Dryfiring rimfire OK?

[aagiv]

After lurking here off and on for a couple of weeks, I today purchased a CZ 452. The manual for this rifle has me confused though. All my life I have been told that you should never dryfire a rimfire rifle because the firing pin is not designed to handle it. However, as I thumbed through the manual, I noticed that CZ's unloading instructions include dryfiring as the last step. What is the verdict on this? Is it OK to dryfire this rifle, or did someone screw up when they translated the instructions to English?

 

[scouter27]

some bolt actions don't need to be dry fired. you can let the tension off of the spring by leaving the bolt closed, but not locked and squeezing the trigger and rotating the bolt slowly into the fully closed posotion. I don't know enough about CZ rifles to know if you can do this for sure, but it works with Remingtons, Winchesters and Marlin .22's.

 

[Ledbetter]

I avoid dry firing when I put my .22's away by inserting a spent cartridge in the chamber before pulling the trigger. Stingers work well for this as they are steel or nickel and don't deform easily.

 

[johnwill]

Although most older rimfires could be damaged by dryfiring, many modern guns are not. Specifically, almost any new (20 years or less) Ruger rimfire will not be damaged by dryfiring. I know I've heard that others are also OK to dryfire, but specifics escape me, so I won't try to pass it on.

 

[700PSS Shooter]

My new Kimber HS manual says dry firing is A-OK.

 

[Oris]

Any Russian made .22 or other caliber firearm can be dry fired.
I suspect same is true for any .22 piece made in Eastern Europe, just because folks over there never use snap caps and stuff like this.

 

[IMtheNRA]

I was wondering why it is OK to dryfire the ruger 10/22. What design change took place that keeps the modern guns from being damaged by this?

 

[Spatula]

Many model firearms have the firing pin made shorter (just enough to ignite the ammo, but not enough to touch the barrel end where a nick can cause extraction problem).

Some have a firing pin stop built in for the same reason.

 

[johnwill]

IMtheNRA,

The 10/22 is designed so that the firing pin does not contact the breech face, dry firing will not hurt it. Both of mine has been dry fired many times, and there is no mark of any kind.

 

[jungleman]

I generally do not dry fire a weapon. I will use snap caps or a spent casing. I will dry fire a weapon if I have to to release the pressure of the firing pin for storage.

 

[7th Fleet]

The design of the .22 rim fire has not changed, why would it now all of a sudden be ok to dry fire one? The firing pin still impacts on the back of the barrel without a round in the chamber to soften the blow. This peens the back of the barrel after a while and this can't be good for your gun. You can raise the bolt, then pull the trigger and allow thel striker to go forwar on bolt actions and that's what I do. On my semi autos, what I do is pull the bolt back until its almost out of battery and then I pull the trigger.

I would not dry fire any .22 rim fire period..

7th.

 

[johnwill]

7th Fleet,

What can I say, you're incorrect on this point. The Rugers are not harmed by dry firing, and Ruger will tell you so. From the 10/22 manual on page 12: "The rifle can be "dry fired" for practice as long as it is empty and pointed in a safe direction." The MK-II book has a similar statement on page 13, but mentions the firing pin stop. This is a standard part of the gun, though the stupid may leave it out and indeed damage the gun.