Dry firing question

[tmfun]

I have been told that dry firing a gun somehow is bad for the firing pin or something but no one has explained why. Then, when I bought my 1911, the guy at the gun store said that dry firing was o.k.

Can anyone explain this, and is it o.k. to dry fire my Mosins?

Bud

[gunney_m]

One or two might not hurt it but, multiple times can break your firing pin, depending on the gun but it is not good I assure you.

[tmfun]

O.K. but why? Does the firing pin need to hit the primer to provide resistance or what?

[Big Dog]

For most guns, it's not a problem - but it is better to use a 'snapcap' if you do it a lot.
For some guns, it can cause damage. Most rimfires can have the chamber mouth dinged and cause extraction issues. The CZ52 pistol has a very fragile FP that can break.

For the Mosin rifle - not a problem.

[samuel]

If a firearm is designse for dry firing doing so is not only harmless to the firearm,it is very good training for the shooter.Every military shoulder or sidearm I know of is designed for dry fire including the M1911 Colt.There may be a clone that is different but I dont know about it.The old .45 army or peacemaker had the fireing pin mounted on the hammer for that purpose.The basic military shoulder bolt action rifles were Mauser clones and could be dry fired.Some but not all self feeders could be dryfired.The main purpose of dry firing is to practice trigger squeeze because if you are using live ammo you cant tell if you are pulling the sights off when you pull the trigger.It is all about sight alignment while firing.Dry firing is very good training.Ruger and others recommend it. sam.

[tmfun]

Thank you! That makes sense to me and it's kind of hard to see if you are pulling off target when the gun is flying around with recoil and muzzle blast. Dry firing seems like excellent practice and I'm happy to know I can do it. Have to do it when the wife is out of the house though cause gun noises make her nervous

Originally Posted by samuel

If a firearm is designse for dry firing doing so is not only harmless to the firearm,it is very good training for the shooter.Every military shoulder or sidearm I know of is designed for dry fire including the M1911 Colt.There may be a clone that is different but I dont know about it.The old .45 army or peacemaker had the fireing pin mounted on the hammer for that purpose.The basic military shoulder bolt action rifles were Mauser clones and could be dry fired.Some but not all self feeders could be dryfired.The main purpose of dry firing is to practice trigger squeeze because if you are using live ammo you cant tell if you are pulling the sights off when you pull the trigger.It is all about sight alignment while firing.Dry firing is very good training.Ruger and others recommend it. sam.

[DWARREN123]

Use a snap cap or punch out a primer on a fired case and insert a piece of pencil eraser in the primer pocket. Doesn't cost much and may save the firing pin.

[jashoffa]

for the most part dry firing shouldn't harm the gun. The use of a snap Cap is a good suggestion. One should never dryfire a shotgun without a snap cap. Another good thing about a snap cap is that you not only force yourself to check the bore but you have to place the snap cap in the chamber for you will know it is not loaded. Maybe just a little added safty?

[tmfun]

So, once again, I have several opinions but still don't have a mechanical explaination as to why or why not.

I can tell you why putting sand in your transmission fluid is not a good idea. I can tell you why moisture in the refrigerant lines of your air conditioning system will destroy your A/C compressor, but I still have no idea what happens to a firing pin hitting air instead of a primer.

In and of itself, this is no big deal. I still don't understand how my semi auto pistols know when the magazines are empty but I am one of those curious people who just need to know why.

This reminds me of the story of the wife who always cut the ends of the roast off before cooking it. One day, her husband asked her why she did this. She answered, "Because my mother always did it this way." They went to her mother and asked why she did this and she answered " because that's the way grandma always did it." They went to grandma and asked her why. She told them that the pan she used wouldn't fit the whole roast.

Perhaps I should ask this question at "Box O' Truth". If you haven't seen their website, I highly recommend it. It's sort of like "Mythbusters for guns.

Originally Posted by DWARREN123

Use a snap cap or punch out a primer on a fired case and insert a piece of pencil eraser in the primer pocket. Doesn't cost much and may save the firing pin.

[billy]

my S.A. 1911A1 owners manual says to practice dry firing the weapon to get used to the trigger.
on the other hand i was raised to never dry fire a gun!

[Despoiler]

My father always told me that is was all right to dry fire any center fire gun. I have done this all of my life and have never had a problem, shotgun or otherwise. The only rule on dry firing was never dry fire a rimfire, because the firing pin could hit steel. I have been doing dry firing all of my life and never have had a problem. I am not really one to dry fire to an excessive, I might dry fire a gun once or twice after cleaning but not much more than that.

To be honest I have always wondered what the deal was with the snap caps, how do they work? What do they do? I assumed that they slowed down the pin before it hit metal, is this correct?

Since this is posted in the Mosin forum, I don't think you could hurt the mosin firing pin with a hammer. So dry fire it all you want.

