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Old March 6, 2011, 08:29 AM   #26
gearhounds
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Absolutely. For duty/CCW it is invaluable for building muscle memory, and will smooth out the trigger action over time. My Gen 2 P220 has a smoothness I have yet to feel on any other full sized Sig I've handled. Everyone else that has dry fired it swears I had it worked, which me agency will not allow.
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Old March 6, 2011, 11:10 AM   #27
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Guilty.

Once heard a story of an Olympic level shooter (the details escape me) who quit competition for a number of years. During his absence he never fired a single round; only dry-fired in his basement for hours at a clip. Came back after his hiatus to win the gold.
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Old March 6, 2011, 01:39 PM   #28
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Rifles only before a match as part of my preparation but pistols and revolvers regularly. I have snap caps for every hand gun caliber I have and use them regularly, not daily like I used to but a couple of times a month, sometimes weekly if I am having a particular problem that needs to be ironed out.
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Old March 6, 2011, 08:55 PM   #29
bigautomatic
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I dry fire quite a bit, mostly handguns. I have some big bores that can cause a flinch to show its ugly head in short order, and dry firing definately helps keep that in check.
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Old March 7, 2011, 04:22 AM   #30
Win_94
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Never, with any firearm.
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Old March 7, 2011, 07:01 AM   #31
Jimmy10mm
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I heard you'll go blind if you dry fire Forgive the sick humor. I started shooting handguns in the late 1960s and the general consensus then was that over time dry firing was detrimental to the firing pin and bushing as well as the hammer and frame. Steel work hardens as it beats against the parts without the 'softener' of the primer.

When I was learning DA shooting I used spent 22LR shells in a K22 and would dry fire a cylinder full while aiming at the TV. Swing the cylinder out and turn each shell enough to give the firing pin a new spot to hit. Did this hundreds, maybe thousands of times, and became quite proficient at DA shooting.

This thread has stimulated me to go buy some snap caps for one of my revolvers. Back then I think they were only available for high end double guns. I would like to see if dry firing would improve my skills and I just couldn't do it without some protection for the gun. Even if it wouldn't matter I would rather have the ounce of prevention.
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Old March 7, 2011, 08:16 AM   #32
output
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I do a couple of times a week, and before I head out to my range.
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Old March 12, 2011, 10:05 PM   #33
HKFan9
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I do a lot of dry firing with handguns, it truly helps. Wasn't it S&W who used to ship guns with a "Dry Fire Practice" target or something along those lines. In my opinion any well made center fire is just fine to dry fire, rim fires, even if the manual states its safe... I would use a snap cap.
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Old March 12, 2011, 10:32 PM   #34
Nnobby45
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AZooms are good snap caps. Some others, with metal "primers" result in very fine pieces of metal getting into the action.

Used them every since I talked to a Sig smithie (back in the days when you could talk to them). If the firing pin doesn't hit something, it wants to keep going. It can break. Also, when the firing pin is allowed to go all the way forward, the FP return spring can weakien over time.

Dry Firing is great. It teaches you what you need to do.

However, doing it in your living room is one thing. Doing everything correctly under anticipation of noise and recoil is another matter that is still DIFFERENT from just pulling the trigger smoothly in dry fire practice. At least that's my experience.
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Old March 13, 2011, 02:40 PM   #35
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Most guns yes. Old rimfires and my old side-by-side 20GA no.
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Old March 13, 2011, 03:47 PM   #36
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I also use snap caps to dry fire all my pistols except the Glock. I figure if dry firing is part of the takedown process it can't harm it.
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Old March 14, 2011, 02:43 PM   #37
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Yep. I dry-fire most of my guns, aside from my .22. Primarily my handguns, especially those which I carry. Carry guns get "practiced" with maybe a few days a week. Non carry guns, only when I have them out of the safe for something, such as a routine cleaning or if I think I will be shooting it soon.

Rifles, rarely. Typically only when I have taken them apart to perform a function test. Otherwise, sometimes I'll do a quick dry-practice with them, but that's usually more involving reloading, control manipulation, and sight-picture acquisition than actually dropping the hammer.

Shotguns: Again, just a function test after re-assembly. Sighting is done anytime I handle one of them. Need to stay sharp with them if I am going to keep competeing in clays
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Old December 5, 2011, 07:16 PM   #38
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Dry firing can be a very helpful training tool. I do it with or without snap caps, well homeade snap caps. I make my own by making a cartidge in my press less the powder with a small hole drilled in the side then i will fill the primer pocket with a pencil eraser!!

