Dry firing a rifle

[longbowman2]

Is it OK to dry fire a rifle with either no shell in it or else a spent shell in it?

[The Famous Grouse]

Yes, it's ok. I do it and have done it for years when a gun is going to be stored unused for an period of time. I don't like the idea of storing guns with the hammer spring compressed.

There is a persistent urban legend that doing this even once will "shatter" the firing pin. I have never heard of anyone who had firsthand knowledge of this actually happening, it was always the brother in-law's cousin's third wife's first husband's uncle who ruined a 25000 bespoke rifle by doing this.

If you're talking about repeated dry firing for practice, then you should get snap caps. These are a special dummy cartridge that cushions the firing pin.

Obviously, make sure you visually inspect the chamber to make sure there isn't a stuck round in there before you pull the trigger. Don't just open the action, look into the actual CHAMBER. A stuck round won't be readily visible with just a casual look into the open action.

Even with these precautions, treat the gun as if it were going to actually fire every time you pull the trigger.

Grouse

[Bernie P.]

I do it when storing the guns.If it's a bolt action you can just hold the trigger back as you close the bolt.

[thndrchiken]

The only guns that you don't want to dry fire are rimfires.

[The Famous Grouse]

Originally Posted by thndrchiken

The only guns that you don't want to dry fire are rimfires.

What's the reasoning behind this, TC? Why is a rimfire different from a CF?

Not doubting you, it's just that I'd like to know the reasoning or what could happen.

Grouse

[thndrchiken]

Originally Posted by The Famous Grouse

What's the reasoning behind this, TC? Why is a rimfire different from a CF?

Not doubting you, it's just that I'd like to know the reasoning or what could happen.

Grouse

Because the firing mechanism can break, it can disfigure the chamber causing issues with the shell chambering.

[TUK101]

A center fire yes, a rimfire no. And no on most revolvers that I have seen too.

[thndrchiken]

Originally Posted by TUK101

A center fire yes, a rimfire no. And no on most revolvers that I have seen too.

I agree with that on older style hammer strike revolvers, the newer transfer bar systems are safe for dry firing.

[bigbulls]

#1. Yes it is perfectly fine to dry fire any modern center fire firearm as much as you want to.

#2. Any modern revolver with either a transfer bar or safety bar can be dry fired as much as you want.

#3. It is not ok to dry fire SOME rim fire rifles because the firing pin can impact the breech face and create a burr on the edge of the chamber and the round will eventually not chamber then a gunsmith will have to iron out the chamber and stone the burr off of the breech face. Those that have a recessed breech for the cartridges rim should be fine to dry fire bit i reccomend just not doing it to be safe.

#4. Older SxS and OU shotguns, double rifles, and older revolvers that had firing pins as part of the hammer should not be dry fired with out a snap cap. Many of these types of guns did not have a firing pin spring to cushion the firing pin and would sometimes pop the firing pin off of its body.

#5. Snap caps are completely useless except for #4 above.

#6. Spent cases are completely useless to use as snap caps.