Dry-firing

[PPBart]

S&W website says one can dry fire S&W handguns, except for .22 caliber. Is there any potential for long-term damage caused by extensive dry-firing of my SD9?

[Sixer]

as long as it is a centerfire gun... you should be just fine ;)

[TunnelRat]

Callouses. :)

[Walt Sherrill]

You're okay with your S&W... but always check the manual for other centerfire guns.

The Beretta Tomcat will eat firing pins if dry-fired. The Kel-Tec PF9 will screw up the firing pin or extractor screws. Older 75Bs may break the firing pin retention roll pin (until the pins are upgraded with a sold rather than roll pin). There may be others. Generally centerfires are OK, but there are exceptions.

[Fishbed77]

You're okay with your S&W... but always check the manual for other centerfire guns.

Indeed! For example, the Ruger SR9/SR40 can be dryfired, but a magazine must be inserted to do so without damaging the gun.

[Mosin44az]

I broke the firing pin on a Rossi revolver and on my HK USP Compact by dry firing without snap caps.

Snap caps are NOT expensive. No reason not to use them.

[C0untZer0]

Instructors at Glock Armorer schools are now telling students to use SnapCaps when dry firing Glocks.

[Sport45]

Instructors at Glock Armorer schools are now telling students to use SnapCaps when dry firing Glocks.

Some day all instructors will be advising to use snap caps. Loading an inert round in the chamber is an excellent way to verify a live round isn't there.

[RBid]

XDm's have an occasional roll pin break after dry fire.

Snap Caps are great for insurance, safety, and manipulation practice. I spend a lot of time with them.

[insaneranger]

While most pistols are safe to dry fire, I prefer to use snap caps. It's a small investment & a certain way to prevent potential damage.

[TunnelRat]

Agreed on the snap caps. They don't last forever, the case edges of mine tend to get chewed by the extractor, but they're worth it IMO. Plus you get the cool noise of the firing pin striking the plastic primer.:D

[C0untZer0]

I just examined mine last night, the primer area is really pounded on most of them now.

I am going to have to order some more.

I wish you could just buy replacment faux primers for them...

[TunnelRat]

I'm lucky enough that my LGS actually stocks them for online prices.

Yeah the primer area on mine are pretty beat. I find a single snap caps lasts me 2 months or so before the case edges are destroyed or the primer area is just garbage. But you get 5 of them for like $13 so I don't sweat it much.

[Leejack]

There isn't a bad guy on TV that hasn't been taken out by my sigma! ;)

I'm going to get some snap caps for my SigPro before the Walking Dead returns! :D

LOL!

[Walt Sherrill]

With some hammer-fired guns, you can insert a properly-sized rubber o-ring (available at most hardware stores) in the notch at the rear of the slide, so that the falling hammer hits the o-ring rather than the firing pin. Works just as well as a snap cap, and it can be a lot cheaper.

[balance]

http://downloads.brankovukelic.com/showthread.php?t=92986

I guess it depends on how much you dry fire.

[mrvco]

I don't hesitate to dry-fire my centerfire guns, but snap caps are cheap insurance. Not to mention they're helpful when practicing reloads and the like.

[Rinspeed]

Most of my pistols have seen thousands of dry fires and I've never used a snap cap in my life. Not that I think it's a great plan but I simply never worried about it. If one of them happens to break because of it I will simply have it fixed.

[Wolf Hunter]

Dry firing is basically an urge to press trigger when we usually are not practicing any target shooting.In my opinion and experience,dry firing should be avoided because dry firing tends to wear out only hammer and trigger mechanism thereby creating imbalance and unequal wear of all parts.
In actual firing our handgun undergoes a natural wearing of parts in which slide runs,slide spring is used,hammer moves and trigger works.This all is a natural course of movement for a handgun which keeps the handgun worthy to fire and dependable.On the other hand dry firing tends to deprive the handgun from its natural mechanized move which should be avoided.

[TunnelRat]

Dry firing is basically an urge to press trigger when we usually are not practicing any target shooting.In my opinion and experience,dry firing should be avoided because dry firing tends to wear out only hammer and trigger mechanism thereby creating imbalance and unequal wear of all parts.
In actual firing our handgun undergoes a natural wearing of parts in which slide runs,slide spring is used,hammer moves and trigger works.This all is a natural course of movement for a handgun which keeps the handgun worthy to fire and dependable.On the other hand dry firing tends to deprive the handgun from its natural mechanized move which should be avoided.

You concept of unequal wear is... interesting. I seriously doubt dry firing will honestly cause the differences in wear to be nearly as noticeable as you claim. In fact I have found dry firing usually has a positive effect on my trigger to sear to hammer interaction by usually helping to smooth out the system on a brand new gun. I also think the practice gained by it is certainly worth it. I'm sorry but I disagree 100% with your assessment and would love for you to provide some proof of that statement.

[Rinspeed]

In my opinion and experience,dry firing should be avoided because dry firing tends to wear out only hammer and trigger mechanism thereby creating imbalance and unequal wear of all parts.






I couldn't disagree more. ;)

[Walt Sherrill]

In my opinion and experience,dry firing should be avoided because dry firing tends to wear out only hammer and trigger mechanism thereby creating imbalance and unequal wear of all parts.


I think the "imbalance and unequal wear" is a phantom issue; I've never encountered it, heard of it, or seen it mentioned on a gun forum or by a gunsmith.

