Dry Firing?
 

Not sure if these are dumb questions or not........but here goes.

What firearms if any is it safe for the firing mechanism to be fired on an empty chamber? You know........when you hand over your pet rifle and the guy wants to feel the trigger pull etc.
Is it better to have an empty hull on hand to slip into the chamber for this?

Also should a rifle/shotgun/inline be stored with the gun cocked or fired? Does it really matter.

RE: Dry Firing?
 

thats a real good question matt, and dont know the answer for sure, but try like
heck to avoid dry firing as much as posible, its funny how when you hand over
one of your toys to somebody, they allways have to work the actoin[:o]:D

RE: Dry Firing?
 

most " modern" firearms can be dry fired. But I try real hard to never dry fire anything (especially .22 rimfires).

I got some " SNAP CAPS" though. They are a clear plastic shaped like a shell and have a spring loaded " primer" pad that takes the hammers energy.

They are cheap and will let you feel the trigger.

Uncle Matt (in IL)

RE: Dry Firing?
 

It is okay to dry fire center fire rifles, but NEVER dry fire rim fire rifles.

RE: Dry Firing?
 

I think that idea that dry firing a centerfire rifle will harm it in any way is a myth, especially on modern firearms. I dry fire all of my rifles more than I actually shoot them, I' ve only seen one rifle damaged by it- an elcheapo mauser 98 clone made by a communist bloc nation with poor metal quality- the shoulders of the firing pin were pinged back after dry firing only a few times. If you have a Modern Remington, Winchester, Ruger, etc, snap away- I' d be shocked if you ever had a problem. Its true that some .22' s should never be dry fired- but your owners manual should clarify whether or not you should do that.

RE: Dry Firing?
 

You can dry-fire Mausers to your heart' s content; they are designed so they can be used like that for training purposes. The ' 03 Springield is more prone to striker breakage if dry-fired a lot, but the striker is built so the tip can be changed very easily. The M1-M14 family is NOT damaged by dry-firing; the Manual of Arms for both INCLUDE dropping the hammer when the bolt has been closed, by pulling the trigger on an empty chamber. Also, the Ruger No. 1' s can be dry-fired with impunity. I don' t know about M70' s, M77' s, and M700' s.

NEVER dry-fire double shotguns, double rifles or old-time side-hammer single-shots or muzzleloaders!!

RE: Dry Firing?
 

Matt, Store your rifles and shotguns uncocked.To uncock a Bolt Action AFTER making sure the rifle is unloaded. As you start to close the bolt hold the trigger squeezed while you close the bolt.I don' t like to dry fire any guns. Especially rimfires.The modern wheelguns with the transfer bar are safe to dry fire but I still try not to.Those snap caps mentioned are a good idea if you want to practice squeezing your trigger.
Ruger Redhawk

RE: Dry Firing?
 

If a gun is of good and proper design then dry fireing will not hurt it. If dryfiring hurts your gun then you have a hunk of junk and would be best off selling it. The reason for saying that dry firing is bad goes years back when hard tempering meant brittle, and to cap locks. With a cap lock you will beat the hammer all to hell with dry firing and also the nipple. With early center fires the firing pin tended to be brittle. With a modern rifle help your self it is a good way to practice. A good rim fire the firing pin should not touch the barrel when in the fired position. On the cheeper guns this is not always the case and hence the tabboo of dry firing a rim fire. Again, if the rifle is of proper design then you are all right, if not sell it you do not need it and get a good gun.

RE: Dry Firing?
 

I like to have all my firearms uncocked....May ruin the firing pin spring if it always stays cocked.

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RE: Dry Firing?
 

Has anyone ever lived long enough to see the effects of a firing pin spring thats been compressed for too long? I' ve ordered in milsurp rifles that were packed in what could be described as a petrified block of grease that had the firing pin cocked. No telling how long the rifle might have been in storage cocked: 10, 20, 50 years? Never had a problem on that end.

RE: Dry Firing?
 

for those of you that like to use snap caps save your money and try this.take a piece of fired brass from your gunand reload with a pencil eraser for a primer and NO POWDER and seat a bullet to normal depth. there you have it. the worlds cheapest snap cap.

RE: Dry Firing?
 

Just because I feel like it might have slipped through the cracks, my whole family does exactly what Ruger-Redhawk explained - simply work the action again, but as you' re working it, make sure that the trigger is held down. Then you don' t have the problem.

RE: Dry Firing?
 

Boy am I glad Judson let me know that my BL-22 grade 2 is a cheap piece of junk. It' s a shame that I' m going to have to throw it out now ' cause it groups well with everything I feed it. I should have realised it was a cheap piece of crap when I had to change the firing pin when it broke from dry firing. I just figured I wouldn' t dry fire it anymore. thanks again.