i have seen in a few places people say not to dry fire, but i do every time i empty a mag and so does everybody else that emptys one on you tube,
so whats the big deal? do you guys think it can damage something? if so how?
I have heard that dry firing with a mag in is fine, without a mag the hammer makes contact with the cross support and people have had them get bent to the point of affecting operation. Though I personally think this more of an issue if the cross support hasn't been properly heat treated. I dry fire a lot but usually with a mag in, why chance it I suppose.
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I have heard that dry firing with a mag in is fine, without a mag the hammer makes contact with the cross support and people have had them get bent to the point of affecting operation. Though I personally think this more of an issue if the cross support hasn't been properly heat treated. I dry fire a lot but usually with a mag in, why chance it I suppose.
i just took a look at mine and it looks to me it would hit the back of the bolt like it is suppose to. if you was to take the bolt out then it would hit the cross support and the mag is like 1/4" in front of the support so it could still bend the support (that is if you have the bolt out)
say your emptying a mag bang bang bang bang bang.....then click... the mag is empty and you just dry fired.... everyone does it unless you know how many rounds are in your mag and you are counting them as shooting. or you keep checking the mag
i just took a look at mine and it looks to me it would hit the back of the bolt like it is suppose to. if you was to take the bolt out then it would hit the cross support and the mag is like 1/4" in front of the support so it could still bend the support (that is if you have the bolt out)
it got me thinking as well. my ak is a home build on a blank receiver with romainian "g" parts kit. the cross support isn't installed yet, but it's drilled where the template shows it to be. doesn't seem that it would stop the hammer from hitting the bolt wether a mag is in it or not.
what's the deal? is there a special mag or cross pin that keeps you from dropping the hammer on an empty chamber after the last round's been fired? if so, i'd like to make that mod before i install a cross support.
i just don't see how that could work.
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i really dont think dry firing could hurt nothing except maybe the firing pin and that after a whole lot of shooting i think people have just grown up being told not to dry fire which with some guns i pretty sure there is some things it could mess up but not on the ak..... the firing pin is going to wear out eventually any way.....i would not let the hammer go tho with out the bolt installed because as sprout said it is possible for the hammer to bend the cross support maybe
Never dry fire a field striped fire arm. As for an empty gun, why not? Cant be any harder on the gun then hitting a live round and firing. If anything its less stress on the rifle.
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Never dry fire a field striped fire arm. As for an empty gun, why not? Cant be any harder on the gun then hitting a live round and firing. If anything its less stress on the rifle.
yeah less stress on the hammer sping thats why i do it. i would think the primer would hurt the firing pin more than air would hurt it too.
As stated earlier dry firing a field stripped AK or AR is a bad idea because the hammer slams into the cross member on an AK and into the aluminum frame on an AR.
I've heard it's not a good idea to dry fire rimfire rifles so I don't do it.
I've also heard the same thing about the CZ-52 pistol. These are the only guns I own that I don't dry fire but now I'm off topic.
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Although I am not a gunsmith, I believe dry firing a centerfire usually does little harm. However, I have heard more than one gunsmith tell me not to dry fire a rimfire.
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I've always been taught that, with almost any weapon, dry firing it damages the firing pin. Contacting the bolt as it lurches forward unhindered I suppose.
Of course, I've always been told not to store a weapon with hammer cocked or the bolt open either, wears out the springs. We always dry fired them with a spent cartridge before storing them for the summer when I was a boy. Admittedly, I haven't adopted that practice with my own guns. . . I think I'll start.
Last edited by BarryHalls; 12-25-2009 at 08:42 AM.
^ yes, the m4 rifle gets dry fired a lot to put it back in "rack safe" condition. dry firing rimfire is bad. centerfire dry firing, i have never heard a problem with aks or ars expect when field stripped so as long as it is assembled, you should be fine.
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^ yes, the m4 rifle gets dry fired a lot to put it back in "rack safe" condition. dry firing rimfire is bad. centerfire dry firing, i have never heard a problem with aks or ars expect when field stripped so as long as it is assembled, you should be fine.
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In combat, Ninety-nine percent reliability is not good enough for small arms.
Well you just have to look at how each gun functions mechanically. Dry firing a rimfire is probably a bad idea because the firing pin hits the chamber wall and could possibly break or put a mark on the chamber wall. when it hits the brass/primer of the rimfire, it is kinda a soft thing to hit so it doesn break. In a bolt action center fire rifle, There is nothing for the firing pin to hit so it doesn't seem like this would affect the firing mechanism unless some spring is being stretched too far or something else happens becuase the firing pin doesn't stop in the primer where it usually does. I don't know what else moves when an ak-47 or a semi auto is fired. I never dry fire a rimfire on purpose but I don't have any problems with the center fires. If you are really worried about it, then buy some dummy rounds if you like practicing shooting skills in your house.
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I agree that dry firing a rimfire is bad, but an AK can be dry fired without much damage. I wouldn't just sit for hours dry firing it. And dry firing any gun in a field stripped condition is a NO NO, because the all of the parts are not there to catch the hammer. With any repair that requires the hammer be in the fired position, the hammer should be held with one hand then the trigger pulled with the other letting off the spring pressure slowly. But if you don't want to dry fire any weapons don't leave them cocked. You can (on most guns) hold them about half way through there cycle pull the trigger then let the bolt go closed slowly. Doing this should not cause any damage.
"No dry firing" military doctrine goes back to the Civil War and after with the 1860 Henry, 1860/65 Spencers, and 1866 Winchester. They were all rim-fires and dry firing them would damage firing pin and breech face. It holds true with 22 rim-fires today. As for center fires, I have dry-fired as part of my training ritual for 20 years LE (draw from the holster, present, double tap, etc).
Maybe if it is made by "Hijos de la Basura ltd. in Central America, it may be different. Most firing pins are inertial now, and many spring loaded. I dry fire more than I shoot live rounds.
dont dry fire a rim-fire the reasons are all posted above, but dry firing a modern firearm, especially a military design shouldn't do it any harm, however i treat it the same as the elbows on the table rule, dont do it until i feel out the others around me, or if its my gun
Dry fireing a 22 rimfire will also make the chamber go out of round. In other words the chamber will distort and you may can still load but removeing the fired case will be hard to do.
Don't believe me ? Midway USA has a tool to actually repair this problem and
SeaBee Scotty has repaired 22's the owners abused by dry fireing...A.H
