what not to dry-fire

[sig228]

Snap Caps

I use them too. But... The 22 rimfire snap caps are not the same as the other calibers. The rims on these get crushed and they are only good for a few trigger pulls. So...if you are going to pull the trigger and not just check the cycling, do what I do....save a bunch of 22 empties from your range sessions and use those instead.

 

[Jackal1]

The original XD series requires you to dryfire to disassemble, but if you dryfire regularly with the original XD you will eventually break the striker retaining pin. I would use a snapcap with the original XD.

 

[tipoc]

... but I have read that I shouldn't dry fire a few modern center fire pistols, such as the Colt trooper mkIII .357 without snap caps....any truth to this, and can anybody name a modern centerfire handgun or rifle that can be damaged by consistent dry firing?

From what I've read and been told the reason to not dry fire the Mark III Colt revolvers (Lawman, Trooper, etc.) has to do with two things. One is that Colt made these with an early form of cast parts similar to MIM and the firing pin may be prone to breakage if dry fired. and Two, the firing pin is not free floating and must be returned to the factory for fitting and replacement. So I do not dry fire these. S&W revolvers with free floating hammer mounted firing pins can be dry fired with no issues.

As others have said consult a manual if not certain.

tipoc

 

[Gunner58]

No problem at all. Even the oldest ones will tolerate the occasional "over-fire".

Over-firing one's magazine capacity is easy for any of us to do. I've done it plenty with even a cheap Jennings J-22 without any ill effects.

Thank you.

 

[JohnKSa]

Ruger SR9 manual says dont dry fire without an empty mag. I believe it has something to do with the mag disconnect.
So, would this be the same with all guns with a mag disconnect?
If it does involve the disconnect, since I removed mine, is it now ok to dry fire without a mag? I guess it really doesn't matter but I have wondered.

I asked Ruger and they said they couldn't give advice about an altered gun.

The Ruger magazine disconnect on your pistol operates by engaging a firing pin safety unless the magazine is inserted.

The problem is that a firing pin safety is basically a failsafe device and isn't designed to take a steady pounding. It's there to keep the gun from firing if something goes wrong, not really to act as an everyday safety that can be used on a regular basis.

When you dryfire the gun without the magazine in place, everytime the firing pin is driven forward, it is stopped by the magazine disconnect firing pin safety. If you do that once or twice, it's not an issue. If you do it a lot, it will eventually deform the firing pin/striker and/or the magazine disconnect firing pin safety. That deformation, if it is severe enough can prevent the gun from functioning properly.

If you remove the magazine disconnect firing pin safety, then when you dryfire without the magazine in place, the firing pin acts as it normally would because there's nothing to stop it from travelling fully forward.

With the magazine safety removed, I think that you should be able to dryfire your gun without any fear of damage or wear other than the normal wear you'd expect from dryfiring any other modern centerfire firearm.

With that information comes 2 cents of advice.

1st cent. If you sell/trade the gun, please restore it to factory trim before doing so. There are few things more dangerous than a gun that has had a safety altered but that appears to operate normally from the outside.

2nd cent. In the future, consider purchasing a firearm that will fulfill your needs without the need to alter the safety features of the firearm. These days, there is a truly staggering selection of firearms available. Personally, I don't like magazine safeties, so I don't buy guns that have magazine safeties. There are a couple of good reasons for taking this approach. First of all, it completely avoids the issue I mentioned above in my 1st cent of advice. Second, it avoids giving manufacturers a false sense of demand for products that customers don't want. If everyone who hates magazine safeties stopped buying guns with magazine safeties, it might just send the message to the manufacturers that they need to stop putting magazine safeties on their guns. And that saves everyone time and money.

 

[bergmen]

Freedom Arms indicate not to dry fire the model 97, not sure about the 83 as I don't own one.

My Model 83 manual says the same thing.

Dan

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

Over the years I have broken firing pins on a Rem. 700, Winny 9422m, Mossberg 500 (2 of them), S & W model 60.

 

[pippin53]

I've heard, "don't dry fire old guns," but that newer guns are fine. Any general cutoff date? For example, a Browning HP is pretty much unchanged since the 1930's, is a 90's or now BHP safe to dry fire? Or what about a 1953 Husqvarna AB rifle, made with good steel, but 60 years old, and based on the 98 mauser?

 

[Jim NE]

Ruger SR9 manual says dont dry fire without an empty mag. I believe it has something to do with the mag disconnect.
So, would this be the same with all guns with a mag disconnect?
If it does involve the disconnect, since I removed mine, is it now ok to dry fire without a mag? I guess it really doesn't matter but I have wondered.I asked Ruger and they said they couldn't give advice about an altered gun.

The Ruger magazine disconnect on your pistol operates by engaging a firing pin safety unless the magazine is inserted.The problem is that a firing pin safety is basically a failsafe device and isn't designed to take a steady pounding. It's there to keep the gun from firing if something goes wrong, not really to act as an everyday safety that can be used on a regular basis.

Interesting. I thought my P345 was the only Ruger that had that caveat. In fact, some people sure make a big deal out of that warning on the P345 and act like it makes the gun undesirable. In truth they are outstanding guns.

AND, the P345 owners manual says dry fire all you want if the empty mag is inserted.

 

[Jim NE]

The guy who I took my ccw class from said that most of the old Bullseye shooters he used to talk to said they got to be good shoots, in part, by dry firing a lot.

I feel comfortable dry firing my Smith and Wesson revolvers - old (which for me is post ww2) or new - but I don't do it that much.

 

[tipoc]

I've heard, "don't dry fire old guns," but that newer guns are fine. Any general cutoff date? For example, a Browning HP is pretty much unchanged since the 1930's, is a 90's or now BHP safe to dry fire? Or what about a 1953 Husqvarna AB rifle, made with good steel, but 60 years old, and based on the 98 mauser?

