using dry wall anchors as snap caps.

Bob Wright

 

[Stony]

not a good idea. I have had to iron out dings in chambers many times over the years for people.

 

[ironworkerwill]

I forgot about drywall anchors

 

[CraigC]

I NEVER dryfire rimfires of any kind, period. Had to send a real nice New Bearcat back to Ruger because dummies in the shop had dry fired it until all the chambers were peened to the point that a cartridge could not be chambered. Unfortunately, the damaged sixgun was received as a birthday present and didn't go through my usual pre-purchase inspection.

 

[chicharrones]

I've used empty brass and plastic hollow wall anchors for rimfire snap caps.

Some folks have advocated using dry wall anchors as snap caps.

Bob Wright

I've used those for rimfire guns not suited for dry firing. So far so good.

 

[Coyote3855]

Yup, the yellow drywall anchors. Even these need to be rotated in the chambers occasionally or there is potential for damage. I never dry fire rimfire firearm.

 

[JO JO]

snap caps are cheap

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

You can use a spent 22 shell if you want as a snap cap, but you will have to rotate it every time you use it. Otherwise you will peen the rim flatter and flatter and eventually there will be no thickness of brass left to cushion the firing pin. Same thing with most 22 snap caps. Most are just a cheap molded plastic part. Every time the rim is struck by the firing pin, a bit of the rim of the snap cap will be chipped off. So to continue to protect the firing pin you will have to rotate the snap caps to present a fresh surface to be struck by the firing pin.

Frankly, I do not like to dry fire any firearm, centerfire or rimfire, without a snap cap to protect the firing pin. A few times won't hurt, but if you like to shoot the bad guys while you are watching TV, eventually you will wear something out, or shoot a hole in the TV.

Ruger states that it is perfectly fine to dry fire their firearms. S&W does not like it, but frankly, with a rimfire Smith there is enough clearance around the counterbore for the rim that the firing pin will not strike anything. I don't have any Uberti 22 revolvers, so I cannot comment on that.

Can't quite understand how there can be a recess where the firing pin hits. The way a 22 rimfire cartridge fires is the rim gets crushed between the firing pin and the edge of the chamber. There needs to be solid steel to back up the rim, Can't see how a recess is going to allow the rim to be crushed properly.

 

[reddog81]

You can use fired cases but obviously double check to ensure it not a live round. The rim will get notched with each hit and can be a pain to seat after a couple hits. I wouldn't advocate dozens of rounds of dryfire practice but I'll do a function test and a couple hits on some spent brass isn't going to hurt anything.

 

[deadeye dick]

Howdy

You can use a spent 22 shell if you want as a snap cap, but you will have to rotate it every time you use it. Otherwise you will peen the rim flatter and flatter and eventually there will be no thickness of brass left to cushion the firing pin. Same thing with most 22 snap caps. Most are just a cheap molded plastic part. Every time the rim is struck by the firing pin, a bit of the rim of the snap cap will be chipped off. So to continue to protect the firing pin you will have to rotate the snap caps to present a fresh surface to be struck by the firing pin.

Frankly, I do not like to dry fire any firearm, centerfire or rimfire, without a snap cap to protect the firing pin. A few times won't hurt, but if you like to shoot the bad guys while you are watching TV, eventually you will wear something out, or shoot a hole in the TV.

Ruger states that it is perfectly fine to dry fire their firearms. S&W does not like it, but frankly, with a rimfire Smith there is enough clearance around the counterbore for the rim that the firing pin will not strike anything. I don't have any Uberti 22 revolvers, so I cannot comment on that.

Can't quite understand how there can be a recess where the firing pin hits. The way a 22 rimfire cartridge fires is the rim gets crushed between the firing pin and the edge of the chamber. There needs to be solid steel to back up the rim, Can't see how a recess is going to allow the rim to be crushed properly.

I completely understand your comment on the recess, After reading your comment I went out to the shop to double check the cylinder. it has a tiny half moon cut in the recess for the rim. maybe 2 or 3 thousandths deep. Looking at it through the loading gate it is at 3 o'clock putting it at 12 under the firing pin.

 

[Reloadron]

Uberti:
1875 S.A. ARMY OUTLAW
1873 S.A. STALLION
1873 S.A. CATTLEMAN®

Instruction Manual

SPECIAL WARNING FOR CAL. 22

When loading the cylinder, be sure to push each cartridge fully into the chamber to avoid interference of the cartridge rim with either the frame of the revolver or the loading gate. Failure to fully seat the cartridge and any attempt to force the cylinder to rotate or to force the loading gate closed could lead to possible detonation of the cartridge and injury to the shooter. Remember to always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction when loading, and to close the loading gate after loading before handling further. NEVER DRY FIRE your revolver. If you do this you will ruin your cylinder and the ammunition will not enter the chamber in the correct way.

