Flfiremedic
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- Sep 25, 2007
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Still stuck on the couch after this wreck...is it safe to dry fire my Taurus M44?
Dry Firing
- Thread starter Flfiremedic
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sig226
Member
It's absolutely safe. Dry firing was harmful to firearms in two ways. First, when some rimfires are dry fired, the firing pin hits the the side of the firing chamber. This damages the firing pin and the chamber, but it is not true of all rimfires. Rugers and Kimber rifles can be dry fired.
Second, the primer provides a springy surface for the hammer to strike. Without a primer or snap cap, the hammer strikes the frame or slide at full power. In older (1940s or prior) firearms, the metal was more brittle than it is now. You might peen the frame or break the hammer if you did a lot of dry firing.
Modern guns use steels that combine strength and resilience. You can dry fire your Taurus all you want. It won't hurt it.
Modern shotguns use a more powerful hammer and should not be dry fired. Muzzleloaders that use a nipple and a cap also should not be dry fired because it damages the nipple and the hammer.
Second, the primer provides a springy surface for the hammer to strike. Without a primer or snap cap, the hammer strikes the frame or slide at full power. In older (1940s or prior) firearms, the metal was more brittle than it is now. You might peen the frame or break the hammer if you did a lot of dry firing.
Modern guns use steels that combine strength and resilience. You can dry fire your Taurus all you want. It won't hurt it.
Modern shotguns use a more powerful hammer and should not be dry fired. Muzzleloaders that use a nipple and a cap also should not be dry fired because it damages the nipple and the hammer.
Quoheleth
Member
Not to pick a fight over this comment, but I'm going to offer another bit of advice. Since you're on the couch anyway, grab your manual and read it. Some Taurus guns, from what I understand, urge you to NOT dry-fire. Check yours to make sure that is not the case.
That said, I have dry-fired my PT92 (and continue to do so) regularly.
A quick check will save you a long and frustrating wait as it is shipped back to Miami for warranty work!!!
Q
Get Snap Caps & stop worrying
Buy Snap Caps. They make Snap Caps in dozens and dozens of calibers. I have Caps in 38, 357, 303 British, 12 gauge, and 22 Long Rifle. I dry fire all day long with no worry. It's especially nice when dry firing my WW 1 era S&W Military and Police.
Instead of trying to find out which make and model is safe get the caps and have fun. I buy mine at Cabelas and Sportsmen Warehouse.
Buy Snap Caps. They make Snap Caps in dozens and dozens of calibers. I have Caps in 38, 357, 303 British, 12 gauge, and 22 Long Rifle. I dry fire all day long with no worry. It's especially nice when dry firing my WW 1 era S&W Military and Police.
Instead of trying to find out which make and model is safe get the caps and have fun. I buy mine at Cabelas and Sportsmen Warehouse.
Better safe than sorry, metal fatigue is metal fatigue. Parts will wear out or break eventually. After I've broken several firing pins and other small parts by dryfiring without snap-caps (chiefly on hammer-fired guns), I say use the snap caps--that $5 for a set of snap caps is cheap for peace-of-mind.
XDTOM40 said:
http://www.pachmayr.com/pachmayr/snapcaps.htm -- I bought a 10-pk set of .22LR snapcaps and a 6-pk set of 9mm snapcaps for about $6/set at a local gun shop, and they had others like this (all plastic, no fancy aluminum shell or internal spring or anything) for different calibers as well...I wish I could find some online, though, because making the 40-mile hike over there is a pain, especially here in Northern Virginia...
http://www.lymanproducts.com/store/page122.html
$16.98 for a pack of 6 in .38 special. That is what I run into everywhere. That is about average and then add shipping or tax. I can get them everywhere around here, but I would still like to find where they are $5.00/set as mentioned above.
$16.98 for a pack of 6 in .38 special. That is what I run into everywhere. That is about average and then add shipping or tax. I can get them everywhere around here, but I would still like to find where they are $5.00/set as mentioned above.
spwenger
Member
If You Really Want Cheap Snap Caps...
If you decap some fired cases, you can simply fill the primer pockets with silicone cement.
If you decap some fired cases, you can simply fill the primer pockets with silicone cement.
XDTOM40 said:
I apologize if I misled you, but it was a figure of speech--I meant that snap caps are cheap insurance against the aggravation of dealing with your firearm's manufacturer's customer service, explaining your situation, having a replacement sent out to you, waiting for it to arrive, and having it installed. Or worse, having to send your gun back to them to have it fixed (and dealing with all of that jazz).
Local gun shops might carry the snapcaps I'm talking about--they're yellow or orange, solid (but soft) plastic, and come 6 or 10 to a plastic bag.
