What's the deal with dry firing?

[walkin' man]

How do you know if it's OK to dry fire a particular firearm if it isn't mentioned in the manual? The manual for a USP says it's OK, although she doesn't like to be teased. The manual for a Tomcat says it's a no-no. What about shotguns, rifles, or revolvers. Is there a rule? I would like to tap the bottomless well of information that is TFL, can anyone help?

------------------
I like guns!

 

[Kodiac]

Most modern guns wont care if you tease them.
If they are a quality gun that is...

Some guns recomend dry firing as a method of training - HK and SIG...

Maybe this is a good sign of a quality gun?

------------------
"Fear will keep the local systems in line..."

 

[Daren Thompson]

As best I know dry firing will not hurt a centerfire firearm, but can be harmfull to a rimfire firearm ex .22LR . However some people get grouchy about dry firing and if it is not your gun it is best to ask first.

Hope this helps
Later
Daren

 

[4V50 Gary]

At the Ruger Armourer School (Pistol, Revolver and Long Gun), they told us that their firearms can be dry fired safely. I was told the same thing at Remington Armourer school about the Model 700l. Don't try it with a Colt Python though as I know someone who did and on the first trip to the range, no bang bang. Very disappointing for this fellow as it was his first handgun.

 

[Bushwhacker]

Bushmaster says it's ok to dry fire their AR-15's. It makes the trigger pull lighter, they say.

 

[Grayfox]

Dry firing most centerfire handguns and rifles won't hurt them. In fact, dry firing is excellent practice and will help wear in and smooth out the action. Rimfires its a no-no. Here the firing pin is smaking into the edge of the chamber, steel on steel, when there should be a nice soft brass rim between them. It can peen the chamber to the point than ammo won't feed.
Also, don't let the slide or bolt on a semi-auto slam shut. Again you have the steel on steel thing when under normal conditions the act of cycling a cartridge or shell would cushion the blow.

 

[James K]

Been here before. Most modern rimfire guns can be dry fired a reasonable amount with no damage. They are designed to not allow the firing pin to reach the chamber edge, so there is no "steel against steel" except at the firing pin stop. But if you do dry fire(and many target shooters do - a lot) check every so often to see if the firing pin is marking the edge of the chamber in any way. If it is, stop dry firing! The damage will be that the edge of the chamber is peened in and won't allow a cartridge to be chambered.

A center fire is usually OK. I don't know about 4V50Gary's friend's Python. I have seen Colt firing pins break from dry firing, but it is very, very uncommon.

As to letting slide drop with no ammo, again, it's a matter of some perspective. If you did it 8 hours a day, every day, one thing. To do it once in a while is not going to hurt a gun, but don't do it with someone else's gun!

Some people treat their auto pistols so gently, not realizing what stresses and strains normal firing imposes.

 

[KNIGHT]

Guns&Ammo said in an article about training that the only time you should dry fire a rimfire is for training and then you should have a fired shell or a snap cap loaded in the chamber. If you don't know what snap caps are, they are a spring loaded fake shell that gives your firing pin something to hit other than air. As far as I'm concerned Dry firing a gun of any kind without something to take the force of the pin is an unwise practice. I always load an expended shell, or a primered shell.

------------------
I want a Heckler&Koch MP-5K with the tactical briefcase for my birthday!!!!

 

[.]

Age of the firearm is a significant consideration in this topic. Many of the older firearms and many less expensive lines used more malleable steels.

Almost any center-fire revolver that has the firing pin attached to the hammer, tends to peen outward the opening for the firing pin on the frame window side (where the cylinder is). This is because there is no cartridge primer to provide resistence to the force of the falling hammer & pin and stop their forward motion from impacting the surfaces on the inside of the pin opening. A few of the early models which used floating firing pins & transfer bars would also peen from inside. My experience with this particular problem was with an early production Charter Arms Bulldog .44SPL that used a floating beryllium-copper firing pin. The Be-Cu pin was purportedly unbreakable, which translated into a much greater capacity to deform the pin hole.

I've seen a few turn of the century rifles that had a this problem also, including a .30-40 Krag-Jorgenson with which I deer hunted as a youngster.

The .22 rimfire pistols and rifles had a similar problem, again due to use of more malleable metal around the chamber area. The Remington 513-T rifle, older HS Victors/Citations, and the S&W model 41, have this propensity, in my experience. I use Winchester .22lr Dummy Cartridges (about $3.50 last time I bought a box)in my Victor, Hammerli 280 & S&W 41. The Dummy Cartridges can be ordered from Brownells, or a local Smith will usually have some on hand.

Peening is not the only issue here. Unless the firearm has been properly engineered for dry firing (and the more astute manufacturer will usually not miss the opportunity to hype that point!) then dummy cartridges or snap-caps should be used to prevent damage to the firing pin or the firing pin spring in those models that use one. Snap-caps can be bought at most firearms and sporting-goods stores, albiet at a considerable gouge to the wallet.

A quick and easy method to make snap-caps to protect any center-fire gun is to take a deprimed cartridge case (obviously the same as that for which the firearm is chambered) and fill in the primer pocket(even with the base of the cartridge case) with a silicone sealer (bathtub sealer, Shoe-Goo) or similar substance that dries to a resilient plug. Do not use non-drying or "tacky" substances for this. Another similar technique is to stuff a pencil eraser in the primer pocket and trim it flush with the base of the case. A little house-hold glue in the primer pocket will help hold the plug in place.