Dry Firing

[eaglesfn68]

isnt this bad for the gun. i know in hunting you shouldnt dry fire a bow. what really is dry firing and is it bad or not. im quessing not.

[Bigbadaboom]

Don't dry-fire any rim fire firearms all others are O.K.

[Guy Neill]

There are some items to watch and replace when you dry fire. In a 1911 pattern gun, the firing pin spring will compress and break, so it should be regularly replaced. Also, the firing pin stop may crack or break.

I would expect the firing pin spring on most autos will also suffer as seen in the 1911 guns.

Guy

[Steve Anderson]

My caspian has been dry fired a gajillion times with no ill effects.

My berettas were dry fired a gajillion times with no ill effects.

There is a slight issue with the springfield XD and the firing pin stop roll pin that can be found with a search on this forum.

SA

[davidball]

I broke two firing pin stops on my Para over a year period - I suspect from dry firing. Other than that, no ill effects. Worth it for the improvement from the training.

[edwin garcia]

it's really hard for me to determine that because i use my gun for both live & dry fire practice, & then the matches i shoot. I have replaced a lot of titanium struts though. My dry fire consists of:

cocking the hammer, racking the slide,

pulling the trigger, in multiple reps.

but it's about the same as when you're firing live ammo too.

it will be interesting if someone in the forum has a dedicated gun for the sole purpose of dry firing and an exclusive gun for live fire/match use only.

Edited February 21, 2006 by edwin garcia

[TBeazlie]

I've broken a firing pin stop on my Para 16-40 bot that's all so far.

[Guy Neill]

I have a dedicated dry fire gun. I have expereinced several firing pin springs totally falling out in pieces upon disassembly, and one firing pin stop that had the bottom half fall out, and the present firing pin stop is cracked at the eight o'clock position (the normal spot for a crack).

Actually, I have two dry fire guns - one for Limited (metallic sights) and one for Open - an old single stack. The above has been the Limited gun. The Open gun has also had at least one broken firing pin stop and I stopped counting firing pin springs some time ago. I had considered an article on the effect on the firing pin spring and kept a couple of the firing pin spring (in pieces) to possibly photograph.

Guy

[Flexmoney]

If you can take a gun suitable for USPSA or IDPA and break it through dry-fire...by all means, do so.

[straightshooter1]

I'm amazed at the folks who report here that they have broken guns. From dry firing? Or is it from a steady diet of hundreds and hundreds of majors that finally cause wear and/or breakage? Certainly is not my experience, but ....

Of course dry firing a rimfire gun is bad. The firing pin impacts the rim of the cylinder since the rim of the case which contains the priming compound is not there and, in a short time, you can have many little dents, called peening, in the rim of the cylinder. Eventually the rim of the cartridge doesn't lie flat against the rim of the cylinder.

Shotguns are generally a no-no, too. For reasons I can't explain, those big pins tend to crystalize and break from the vibration of dry-firing, or so I'm told. Never had one do it myself, but.... Or, it could be an urban legend. Some of the import single-action SASS guns had issues with the firing pin bushing coming slightly out with repeated dryfiring so snap caps might be better if used with them.

But most revolvers and semiautos-as Cops in the 60s-70s we dry fired for what seemed like hours. When I shot bullseye, everyone I knew of put that little black dot on the living room wall and spent a tremendous time trying to drop the hammer of that K38 or Colt Target Model without disturbing the sights.

Teaching firearms classes for CCW Permits, we have the students dry fire and I do too. Never, ever, had any problem with quality factory-type parts.

Maybe with all the aftermarket gizmos and whizbangs, dryfiring may be a problem, but not with any standard Glock, Smith, Sig, etc.

Edited February 22, 2006 by straightshooter1

[JD45]

I have heard that some rimfire pistols can be dryfired, like the Ruger MKII. I've been dryfiring mine alot lately.

[losangeles]

I like to dryfire regularly, usually in the morning before I start my day's activities. I put snap caps in.

I like one poster's reply of using dedicated guns for dryfiring. Hey, that's another reason I can use to get some more guns. ;-) Maybe I'll get some old, cheap versions for that.