As was mentioned earlier, spent cases can be de-capped (with a suitably small screwdriver and a hammer, even), the primer pockets filled with some sort of plastic material to serve as a cheap snap-cap. If it breaks, no big deal--go shoot at a range, recover the cases, and make some more.
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=9923&title=SAF-T-TRAINERS -- here we go. These are what I was talking about.
No apology needed, I was hoping you knew something I didn't. I bought some of the orange ones for my .40 S&W for $1.00/pc but they do not have .38 or .357 in stock. I am going to the local police supply tomorrow, so I will look there, they used to have the orange ones. Thanks!
Legionnaire
Contributing Member
Agree with Quoheleth. Read the manual. I used to have an M44 (sorry I sold it); I think I recall that the manual said it should not be dry fired extensively. That and the ported barrel were two of the reasons I decided to find a different .44.
Legionnaire
Contributing Member
kle, not to rain on the parade, but if I remember correctly, the SAF-T-TRAINERS you linked to are not designed to be used as snap caps. They are fairly maleable, and deform easily. They are really designed for action testing and malfunction drills. I used them for years during hunter safety classes, where it was against regulation to have live ammo in the classroom. They're great for what they were designed for, but if you're serious about finding snap caps, buy some that are designed for that purpose.
Slugless
Member
Okay, I'm feeling a little ignorant here.
On a centerfire why do you need to take out the primer and fill it with silicon cement? And would the silicon cement really provide enough resistance to cushion the action?
I use spent cases for rimfires. I clean the primer residue out of the spent cases to prevent concentrated primer residue from getting in the bore. Is it something similar with centerfires or does the primer just deform too much?
Thanks!
On a centerfire why do you need to take out the primer and fill it with silicon cement? And would the silicon cement really provide enough resistance to cushion the action?
I use spent cases for rimfires. I clean the primer residue out of the spent cases to prevent concentrated primer residue from getting in the bore. Is it something similar with centerfires or does the primer just deform too much?
Thanks!
theNoid
Member
IF no-one has any reasons NOT to do this, I am thinking it is a great idea and will start making "snap-caps" for all of my firearm friends. Will prolly fill the cases completely with silicone though, just seems it would be easier. Thanks for the great idea...
Noidster
highorder
Member
I have made several caps from unprimed brass , FMJ bullets, and silicone. it works well. and costs little.
Legionnaire said:
Oh, I know; my .22LR ones are completely worn out and my 9mm ones are just about done, but they were cheaper than the red aluminum A-Zoom snap caps and I seemed to get better centerfire durability out of them--the "primers" in the 9mm A-Zoom snap caps dimpled too readily and I was worried that they wouldn't adequately "catch" the firing pin to prevent damage, but the 9mm SAF-T-TRAINERS didn't show such extensive compression where the firing pin would hit them. Plus, the SAF-T-TRAINERS were closer in size to an actual 9mm round than the A-Zooms and so would be held in the star-clip for my Taurus 905 a bit better.
But after several months of constant dryfiring, the SAF-T-Trainers are pretty much done, and the A-Zoom snapcaps still probably have a lot of life left in them...
Due to the nature of 22lr, I do not know of any action proving rounds out there that will withstand multiple strikes in the same spot. However I would like to find some.
I prefer A-Zooms even though they are atrotiously expensive. Maybe I'll pull one apart to see what makes it tick, springs maybe?
I like Noids Idea of completely filling home brewed ones with silicone as long as they were still weighted correctly. It would seem they would last much longer and be more effective at cushoining the strike, especially with rifles. Nickels.
I prefer A-Zooms even though they are atrotiously expensive. Maybe I'll pull one apart to see what makes it tick, springs maybe?
I like Noids Idea of completely filling home brewed ones with silicone as long as they were still weighted correctly. It would seem they would last much longer and be more effective at cushoining the strike, especially with rifles. Nickels.
there aren't...I tried some, and they're falling apart now, and they're a PITA to find (only one place 'locally' has them, and ordering off the internet incurs shipping). So I do like others do--I use already-fired casings. They're plentiful and easy to get, because I use a S&W 617 revolver to "produce" them (with quality control, even!), and the 617 doesn't completely kill the section of the rim it hits, so they can be used on the same spot multiple times (and the casings always rotate a little bit because they're a little loose in the cylinder and they all jump around a little when the hammer falls).
The clear red plastic snap-caps do have a spring in them, but I've read that they fall apart after a while. The red (maroon, really) aluminum ones have a primer pocket filled with plastic of some kind...
The clear red plastic snap-caps do have a spring in them, but I've read that they fall apart after a while. The red (maroon, really) aluminum ones have a primer pocket filled with plastic of some kind...
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