dry firing pistol/rifles?

[vetter3006]

I was talking with a friend and we were talking about dry firing and he said it's no good it can damage the firing pin, And I was like it's a practice technique and it has been practiced for a long time. I should use snap caps but my question is what are the pros/cons of dry firing pistols/rifles will it damage the firing pin or is it good to practice for trigger control and such.

[Spishack357]

My sp101 revolver manual says I am OK to dry fire but I am hesitant to dry fire my p226 until I read something from the mfr... I've always been discouraged from it for the reasons you listed...get the snap caps...

[Robert Kayland]

I never understood the dry-firing caution either, because I always figured the explosion of a bullet puts MUCH MUCH MUCH more stress on all parts of a gun, so how can dry-firing damage anything?

And if it could, you would think the first bullet that went off would absolutely destroy things, so if something is going to break, better it break during dry-firing.

Maybe they caution against it because people practicing are apt to pull the trigger hundreds/thousands of times more on an empty gun, and normal wear-and-tear on springs, triggers, hammers, pins, etc. would be exacerbated?

Anyway, just from force of habit I seldom dry-fire any firearm, be it pistol or rifle.

[crazywolf]

I always use snap caps but that being said I've known others who have dry fired many times with no damage with out them.it is a great way to hone your skills.I think that saying it will cause damge could be true depending on the firearm it is done to.I will be interested to hear others view on this.crazywolf

[Nic]

I dry fire everything except my .22lr

FWIW, when I was young I dry-fired my Dad's old 20 gauge shotgun, and the firing pin snapped in half. Maybe it snapped because it was an old gun and the pin had weakened from stress... nevertheless, each time I dry-fire a weapon, I think back to that old shotty.

[tlgpa]

Try going to the seach and search for "Dry Fire". Lot's of threads on it.

With centerfire some manufacturers say it's ok, some don't. I'd suggest following their recommendations.

With rimfire, it's definately a no no!

[LittleRedToyota]

generally speaking, centerfire guns are OK to dry fire--but, there are exceptions which would typically be noted in the owner's manual.

generally speaking, rimfire guns are NOT OK to dry fire--but, there are exceptions which would typically be noted in the owner's manual.

i think the idea that dry firing centerfire guns is bad comes from two places.

1. the military (or at least some drill sgts) used to teach it in basic training--drill sgt: "If you dry fire your M16, you will break the firing pin and then I will break you." don't know if they have yet figured out that not only will dry firing not break an M16 firing pin, but might actually help soldiers/marines hit the enemy, but i hope so.

2. there are some manufacturers that warn against it and people probably generalize that to all centerfire guns.

i have dry fired my glocks (without snap caps) probably 100,000 times. no issues.

i have dry fired my AR15s tens of thousands of times. no issues.

[Xringshooter]

You need to check the book on each individual gun. Some guns can be safety dry fired only after you do certain things to them. To be on the safe side use snap caps, especially for rim fire guns, especially the older single action types. For revolvers, you can always take cases that have been deprimed and put pencil eraser material in the primer pockets to cushion the firing pin.

IIRC there recently was an article, I believe in American Handgunner or Shooting Times, on how to do a removeable modification to be able to dry fire a Glock.

[LittleRedToyota]

IIRC there recently was an article, I believe in American Handgunner or Shooting Times, on how to do a removeable modification to be able to dry fire a Glock.

all that needs to be removed to be able to dry fire a glock is the round that's in the chamber and the loaded magazine.

seriously.

littleredhastestedthisabout100,000timestoyota

[LittleRedToyota]

btw, as to why dry fire?

it is, imho, far and away the best way to work on trigger control and not flinching.

it is also an extemely cheap way to work on getting sights on target quickly (from either the holster for in transition from target to target) and to not disrupt the sight picture when pressing the trigger (see part about being the best way to work on trigger control).

i don't remember where i heard/read it, but some wise man once said "you cannot shoot away a flinch". the cure is dry fire...lots and lots and lots of it.