Dry firing

[Steve863]

Just getting into muzzleloading and recently got a CVA gun. Haven't had a chance to shoot it yet, but did pull the hammer back a couple of times and dry fired it just to see how the trigger feels. I did this before I read the CVA manual that tells you not to dry fire it because it will damage the fire pin and transfer bar. Yikes! Does anyone think I damaged it? I have dry fired my bolt-action rifles and semi-auto shotgun a ton of times without ever having a problem. I guess I will find out when I try it out, but any thoughts on this would be appreciated!

[cayugad]

I would seriously doubt if you damaged the rifle at all. It just is not a good idea to do this to your rifle. I am sure that when it comes time for the rifle to go off on the range it will work just fine. Until you can get it to the range, just take it easy. I think you're getting the itch.

[dmurphy317]

I've done that a couple of times with no problems. You could check it out by firing just a cap/primer to see if all is good. If that works then leave the spent primer in the BP to act as a buffer/snap cap when you want to check the trigger pull. This is not ideal but should work better than just dry firing. Another idea is to put a peice of rubber, like a faucet washer without a hole, between the bolt face and the BP to cushion the fireing pin.

[Steve863]

Thanks guys. I will try the primer test once I get them. Got the gun mail order and have not bought the primers or powder yet. I was just getting a bit worried because I don't recall reading in any of my other firearms owners manuals such a bold warning that one shouldn't dry fire. Not that I read any of them recently, but I know many rifle shooters regularly dry fire their guns as a form of practice. Just didn't want to mess the thing up before I ever even took a shot with it!!