A BHP is safe to dry fire. Your Husqvarna is safe to dry fire.

There is no "cut off date". What you were told is not universally true.

1. Most rimfire firearms are not safe to dry fire. But some are. So consult the manufacturer and the manual to see what they say.

2. Most centerfire handguns and rifles are safe to dry fire. But a few aren't. To be sure consult the manufacturer or manual.

3. Snap caps and dummy rounds are both useful training aids. They are meant for different purposes. The snap cap for dry firing practice. The dummy round for feeding through actions. There is some overlap in their roles, mostly with the snap caps. But the latter is not purpose built for repeated feeding through semi automatic actions. It works excellently with revolvers. In semis it is primarily a dry fire tool.

tipoc

 

[rskent]

I had my baby Beretta 3032 break a firing pin. I'm pretty sure it was from dry firing.

 

[SwampWolf]

Second, it avoids giving manufacturers a false sense of demand for products that customers don't want. If everyone who hates magazine safeties stopped buying guns with magazine safeties, it might just send the message to the manufacturers that they need to stop putting magazine safeties on their guns.

Though I'm no fan of magazine safeties, per se, there are at least a couple of reasons why some customers might want one. The most obvious argument for wanting/having one is that, in the event a person becomes involved in a hand to hand struggle and finds himself in danger of having his pistol wrested from his grasp by the bg, a simple push on the magazine release will render the pistol inoperable until the magazine is re-inserted.
A second possible reason is that if a person wants a pistol close by in the home or car for self-defense but doesn't want it ready to fire until it is fully loaded (because children or other unwanted persons might gain access to it or for other individual reasons), a pistol having a magazine safety can be stored relatively safely with the chamber loaded but no magazine in it and a loaded magazine stored hidden separately and remote (but somewhat nearby) from the pistol. If the pistol is equipped with a safety, in this situation it could also be stored with the safety in the "off" position. This would allow the pistol to be quickly loaded by getting the loaded magazine and simply shoving it in, all that is left to do to fire the pistol is to pull the trigger.
I've always thought that it might be a good idea for the manufacturer to give the customer a choice: that way, you could buy a pistol with or without a magazine safety.

 

[bergmen]

I've always thought that it might be a good idea for the manufacturer to give the customer a choice: that way, you could buy a pistol with or without a magazine safety.

Unless you live in California, then it is required (for newly listed handguns as of a certain date).

Dan

 

[Potatohead]

JohnKSa,
Thanks for answering my mag disconnect question. I appreciate your advice also.

FYI This is my first gun, so I didn't totally know what I wanted in a pistol. My firearms career started in February. Thanks for your help.

 

[Potatohead]

SwampWolf said :

A second possible reason is that if a person wants a pistol close by in the home or car for self-defense but doesn't want it ready to fire until it is fully loaded (because children or other unwanted persons might gain access to it or for other individual reasons), a pistol having a magazine safety can be stored relatively safely with the chamber loaded but no magazine in it and a loaded magazine stored hidden separately and remote (but somewhat nearby) from the pistol.

Not a bad idea. That had not crossed my mind. Thx

 

[gamestalker]

Many years ago I damaged a RF by dry firing it. It destroyed the FP and damaged the chamber. But as for CF weapons, I've never had a problem, or damaged one by dry firing them. I have seen a few that broke FP's while working in the industry that were supposedly caused by dry firing?

I have wheel guns that I regularly dry fire and have been for ever, none have ever developed a problem as a result.

GS

 

[JohnKSa]

I've always thought that it might be a good idea for the manufacturer to give the customer a choice: that way, you could buy a pistol with or without a magazine safety.

A choice would be great. Unfortunately, I can't recall any gun being offered with a magazine safety as a user-selectable option. Either a gun has one or it doesn't and the only choice the user has is whether to buy that gun or not.

I do agree that there are some applications where a magazine safety makes sense.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

CZ USA actually tells you in their manual to dry fire their 452 series in order to uncock the mechanism.

 

[SwampWolf]

the only choice the user has is whether to buy that gun or not.

That's what I was suggesting: either/or. As it stands now, if you want a particular pistol, you have to accept it either having a magazine safety or not having one. It would be nice if the same pistol could be available with a magazine safety or the identical pistol without one; giving the prospective buyer a choice.
I am not proposing that you could have both "features" in the same pistol (if that was even possible, I can only imagine how verbose the manufacturer's obligatory user warning stamped on the frame would have to be ).

 

[Defc0n]

I have dry fired many different guns but would have to agree with a few comments on here on not to try fire old (I mean old) lever action guns. Broke the firing pin on my Winchester model 1894 a few years back.

I have had manuals on most new guns state that dry firing will not cause any harm to the firearm, such as my ruger LCR. My FN Five-Seven manual states to dry fire the weapon to release the tension on the spring if its going to be stored for a while. We dry fired M16's all the time in the military as well, hundreds if not thousands of times on the same weapon.

 

[MR.G]

I was told many years ago when young not to dry fire any gun. To this day I don't do it, but really doubt that dry firing would damage a good center fire handgun.

 

[wproct]

Do not dry-fire a Smith & Wesson 2206 or 422 semi-auto rimfire pistol. They will break a firing pin in short order. I know, because I did it twice before I became a believer!

 

[JoePfeiffer]

I was reading the manual for the Nano I have on order (happy!) and noticed it cautions against extensive dry-firing.

 

[hentown]

I guess the Henry .22s aren't "modern .22s," but they do specify that they're not to be dry-fired. I don't believe, either, that Ruger 22/45s should be dry-fired.

I personally prefer to wet-fire. I don't even dryfire my centerfires, but not because of fear of damage, but because of fear of boredom.