Dry Fire hammer pistol?

[graywolf70]

Haven't had my 1911 very long and saw the striker dry Fire question,thought I'd see the results of my question here,thanks

[TunnelRat]

Striker or firing pin it's the same concept. Given the low cost of snap caps, I don't see why you wouldn't use them.

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[pblanc]

Some people will say that you should never dry fire a model 1911. Numerous experienced gunsmiths have told me that is hooey.

Some gunsmiths have told me never to allow the slide of a model 1911 slam home on an empty chamber. The theory is that the jarring stresses the contact points between the sear and the hammer enough to cause damage over time. I suspect there might be some truth in that if your model 1911 has undergone a fancy trigger job. I do usually avoid releasing the slide full-force on an empty pistol. But I have probably done so without thinking a dozen times or so without apparent damage.

I have dry fired my model 1911s many, many times. Sometimes I have used snap caps. Many times I have not. I have never damaged a firing pin. But firing pins for model 1911s are not that expensive, often less than it costs for a set of snap caps, unless they are titanium. And the firing pin in a model 1911 is very easy to change.

But if using snap caps gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling, by all means use them.

[Lexspeed]

Ditto, Tunnel Rat's advice!

Use snap caps. For some older firearms use of snap caps is requisite. For some newer firearms less so. But, if you want to baby your weapon and take no chances, like most of us on this forum, just be safe and use snap caps. I have at about ten different calibers for my pistols and long guns. They love me for using snap caps.

[Brownstone322]

Originally Posted by pblanc

But if using snap caps gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling, by all means use them.

I'm with you. I do and I don't. But I also own 1911s (and Glocks and a Beretta 92), and nothing bad happens when I dry-fire them.

Besides, I store my Glocks de-cocked. You have to de-cock them to field-strip them for cleaning. How else could you possibly own and operate a Glock?

[SIGSHR]

A long gone firearms guru I knew used folded pieces of rubber-from a bicycle inner tube, e.g.-to cushion the impact of the hammer. The snap caps work fine for me.

[Mike38]

Dry fire your 1911 to your heart's content. I know mine has been dry fired 5 times the amount of live fire. 15-20 years and still works great.

[reddog81]

1911's can definitely be dry fired without problem. If I was going to make a daily habit of it, some snap caps might be a reasonable precaution. However, dry firing a couple dozen times at infrequent intervals isn't going to hurt anything.

What's going to break from dry firing a 1911? A quick Google search shows snap caps cost $12. A new firing pin, firing pin spring, or a new firing pin stop can be had for less than $12.

[SIGSHR]

Only caution I know in dryfiring is you must use snap caps in rimfires otherwise the firing pine will strike the breech face.

[tipoc]

1911's are one of those guns that do not require snap caps. But they don't harm them either.

tipoc

[Mosin44az]

I recall Nelson Ford ( American Handgunner Top 100 gunsmith) telling me he had never seen a broken firing pin on a 1911. He has probably worked on thousands.

[Aguila Blanca]

Dry firing a 1911 won't hurt the gun or the firing pin. It might break the firing pin spring -- but, if it does, the spring wasn't anything you'd want in your pistol anyway.

Dry fire it to your heart's content. I dry fire mine all the time.

[Walt Sherrill]

Snap caps are cheap, and o-rings from the hardware store are even cheaper.

Measure the gap at the back of the slide and find an o-ring that fits in that space. With MANY guns, they'll work as well as a snap cap... but with a few they'll not stay in place. Won't cost you much to try it. (It might cost $.50 each to find one that works.)

[dyl]

I vote O-rings too. I saw that trick on youtube and since I had an assortment from Harbor Freight (Viton) I found one that was wide enough to have tension in the slot for the hammer and thick enough that the hammer never makes contact with the firing pin. I can even scoot it up high enough that it will stay in place if I rack the slide. Used for my CZ SP01

[JDBerg]

I have the cracked plastic striker guide from my Walther PPS-M2 to remind me to use snap caps which are cheap insurance.

[Dufus]

I'm one of the few who dry fires nothing. It serves me no purpose and I do not believe it is good for the gun, but that's just me.

[Walt Sherrill]

Originally Posted by Dufus

I'm one of the few who dry fires nothing. It serves me no purpose and I do not believe it is good for the gun, but that's just me.

I don't dry fire routinely, but with a snap cap it can help smooth up the action of some newer guns. It can also help you improve your trigger technique.

With some guns, you MUST dry fire them to disassemble them... hope you don't get one of those...

[magnut]

you stick a wood dowel into the barrel and drop the striker on the wood.

Or

You use a snap cap. Pull the trigger to release fireing pin or striker. Release the upper assembly and disasemble the same. Note the snap cap is still in the chamber upon barrel removal from slide.

No reason to drop the firing pin or striker on an empty chamber.

[1MoreFord]

Ooops, please disregard.

[RickB]

I have found small ringlets of spring material in the firing pin tunnel, but don't know if the problem was caused or exacerbated by dry-firing.

Replace the spring annually if it will allow you to sleep better.

[Rangerrich99]

I'm not sure. I do have a 1911 that's about 32 years old, and by conservative estimate, I've dry-fired it more than 100,000 times. No issues yet. Maybe sometime in the next 30 years.

[magnut]

sheesh... I think thats around eight times a day for 32 straight years. WOW 100,000 dry fires. How many rounds do you have through the gun 10-15 million?

[jmr40]

I'm one of the few who dry fires nothing. It serves me no purpose and I do not believe it is good for the gun, but that's just me.

All of the top shooters dry fire their guns far more than live fire. You cannot afford the ammo needed to get in enough trigger time to be really good with only live fire.

It is quite possible that something will break while dry firing. But if it does it will break at exactly the same round count regardless of whether or not it was all live or dry firing.

I have guns that I've owned 40 years that I estimate have had 100,000 dry fires. That is 2000 boxes of pistol ammo or 5000 boxes of rifle ammo. At $10/box that is $20,000 in savings with the pistol and $50,000 worth of rifle ammo I've saved. If the gun breaks I can afford to replace it and am a much better shot for it.

[pwc]

Uncle Sam's "children" never used snap caps on any center fite pistol or rifle for training. Now custom versions of the original....you decide.

[44 AMP]

Uncle Sam's "children" never used snap caps on any center fite pistol or rifle for training.

There you go. Any firearm designed with military service in mind has to be able to withstand untold thousands of dry fires and empty action slams or it is literally, unfit for service.

Even the basic function test involves a dry fire, and if there is any regular user, in any of our services that uses a snap cap, they're doing it on their own and out of their own pocket.

Now, using a snap cap doesn't hurt anything, and there are guns, including expensive guns where a snap cap is needed but anything suitable for military use doesn't NEED one.

Here's a tip, don't count on a snap cap to be a suitable dummy round.

bonus point for those who can tell us why....