S&W 642 dryfire question

[ghh3rd]

I will be picking up my S&W 642 .38 snub this week, and have read about several members who dry fired it "thousands" of times for practice and to "smooth out" the trigger.

Does anyone see any problem with dryfiring this wheel gun that frequently? Are snap caps necessary?

Thanks,

Randy

 

[twoclones]

According to the S&W website, dry firing will not harm any of their center fire revolvers. No snap caps. Just check and double check to be sure it's empty

 

[Trekbike]

While S&W says it's okay, I went ahead and bought snap caps for my 642 to take out any doubt in my mind. Plus I use them to help practice reloading with a speed strip.

Somewhat off the subject but connected, I also placed a very very small piece of tape on each one of 5 fired casings to help simulate an unload and then reload with the snap caps. (A clean unload with a snubby takes some practice since the ejector is a little short and the casings can hang in the cylinder if your not careful.)

David

 

[archigos]

(A clean unload with a snubby takes some practice since the ejector is a little short and the casings can hang in the cylinder if your not careful.)

Thanks for answering that - I have a 637 (the exposed hammer sister of the 642) and was kindof wondering about that because its my only revolver. What do you do to compensate for the short ejector when unloading fired casings?

 

[ghh3rd]

Thanks for your reply. I'm not sure that I understand what you are using the tape for though...

I also placed a very very small piece of tape on each one of 5 fired casings to help simulate an unload

 

[Trekbike]

Thanks for your reply. I'm not sure that I understand what you are using the tape for though...

After firing the round you have two things that happen to the case.

1. Expansion due to the pressure. The casing stays at this size.
2. A brief expansion due to the heat in the casing. This goes away quickly

If you take some of the fired casings and load them in the cylinder again and eject them again, it gets easier to eject than it was the first time. The only reason I added the tape was to make the casings a little harder to eject to better simulate an ejection right after firing. It took several tries for me to get the right "feel" with the tape. For me it helps to practice unloads and reloads at home when ever I want. To carry it further after loading the snap caps you can dry fire as many times as you want and then repeat the process.

David

 

[goodtime]

I emailed the S&W factory about dry-firing a 640, the 357 equivalent, and the staff advised me that I could dry fire it "all day long."

 

[Trekbike]

Thanks for answering that - I have a 637 (the exposed hammer sister of the 642) and was kindof wondering about that because its my only revolver. What do you do to compensate for the short ejector when unloading fired casings?

There are several past threads on the subject and different techniques that might be of interest. The key is finding one that works for you. The key is to use a quick, forceful push on the ejector rod. Here is a concise discription on Kathy Jackson's website.

http://www.corneredcat.com/RunGun/loadrevo.aspx

The only variation that I do is the part about operating the ejector rod.

Rather than slap the ejector with the palm of my shooting hand, I use the thumb of my support hand to quickly push the ejector while simutalously slapping the butt of the gun into the palm of my shooting hand.

This works the best for me.

David