Dry Firing my 1911,is it ok?

45automan · September 21, 2000, 12:03 PM

Hey guys I have been dry firing for years and never broken anything. I have been talikng to people who were in the service years ago and they said they dry fired their 1911's many times. Have i been lucky or can a 1911 design be dry fired without damage such as a Glock can? I have been dry firing my old Colt and the trigger has gotten slighty better,SLIGHTLEY! It is a military gun and you all know about miliatary triggers right?
Thanks,45automan

Mark King · September 21, 2000, 02:31 PM

45Automan, As long as your firing pin and it's spring are in good condition, you should be able to click away till your heart's content.
It's almost a nightly ritual for me :-)
Mark / FL

Country Boy · September 21, 2000, 04:57 PM

I would purchase a couple of snap caps and worry no more.

johnwill · September 21, 2000, 06:42 PM

I've dry-fired my 1911's thousands of times, they still work just fine, and there is no visible wear anywhere around the firing pin.

raven1 · September 21, 2000, 10:35 PM

For peace of mind I would spend the wopping $5 on snap caps and play, play, play. There is nothing worse than not knowing the condition of your gun or some part of your gun, especially if your life depends on it!

Bill G Gonzales · September 21, 2000, 10:57 PM

I have a neighbor who is a master class USPSA shooter and he broke the firing pin stop on his Caspian race gun by dry firing it many thousands of times in a year's time. This is the only incident I know of where someone broke something on a 1911 by dry firing it. I don't know if the stop was of substandard manufacture or not. I dry fire my 1911's on a regular basis and nothing has broken yet. Knock on wood.

------------------
gonzo

Richardf4 · September 21, 2000, 11:53 PM

I asked Kimber and here is there reply:

"Dry firing your CDP will not harm it. Snap caps are acceptable (but not
necessary), HOWEVER, if you do use snap caps, ALWAYS put them in the
magazine and rack the slide to chamber the round. DO NOT place the snap cap
in the chamber and drop the slide on it (or any round) as it is very hard on
the extractor and will substantially shorten its life"

Jamie Young · September 22, 2000, 01:28 AM

I don't know if its considered dry firing but... When I first bought my Colt 1991A1 at the shop the guy who sold it to me picked up a Pencil and stuck it in the barrel. He showed me how they use to train to shoot with the 1911's when he was in Korea. He put a dot on the wall by shooting a pencil out of the gun. He was only holding the gun about 2inches from the wall when he did this. Then he used the dot he put on the wall as an aiming point. If your hands are steady enough you will have only one dot as the aiming point above and one dot below where the pencil keeps hitting. I've done this billions of times and its really helped me practice and save ammo. Never had any problems with the gun. I just wear out the erasers on the pencils.

------------------
"Bring 'Em on.... I prefer a Straight Fight to all this sneaking around"
Han Solo

radom · September 22, 2000, 02:00 AM

dry fire to your hearts content, if it does break you just found a substandard part that needed to be broken and should not be in your gun.

I have one made in 1918 that still has all the factory parts in it after 2 world wars and my dry firing for 20 years. Would I drop the hammer on a empty chamber and bet my ass on it in the morning? More than the other guys odds on the end of the gun hoping it will not fire.

Many colts have been dryfired and in combat for 80 years and still work fine so do not belive a Glock has a better record on that unless some one is on crack.

[This message has been edited by radom (edited September 22, 2000).]

September 21, 2000, 12:03 PM	#1
45automan Senior Member Join Date: June 29, 2000 Posts: 304	Hey guys I have been dry firing for years and never broken anything. I have been talikng to people who were in the service years ago and they said they dry fired their 1911's many times. Have i been lucky or can a 1911 design be dry fired without damage such as a Glock can? I have been dry firing my old Colt and the trigger has gotten slighty better,SLIGHTLEY! It is a military gun and you all know about miliatary triggers right? Thanks,45automan

September 21, 2000, 02:31 PM	#2
Mark King Senior Member Join Date: December 17, 1998 Location: FLA USA Posts: 361	45Automan, As long as your firing pin and it's spring are in good condition, you should be able to click away till your heart's content. It's almost a nightly ritual for me :-) Mark / FL

September 21, 2000, 04:57 PM	#3
Country Boy Senior Member Join Date: January 26, 2000 Location: Northern Border Posts: 699	I would purchase a couple of snap caps and worry no more.

September 21, 2000, 06:42 PM	#4
johnwill Senior Member Join Date: April 6, 2000 Location: PA Posts: 3,451	I've dry-fired my 1911's thousands of times, they still work just fine, and there is no visible wear anywhere around the firing pin.

September 21, 2000, 10:35 PM	#5
raven1 Member Join Date: September 19, 2000 Posts: 76	For peace of mind I would spend the wopping $5 on snap caps and play, play, play. There is nothing worse than not knowing the condition of your gun or some part of your gun, especially if your life depends on it!

September 21, 2000, 10:57 PM	#6
Bill G Gonzales Member Join Date: June 22, 2000 Location: Loveland, CO, USA Posts: 22	I have a neighbor who is a master class USPSA shooter and he broke the firing pin stop on his Caspian race gun by dry firing it many thousands of times in a year's time. This is the only incident I know of where someone broke something on a 1911 by dry firing it. I don't know if the stop was of substandard manufacture or not. I dry fire my 1911's on a regular basis and nothing has broken yet. Knock on wood. ------------------ gonzo

September 21, 2000, 11:53 PM	#7
Richardf4 Junior Member Join Date: January 14, 2000 Posts: 11	I asked Kimber and here is there reply: "Dry firing your CDP will not harm it. Snap caps are acceptable (but not necessary), HOWEVER, if you do use snap caps, ALWAYS put them in the magazine and rack the slide to chamber the round. DO NOT place the snap cap in the chamber and drop the slide on it (or any round) as it is very hard on the extractor and will substantially shorten its life"

September 22, 2000, 01:28 AM	#8
Jamie Young Senior Member Join Date: April 7, 2000 Location: SE/PA Posts: 4,834	I don't know if its considered dry firing but... When I first bought my Colt 1991A1 at the shop the guy who sold it to me picked up a Pencil and stuck it in the barrel. He showed me how they use to train to shoot with the 1911's when he was in Korea. He put a dot on the wall by shooting a pencil out of the gun. He was only holding the gun about 2inches from the wall when he did this. Then he used the dot he put on the wall as an aiming point. If your hands are steady enough you will have only one dot as the aiming point above and one dot below where the pencil keeps hitting. I've done this billions of times and its really helped me practice and save ammo. Never had any problems with the gun. I just wear out the erasers on the pencils. ------------------ "Bring 'Em on.... I prefer a Straight Fight to all this sneaking around" Han Solo

September 22, 2000, 02:00 AM	#9
radom Senior Member Join Date: January 21, 2000 Posts: 1,270	dry fire to your hearts content, if it does break you just found a substandard part that needed to be broken and should not be in your gun. I have one made in 1918 that still has all the factory parts in it after 2 world wars and my dry firing for 20 years. Would I drop the hammer on a empty chamber and bet my ass on it in the morning? More than the other guys odds on the end of the gun hoping it will not fire. Many colts have been dryfired and in combat for 80 years and still work fine so do not belive a Glock has a better record on that unless some one is on crack. [This message has been edited by radom (edited September 22, 2000).]