On the other hand, dry-firing IMPROVED the trigger on some of my hammer-fired guns. (Never noticed a change on my striker-fired guns.)

If either the trigger or sear wears out from heavy use, 1) replace the worn parts, and 2) consider better quality parts when doing so.

[Wolf Hunter]

Parts can always and anytime be replaced but then idea of keeping handgun for a serious scenario is disturbed. A situation when we really in need of using our handgun will not allow us to first go to gunsmith and change parts.So the important is to keep the handgun always in a best working condition to deny its failure.
Trigger and hammer technically is a one part and excessive dry firing wears them out leaving a "play" in moving parts of it.This play effects the over all performance of the gun specailly the accuracy apart from FTE/FTF.
This unequal wear is even dangerous for old handguns which has sear based safety like TT 30 or the hand guns which lack firing pin block.

[80viking]

So what you are saying is that guns are micro-enginered to the point that all parts will wear out at the same time?

I don't think so.

[WVsig]

Parts can always and anytime be replaced but then idea of keeping handgun for a serious scenario is disturbed. A situation when we really in need of using our handgun will not allow us to first go to gunsmith and change parts.So the important is to keep the handgun always in a best working condition to deny its failure.

Trigger and hammer technically is a one part and excessive dry firing wears them out leaving a "play" in moving parts of it.This play effects the over all performance of the gun specailly the accuracy apart from FTE/FTF.
This unequal wear is even dangerous for old handguns which has sear based safety like TT 30 or the hand guns which lack firing pin block.

Prove it.... LOL You are making statements as if they are universal and then giving very specific and specialized examples. Now dry firing a finely tuned 1911 without snap caps can ruin a good trigger job but it is not going to wear those parts out to the point of failure. If you use snap caps there is not wear at all...... :eek:

Play in the hammer and sear of a gun are not going to effect its accuracy in any way shape or form. How will a hammer and sear effect extraction, FTE or failure to feed, FTF?

[Walt Sherrill]

Parts can always and anytime be replaced but then idea of keeping handgun for a serious scenario is disturbed. A situation when we really in need of using our handgun will not allow us to first go to gunsmith and change parts.So the important is to keep the handgun always in a best working condition to deny its failure.

I don't keep guns for serious scenarios unless I shoot them regularly, to assure myself I'm competent to use them and that they're working properly. An unused gun is an untested gun, as far as I'm concerned. Your concern may come back to bite you where you sit.

Trigger and hammer technically is a one part and excessive dry firing wears them out leaving a "play" in moving parts of it.This play effects the over all performance of the gun specailly the accuracy apart from FTE/FTF.


Lot of bad information here. Trigger wear negatively affects accuracy? Please explain how.

Dry fire typically does NOT result in "play" in trigger linkage. (Where would this PLAY be seen or experienced? There aren't that many components involved.)

Dry-firing will generally SMOOTH the trigger components, reducing the roughness that is inherent in less expensive guns, or in military surplus weapons. That is what a gunsmith does when doing a trigger job (when not re-cutting sear/hammer angles) -- he simply manually smooths the trigger components just as they might be smoothed by dry-firing. He may also change out springs, and with some guns, re-cut the sear/hammer interface.

A crappy trigger doesn't affect a gun's accuracy, but does make it hard to shoot well. On the other hand, a SMOOTHER trigger will make the gun easier to shoot more accurately. Those are facts.

This unequal wear is even dangerous for old handguns which has sear based safety like TT 30 or the hand guns which lack firing pin block.

Excessive wear is a concern with any machine -- but I think your concern about "uneven wear" is a false one. Most police trade-in guns are hardly ever fired, but every time the gun is loaded the LEO must decock it. Sometimes that's whenever they go on duty and when the come off. After a number of years of carry, that gun has had a lot of "uneven wear" -- at least for the decocker mechanisms -- but many of us JUMP at the chance to buy a police trade in. The ones I've had have been great guns.

Are you SERIOUSLY arguing that it would be better, in terms of the gun's utility and performance, to fire 5,000 rounds through a gun than dry-fire it 5000 times?

Can you cite some real-world examples of "uneven wear" damage with guns that had a negative consequence? How do you tell that any problem were caused by "uneven wear," and who diagnosed the problem?

I have dry-fired some guns many thousands of times (that includes one Witness Sport Long Slide that I dry-fired 300 times a night for a month before the trigger finally became acceptable.) I kept that WSLS for a number of years and later sold it; last I heard, it was still going strong.


.

[TunnelRat]

Parts can always and anytime be replaced but then idea of keeping handgun for a serious scenario is disturbed. A situation when we really in need of using our handgun will not allow us to first go to gunsmith and change parts.So the important is to keep the handgun always in a best working condition to deny its failure.
Trigger and hammer technically is a one part and excessive dry firing wears them out leaving a "play" in moving parts of it.This play effects the over all performance of the gun specailly the accuracy apart from FTE/FTF.

So one conclusion that could be made from this statement is that the best practice is to buy a brand new gun, put it in a closet, and never fire it because it will be in the best condition. Right...:rolleyes:

[Smit]

Lets not get off-track here.......
I have a newer E Series 1911 and I was told with the newer models, you are better off letting the hammer drop as opposed to easing it down yourself. Hope this helps.