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Old December 6, 2011, 09:33 PM   #39
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I do, and I use snap caps when I engage in such training...just NOT with my department-issued Sig P220ST. That pesky trigger return spring likes to sometimes break in half when the gun is actually being fired; I see no need to tempt fate. I leave the dry firing to my more resilient guns [hint: they all have the word "Ruger" on them].
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Old December 7, 2011, 08:44 AM   #40
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I have snap caps for all my guns. Getting 10 45/70 snap caps for my marlin cow boy was kind of a pain and I had to order on line because I could only find 2 in the local stores.
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Old December 8, 2011, 09:36 PM   #41
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NO...I DON'T.....
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Old December 9, 2011, 11:19 PM   #42
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When I am in traing for competition, I dry fire 10 times for every live round I fire. In my mind, SFC Reed is still on my posterior for not dry fireing enough.

When I develope a flinch I play ball and dummy until I'm cured.
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Old December 10, 2011, 02:41 AM   #43
5RWill
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I dry fire a lot also. I developed a flinch a while back, moved up to a twelve gauge when i wasn't ready. Wasn't long before i saw it affecting my rifle shooting. This was before i was serious about shooting though, i noticed i missed deer which bothered me, but it wasn't until i really got into shooting that i fixed it. Technically i still have a adrenaline rush and anticipation of the rifle going off when going to through a slow pull. But mind>matter and i just follow fundamentals. It's more noticeable when I haven't shot in a while. Versus shooting every weekend when i was closer to home last year, which was nice. Was so used to the trigger pull of my .308 followed with the same recoil impulse i was watching my shots through my SN-3. Dry firing in the dark helps even more.
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Old December 16, 2011, 09:25 AM   #44
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All of them, all the time...including rimfire guns. I use snap caps in all them so I can practice not just the trigger pull, but also working the slide, bolt, or cylinder. If you CCW it's essential, IMO. I either buy the snap caps of make 'em, empty case with a bullet and for the primer pocket I glue a part of a pencil eraser in it.
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Old December 21, 2011, 07:35 PM   #45
Camar
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To me its most important with handguns. Rifles I not only dry fire, but I snap in in the 5 positions.
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Old January 2, 2012, 11:50 AM   #46
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I dryfire with my carry gun daily, practicing my draw from concealment, getting on target and firing. I haven't yet done so, ever, with my HD shotgun but did a whole lot of snapping in and dryfire with the M16A2 in the USMC.

When I get a new Ruger DA revolver, I dryfire it without aiming a considerable amount to smooth out the trigger. I have been known to read my Kindle while dryfiring a GP100 nonstop for hours.
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Old January 2, 2012, 03:32 PM   #47
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I'm currently reading Anthony Marsh's excellent book, "Fourteen Years in the African Bush". At one point he relates meeting a person who had spent time with W.D.M. (Karamojo) Bell. Bell was well-known for being an exceptional rifle shot, with some reports that he was so good he was able to wingshoot birds with his rifle. Marsh says that the person who knew Bell said that he drove everyone nuts constantly dryfiring his rifle.

There's not a way to prove a cause and effect relationship, but it seems clear that a lot of dryfiring doesnt hurt one's marksmanship abilities.
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Old January 2, 2012, 04:16 PM   #48
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I'd say there is a way to prove cause and effect, all the champions dryfire. I've fallen off the wagon a bit, don't shoot bear enough. I still have a little spray paint dot on the basement wall I go after. When I was single I had little paper cut-out miniature IPSC targets, steel, no-shoots, hardcover and all. Stick them all over the house and go wild. The cat was more understanding than my sweet wife would be.

The naysayers to dryfire???? Why?

Etiquette is important, I don't dryfire other people's stuff and I dryfire inobservance of the 4 rules.

Rimfire, supposedly the pin in my Marvel impacts a shoulder before the chamber mouth so dryfire is not supposed to hurt it. I will also stick a spent case in the chamber.

The only other gun that I knew of that I couldn't dryfire was a CZ-52 I owned. Kills them, quick. I do not habitually dryfire my 90 year old drilling either, something about breaking a $4000 gun that no one is going to fix. I have snapcaps for the shotgun barrels so I can relieve the springs there.
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Old January 2, 2012, 06:23 PM   #49
Grant D
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I think it started with percussion fire weapons.Dry firing will mushroom the nipples so the caps won't fit.
I dry fire all my centerfire handguns.
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Old January 2, 2012, 10:14 PM   #50
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I dry fire my S&W 329PD in .44 Magnum quite often. I made up some home made snap caps with re-sized and empty cases with 240 grain bullets. I used some blue RTV in the primer pockets to somewhat cushion the firing pin hit.
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