Is dry firing ever bad?

myright · Jul 28, 2014

rbird7282 said:
I love the A-Zoom caps, they are definitely better than the plastic ones.

Pinecone · Jul 28, 2014

jjbduke2004 said:
I'd be wary even of the modern ones: my Savage Mk II-FVT has a nice chamber peen from dry firing. Orange disposable rimfire snap caps do exist, and yellow drywall anchors also work.

Some Anschutz have drop in "dry fire" firing pins and some shooters mod a used firing pin to be dry fire safe.

So I should say MOST modern rimfires are OK to dry fire.

Best is to read your owners manual.

BlackBart · Jul 28, 2014

Some weapons no factor, anything with a transfer bar you ain't gonna hurt AT ALL. Old revolvers.... bad idea.

lsw · Jul 28, 2014

Alan3413 said:
You can dry fire a ruger Mk iii without damage.

Sort of. Here's what Ruger says:

From the Ruger website:
Can I dry fire my Mark III pistol?
Yes. The Mark III has a firing pin stop that prevents the firing pin from contacting the rear of the barrel and damaging the edge of the chamber. If you are going to dry fire the pistol extensively, the stop pin and firing pin will eventually wear and contact could occur, and we recommend replacing both the firing pin and the firing pin stop from time to time. You should also monitor the contact of the firing pin with the rear of the barrel.

It's also possible to lose the retaining pin and reassemble the pistol. If dry fired without the retaining pin in place the firing pin WILL strike and damage the breech face. The pin usually stays in the bolt during disassembly, but it's just a slip fit and occasionally will fall out. Same applies to the Mk II and I believe the Mk I.

Alan3413 · Jul 28, 2014

Good advice.I've never seen a retaining pin that badly abused before, but it's a good reminder to be vigilant.

Joshvictus · Jul 29, 2014

Thanks guys, lots of good info here :thumbsup:

Nanook said:
Striker fired guns (Glock) is stupid without a snap cap. Once or twice, or a few hundred times, not a huge issue but after thousands of dry fires breech face damage will probably occur. Do a quick search on the interwebz for Glock breech face failure pictures.

A few bucks for some snap caps is well worth it.

Crazy. Pretty funny that google almost immediately correctly auto-completed it as I was typing too lol.

Cochise said:
the only problem with snap caps is when one goes BOOM instead of click. Be Careful, I've seen it happen.

I definitely worry about this. I'm super careful as it is but there's just always that chance.

BrotherOfTheRepublic · Jul 29, 2014

Buy snap caps and you'll be fine.

clandestine · Jul 29, 2014

Look up pictures of broken block breach faces online. Don't dry fire a block without a snap cap. I have seen the damage myself.

pwoolford · Jul 29, 2014

For serious dry fire issues try this:

HazyDayz · Jul 29, 2014

pwoolford said:
For serious dry fire issues try this:

Astroglide is better.

BlackBart · Jul 29, 2014

HazyDayz said:
Astroglide is better.

For really LARGE bores.................

Naptown52 · Jul 30, 2014

I know my gen3 Glock 17 must be dry fired before you can field strip it. If you dont dry fire first, the slide will not come off.

S&W19 · Jul 31, 2014

Cochise said:
the only problem with snap caps is when one goes BOOM instead of click. Be Careful, I've seen it happen.

???

clint · Jul 31, 2014

To me it seems prudent to spend the $20 on snap caps than risk the potential damage. In the past I have been told that dry firing a Glock is fine but I did some Googling after reading this thread. It was enlightening. Even Glock says to use snap caps in their FAQ if you plan on doing a lot.

Naptown52 · Aug 1, 2014

clint said:
To me it seems prudent to spend the $20 on snap caps than risk the potential damage. In the past I have been told that dry firing a Glock is fine but I did some Googling after reading this thread. It was enlightening. Even Glock says to use snap caps in their FAQ if you plan on doing a lot.

Thats way too objective for me. I only dry fire when I need to field strip and clean it and I only do that after I go to the range which would be maybe twice a month at the most.

clint · Aug 1, 2014

Naptown52 said:
Thats way too objective for me. I only dry fire when I need to field strip and clean it and I only do that after I go to the range which would be maybe twice a month at the most.

Well it sounds like you don't fall into the "if you plan on doing it a lot" part then which sounds fine for a Glock at least.

Josh Smith · Aug 1, 2014

Hello,

1911 is fine.

Glock, the breech face can be damaged.

Most military surplus rifles and handguns are fine.

If you look at what stops the firing pin when a round (or dummy) is not chambered, you'll get a pretty good idea of the individual gun's capability of handling dry firing.

In the case of a 1911, the firing pin will continue forward until the momentum is overcome by the firing pin spring, for example.

Regards,

Josh

N00bSh00ter · Aug 1, 2014

Considering you have to dry fire to field strip a Glock, it's not like it's going to immediately fall apart. That being said, why dry fire when snap caps are cheap? If you've got hundreds to spend on a gun, spend the 10 bucks and get some snap caps.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Major03 · Aug 6, 2014

OP, what type of firearm are you dry firing?

Yellowhand · Aug 6, 2014

As a matter of principle based on the way I was taught, I don't dry fire unless I have empty brass or snap caps in the cylinder...I don't dry fire any of my semi-auto's. That's just me...

Is dry firing ever bad?

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