Dry fire...why is it "forbidden"

[Malinois]

So I am new here, so please be gentle....
But I have always wanted to know

What is the feeling behind "dry firing" a gun? Is it taboo because of the danger of the gun not actually being unloaded, or is it really harmful to the gun?

thank you......
malinois

[Philbert]

It is harmful to certain guns, mostly rimfires because the firing pin can strike the breech.

I don't think dry firing is taboo in general. Much like getting naked, it's a normal part of life, but it's not appropriate to do just anywhere.

[ar15jules]

I dry fire my Glock pistols quite a bit. Like mentioned above, some guns can actually become damaged from dry firing.
Jules

[Jason In Erie]

in rimfires yes, some older revolvers. Almost every other gun as some sort of buffer for the firing pin.

[Clark Kent]

Even with new firearms, you should verify that it's okay to dry fire before doing so. A lot of manuals will instruct you not to do so, be it safety reasons or damages to the firing pin.

You can always use snap caps.

[Sharkey]

Many firearms get BETTER with dry firing ...... S&W revolvers are one ....... There are many others out there .... I have made many actions smoother buy dry firing them a lot ....... Just be carefull with certain actions ....... don't dry fire a rim fire .....

I have a callous's on the back of my left thumb from hammers falling on it while watching the tube ......... Like an AR lower ...... Removed upper and dry fire into my thumb many/many times .............. Free action job ...... Well it heals anyway

[johnfritz]

Many firearms get BETTER with dry firing ...... S&W revolvers are one ...

CZ is another. Almost required actually.

OP, if you look around a bit you'll find a plethora of prior discussion of this topic. Consensus as I recall is that DF is acceptable for almost all except rim fire.

[SCBaldr]

Totally okay and even encouraged to dry fire Sigs and HKs. Rimfires and most bolt action rifles are a no no though.

Older model Colt revolvers (I'm not exactly sure which models) like my officer's model match and the pythons have through-hardened firing pins which will crack if dry fired and then the gun has to be totally taken to pieces by a good gunsmith and a new pin (which are not easy to get) would have to be fitted in on a more modern gun and the whole hammer assembly would have to be replaced and fitted in on an older gun.

[elementfreak431]

I dry fire every time I get my guns out of the safe. Its always to practice trigger control. Practice makes perfect!

[harold63]

Never heard of the word 'retarded' until I posted this on TOS some years ago. I don't dry fire any of my guns because I know where the reset is on them and none of the triggers are heavy enough to benefit me in any way, IMO. I do dry fire the piss out of a Glock air soft pistol and a RR BB gun, both of which have way heavier triggers than anything I really shoot. I do it for finger and flexor conditioning. A weak man picks up heavy weight. Weak mans shakes while holding it. After 3 mos. of picking up same weight, weak man is no longer weak, nor shakes. This same principle works with trigger fingers. Peace.