The people at Uberti seem to make a point of this. The firing pin will strike the cylinder and mar it. You want something in there. I have seen plastic wall anchors used. Available from any home improvement store like Lowes or Home Depot. Something like these but make sure they fit the cylinder before using them or buying them.

Some .22s can be dry fired and some can't. Your revolver is a can't.

Ron

 

[Monac]

This article about the High Standard Sentinel 22 revolver:

http://unblinkingeye.com/Guns/Sentinel/sentinel.html

has a photograph of the rear of the cylinder about 5 paragraphs down. You can see the firing pin recesses used on this gun.

Since the Sentinel pictured is an early one, it also has the drilled holes for cylinder indexing instead of a conventional ratchet.

 

[22250Rem]

I don't dry fire rimfires very much but when I do it's with the previously mentioned drywall anchors. Came from either Home Depot or Lowes, (forgot which) but I'm sure they're commonly available. They are sold as "RIBBED PLASTIC ANCHORS", "FOR USE IN DRYWALL AND PLASTER". They come in different sizes ( more than one size may work in 22LR guns) but the size I was told to use is " # 4 - 6 x 7/8" ". I don't know if those things are color coded but mine are yellow. Came in a package of 100 and I don't recall the price but I know they're cheap, (just like me).. You can get quite a few dry fires out of one before the plastic rim gets too beat up by the firing pin. That package of 100 will be a lifetime supply for me and I can't take any credit for any of this information. I confess that I got it off of a different internet site years ago .

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

I completely understand your comment on the recess, After reading your comment I went out to the shop to double check the cylinder. it has a tiny half moon cut in the recess for the rim. maybe 2 or 3 thousandths deep. Looking at it through the loading gate it is at 3 o'clock putting it at 12 under the firing pin.

Back up the bus!

Are you saying the chambers are recessed so the rims sit down below the surface of the back of the cylinder? And there is a tiny half moon cut that shares the same floor with the rest of the counterbore? If so, the purpose for the recess is to provide clearance for the firing pin so that it will not strike the body of the cylinder. The recess provides clearance.

Study this photo. No, it is not the same revolver you are talking about, it is a S&W Model 17. Notice how the chambers are counterbored for the cartridge rims, so that the the rims will be subflush when the cartridges are seated. Notice how much larger in diameter the counterbores are than the cartridge rim. Notice where the firing pin mark is on the rim. It is nowhere near the body of the cylinder. I could dry fire this revolver all day long if I wanted to and the firing pin would never strike the cylinder. The firing pin does not strike the bottom of the counterbore either, it stops a few thousandths shy of the cylinder. This is a design feature.





Fire a round in your cylinder, and then carefully remove the cylinder without disturbing the spent round. I'll bet you will find the firing pin indentation is far enough away from the body of the cylinder that the firing pin will never touch the cylinder.

There is another issue with dry firing. It has to do with the firing pin not being 'cushioned' when it strikes a primer or a snap cap. This lack of cushioning can cause the tip of the firing pin to separate from the body of the firing pin due to the rapid deceleration when the hammer slams into the frame. Does not happen real often, but it is always a possibility.

But if your firing pin never strikes the cylinder, at least one base is covered.

I still would not dry fire a bazillion times, because bad things can happen if you snap the hammer enough times on an empty cylinder.

 

[Malamute]

Frankly, I do not like to dry fire any firearm, centerfire or rimfire, without a snap cap to protect the firing pin. A few times won't hurt, but if you like to shoot the bad guys while you are watching TV, eventually you will wear something out, or shoot a hole in the TV.

Ruger states that it is perfectly fine to dry fire their firearms...

Yes, it says so right in the manual....


....only they can still break parts, transfer bars in particular. It isn't exactly a freak happening or unheard of issue either. After breaking the third one I stopped unless with snap caps.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Well, the good thing about Ruger is if you break a transfer bar, they will replace it, no questions asked.

Or you can send them the gun and they will repair it, no questions asked.

 

[Malamute]

I never asked them, just ordered parts. Hard to imagine ending the gun in just for a transfer bar. Didn't even think of them warrantying a transfer bar, but if they would want the gun back it would be a no go.

 

[Varminterror]

That's how they do it.

It obviously works.

 

[Varminterror]

I never asked them, just ordered parts. Hard to imagine ending the gun in just for a transfer bar. Didn't even think of them warrantying a transfer bar, but if they would want the gun back it would be a no go.

Ruger will not make you send one in for a transfer bar replacement. They just send out new TB's. Been there, done that. Half of the time when I try to order new parts from Ruger they insist on sending them for free even when it's NOT a warranty issue.

Of course, it should go without saying, Ruger is able to do so because legally, they have no warranty at all.

 

[Malamute]

OK, that's good to know, thanks.