Despoiler

[samuel]

All rimfire firing pins strike the outside of the cartridge which means they are aligned with the outside of the chamber and if there is no stop on the firing pin it can drive in to the metal making up the breech and either damage the breech,firing pin or both.A centerfire strikes in the center meaning when there is no cartridge all it can hit is air.Most centerfires have a coil spring on them to either return them,or make the firing pin into a combination firing pin-hammer combination.Where the no dryfire came from originally was cap&ball when the metals werent what they are today and dryfiring caused the nipples to pean over and ruin them.Then they made the rimfire cartridges and centerfire shotguns in singleshot and double modes with a short firing pin with no spring to buffer them leaving them to strike metal if dry fired and enertia eventually stretched an already hard piece of metal to the breaking point.Shotguns and some autoloader rifles such as AR,s still have hammers separate from the firing pin.If they have a return spring on the firing pin to buffer it from hitting metal on metal they usually can be dry fired.I personally would rather risk breaking a firing pin which costs little really and gain the knowledge and capability to squeeze my shots off without jerking the sightline off than strictly firing live rounds and blaming a perfectally innocent firearm of being inaccurate.If you have a return spring on the firing pin you know you are pretty safe dryfiring.Certain handguns such as the old peacemakers have a firing pin built on the hammer but no spring for a buffer and can be broken the same as the short pins in breakopen shotguns.A Colt is pinned and easily changed but some are molded with the hammer and require either cutting the broken pin off and welding a new one on or replacing the hammer.As someone stated you can place a piece of eraser or plastic in a centerfirecasing primer pocket to buffer the firing pin the same as a spring would do. sam.

[SilentSoul]

Originally Posted by Despoiler

My father always told me that is was all right to dry fire any center fire gun. I have done this all of my life and have never had a problem, shotgun or otherwise. The only rule on dry firing was never dry fire a rimfire, because the firing pin could hit steel. I have been doing dry firing all of my life and never have had a problem. I am not really one to dry fire to an excessive, I might dry fire a gun once or twice after cleaning but not much more than that.

To be honest I have always wondered what the deal was with the snap caps, how do they work? What do they do? I assumed that they slowed down the pin before it hit metal, is this correct?

Since this is posted in the Mosin forum, I don't think you could hurt the mosin firing pin with a hammer. So dry fire it all you want.

Despoiler

I bought some caps for my XD 40 because it was the first firearm I bought myself and i wanted to take all the precautions I could to take care of it. I had the same question as you. What the heck does it do???

SO upon receiving my Pachmayr .40 snap caps I took a very close look. They consist of a blue plastic"shell" a brass end with a brass "primer" connected to a spring inside the shell.

When placed into battery and fired. The firing pin strikes the primer and when it does the primer moves inside the shell due to the spring thus allowing give and slight resistance to the firing pin.
That is what a snap cap does.

[SwedeSteve]

If the design of the weapon allows the firing pin to strike against metal anywhere along it's length when released, then you are causing wear. Some firing pins are weaker than others (more brittle), and you may actually deform, ding or break the firing pin.

[Garand9015]

Dry firing is ok if you don't do it to an excessive. It is used for practicing and to relieve tension on springs. The worst thing you can do is leave tension on a spring, it wears it down and that will cause problems. In guns like the M1, the only thing you can do to take tension of the spring is to dry fire the rifle.

[SwedeSteve]

I would guess that snap caps are available for most all calibers, or you could make your own if you want one.

[toolman]

A lot of folks take a fired case and cut a piece of rubber eraser to fit the primer pocket for use as a snap-cap. I've dry-fired my centerfires for 25+ yrs. and never damaged a firing pin...

[samuel]

Originally Posted by SwedeSteve

If the design of the weapon allows the firing pin to strike against metal anywhere along it's length when released, then you are causing wear. Some firing pins are weaker than others (more brittle), and you may actually deform, ding or break the firing pin.

If you look at the design you,even you will see that it is very thick and heavy where it strikes metal to metal.Do a little research before you contradict me please.Furthermore I never satd that anyone should dryfire if they didnt want to.I always have but you can make your own decision I hope. sam.

[Idaho Dave]

Just in my own oppinion I think it is fine (in most modern centerfire firearms) and I have, do, and will. I have dry fired my varmint rifle countless times and never had a lick of trouble with it. (I do not do so with my muzzle loaders and cap and ball pistols for the very reason Sam stated earlier.) I find it to be good practice visualizing and working the trigger. I am no expert but I saw one on, i think it was shooting usa, on the outdoor channel suggest that shooters spend time practicing drawing, working the slide, and dryfiring multiple times per session in front of a mirror to watch where the barrel of the gun points as the trigger is pulled. I also have had this discussion with my local gunsmith who made references to this being a holdover from different fire arms made with different material and he encourages me to dry fire any he works on and new guns I by from him. In my experince I have dozens of firearms and have never had to replace a firing pin at all. In fact the only none custom work I have ever had to do that involved the trigger group was a broken transfer bar in an NEF 17hmr. You can say Im full of crap as Im sure some will. But I think your fine

[SwedeSteve]

Sam- Don't believe I contradicted you actually. I have looked at the design as well. Didn't mean to step on your toes either, and you, even you should see that...