Dry fire

[GBA1776]

Is it bad to dry fire a rifle? i have heard that its bad to dry fire weapons, i have also heard that you should practice with dry firing to get your technique down.

Why would it be bad, is it the fact that firing pins are hardened and the harder the metal the more brittle it is, so the primer is a cushion for the pin, and the force if the pin slamming into its housing will possibly fracture or shatter the pin. ive heard that, it makes sense but is it true?

what about rimfire weapons ? they dont have the same mechanism, is it ok to
dry fire one not the other,

what does everybody think?

 

[Tony 0321]

I have dry fired my rifles hundreds of times its a great way to practice trigger control and follow up. I have never had any problems. I use dry firing whle I am hunting a lot if I am out and I see an animal and I am not going to shoot it I will MAKE SURE THAT THE RIFLE IS CLEAR and range the animal dial the scope and take a couple practice dry firings at it its good practice and for me it helps to control the flinch. When I was in the marines it was a commonthing to do we called it snapping in and all it was is dry firing just to get in the practice of good trigger control..
Its also a good thing to store your rifle with the pin in the down position (down position is after the trigger is pulled) it helps to keep the spring from getting weak

 

[GBA1776]

thanks for your help ill practice my trigger controll like that then.
i dont know anyone who stores a gun cocked that seems like a really bad idea. thats like putting a thousand pounds in your car before parking it for the winter, theres just no reason for it

 

[buffybr]

On rimfire guns, the firing pin strikes the rim or side of the back of the case. If there is no case in the chamber, the firing pin may strike the edge of the chamber which will damage the chamber and/or the firing pin. Not good.

 

[GBA1776]

i though it was bad so you can do it on centerfire not rimfire

 

[Joaquin B]

Since I do a lot of dry firing indoors (nosey neighbors from Kalifornia or some other people's republik), I use spent .22 l. r. cases from the same rifle I practice with. That way, I guarantee the firing pin will not strike the edge of the chamber. Each empty is good for 4 or 5 firings.

I stuff a small piece of paper tissue into the cases to avoid getting primer residue in the barrel, since the impact of the firing pin tends to disloge the crap left-over from the original firing.

 

[GBA1776]

i just came on to the website to ask about using empty shells for that.
the paper stuck in there is a real good idea.
thanks

 

[J E Custom]

On rimfire guns, the firing pin strikes the rim or side of the back of the case. If there is no case in the chamber, the firing pin may strike the edge of the chamber which will damage the chamber and/or the firing pin. Not good.

Most center fire rifles are designed so that the firing pin will stop before piercing
the primer but it is still recommended that a snap cap or a fired case be used to minimize
wear to the firing pin.

In the case of rim fire guns It is "NOT" recommended because the firing pin can and does
strike the breach on the edge of the chamber and will upset the edge of the chamber eventually causing difficulty in chambering. (note; There are a few rim fire rifles that have a firing pin
stop to prevent this but as a rule most don't).

So my recommendation would be if you want to dry fire a center fire rifle or shotgun use a spent
case/shell or a snap cap. And don't dry fire a rim fire at all .

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM

 

[top predator]

i've talked to several gunsmiths on the subject. the consensus is this: once upon a time materials used in both centerfire and especially rimfires where not as good as todays metals. this caused firing pins and other asscociated parts to be brittle and snap. according to them, there should be no problem, however using spent casings isn't a bad idea either to reduce the denting on the outer chamber.

they also said that the denting on the outer chamber from excessive dry firing tends to distort the chamber face causing the OAL of the cartiridge to change (as the rim thicknes of the cartridge basically sets how far in the cartridge goes) and causes small "gaps" around the rim which can cause accuracy problems.

there's no shortage of spent casings to use for the dryfiring is you feel uncomfortable doing it with nothing in there at all.

 

[HUAINAMACHERO]

Interesting thread!!!
I will be checking it frequently, to see the different opinions posted about it. I can learn something new out of it for sure. I dont dry fire my guns because I was tought that it is harmful for the firing pin, until now???

 

[GBA1776]

i have saved quite a few empties from my trips to the range and i didnt think you could have so much fun dry firing but..... i have been doing it scince i read the tip on using a spent case to save your chamber . i have "shot" about 500 squirrels and probably half that in crows and the cat that leaves paw prints all over my cars has theoretically ran out of its 9 lives about 15 times over.

When i did go to the range to let some real lead fly i found my trigger controll has improved so i would reccomend everyone at least grab a few spent shells and take em home, i dont know about everyone else but i live in the city and if i fired my gun the cops would be here in about 30 seconds, the cop shop is like 2 blocks from my house, but i can dry fire all i want without waking the neighbors,

I think it would be a good thing for even the most experienced shooter to do. no matter how long you've been shooting there is always something that you can do a little bit better. oh thanks to joaquin B for the tip on stuffing tissue paper in the case to stop crud from entering the barrel.

just to see what would happen i didnt plug one shell. and the amount of crap that flew into my barrel was surprising. it was about a pinch of fouling and wahtever else is in there(a pinch is a cooking term for those wondering. basically its about the amount of pepper that would come out of a shaker if you turned it over and back real quick. not alot on food but definatley bad for your gun)

 

[J E Custom]

i have saved quite a few empties from my trips to the range and i didnt think you could have so much fun dry firing but..... i have been doing it scince i read the tip on using a spent case to save your chamber . i have "shot" about 500 squirrels and probably half that in crows and the cat that leaves paw prints all over my cars has theoretically ran out of its 9 lives about 15 times over.

When i did go to the range to let some real lead fly i found my trigger controll has improved so i would reccomend everyone at least grab a few spent shells and take em home, i dont know about everyone else but i live in the city and if i fired my gun the cops would be here in about 30 seconds, the cop shop is like 2 blocks from my house, but i can dry fire all i want without waking the neighbors,

I think it would be a good thing for even the most experienced shooter to do. no matter how long you've been shooting there is always something that you can do a little bit better. oh thanks to joaquin B for the tip on stuffing tissue paper in the case to stop crud from entering the barrel.

just to see what would happen i didnt plug one shell. and the amount of crap that flew into my barrel was surprising. it was about a pinch of fouling and wahtever else is in there(a pinch is a cooking term for those wondering. basically its about the amount of pepper that would come out of a shaker if you turned it over and back real quick. not alot on food but definatley bad for your gun)

I totally agree with you on the use of spent rounds for practice.

When I was shooting High Power matches I loaded bullets (Only) in sized and spent primers (I
removed the primer punch pin from the sizing die) and practised getting into position,loading
the stripper clip and operating the bolt as I dry fired each cartridge and ejected them just as
I would in a match .While Also using my stop watch to help my timing.

It does help all aspects of shooting but be sure and use spent rounds if you are in your house
or as Savageman said you won't be very popular.

PS : I also used a red permanent marker to make sure they were easy to identify.

J E CUSTOM