# Dry Fire



## mikemc53 (Feb 11, 2013)

OK, I've heard arguments both ways (though heavier on the negative) as to whether dry firing is harmful to the gun.

Thoughts?? And is it more so (one way or the other) for certain guns?

If it is bad, what exactly are the issues?


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## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

I dry fire all the time, when I look at new guns to buy I first ask before I dry fire.Some people don't like dry firing their guns. Never had an issue with dry firing


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## Polkster13 (Feb 10, 2013)

I have heard it is okay to do so as long as it is not a rimfire like a .22 caliber gun. But like pic said, if the gun does not belong to you, always ask for permission before attempting to dry fire it in case the owner feels otherwise.


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## Cavere (Jan 1, 2013)

If its not yours ask. Personally I use snap caps. I think that $15 is a good piece of mind even if the manual says its ok.


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## XD40inAVL (Feb 1, 2013)

My LGS guy/gunsmith said that the only modern handgun that should not be dry fired is a rim fire weapon.


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## rex (Jan 27, 2012)

Most centerfires aren't a problem but it does put undue stress on the pin and spring so snapcaps are a good idea.Without a round in the chamber something has to stop the pin's foward movement and usually it's the spring under full compression,so that's stressing the spring,hence sometimes they break.Some designs or tolerance variations allow the pin to stop by wedging in the pin hole of the breechface,some 1911s can do this.This can cause the pin to break or it peens the edge of the hole and can cause the pin to stick foward.Contrary to popular belief this normally will not cause the gun to go full auto because the stuck pin will not allow the rim of the cartrige to slide up the breechface into position.

These problems aren't very common,but they do and can happen.I've dryfired thousands and thousands of times with no problems,but I replace the FP spring before it can be beaten to death.Snapcars are just good insurance.


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## TheLAGuy (Nov 28, 2012)

What do the snap caps do exactly? Take the stress?


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## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

TheLAGuy said:


> What do the snap caps do exactly? Take the stress?


They have a spring in them that absorbs the energy.

BTW.....I've never felt the need to dry fire any firearm.


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## Broondog (Feb 1, 2013)

TheLAGuy said:


> What do the snap caps do exactly? Take the stress?


basically yes. they act as an inert round in the chamber and give the firing pin something to run into vs traveling further than it would normally.


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## berettabone (Jan 23, 2012)

I never dry fire any firearm.....why? Just go shoot the thing.


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## TAPnRACK (Jan 30, 2013)

I only use snap caps to simulate malfunctions in training... probly the best reason to own a few.


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## TheLAGuy (Nov 28, 2012)

berettabone said:


> I never dry fire any firearm.....why? Just go shoot the thing.


Well not everyone has a firing range in the backyard like you! lol


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## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

Rather than dry fire, I prefer to "stage the trigger or hammer" on a new gun that I haven't fired yet. 

I like to know where the trigger creep stops and the hammer will begin to fall.


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## SteamboatWillie (Jan 24, 2013)

Dry firing is a great way to practice the fundamentals of shooting, and in particular trigger press. Bruce Gray wrote an interesting article about the subject that you can find here:

Bruce Gray and Dry Firing

I use it fairly often to practice trigger control as well as the double action pull on my DA/SA pistols. If you choose to do it, please be safe. I suggest you remove any live ammunition from the room, then double and triple check that only snap caps are within reach and inserted into the chamber or magazine.


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## Harryball (Oct 10, 2012)

Dry practice can be a benefit for trigger control, sight alignment and sight picture training. It is not the end all be all for training, but can be a benefit. Like TapnRack said snap caps are great for training in weapons manipulations and stoppage drills.


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## TheLAGuy (Nov 28, 2012)

paratrooper said:


> Rather than dry fire, I prefer to "stage the trigger or hammer" on a new gun that I haven't fired yet.
> 
> I like to know where the trigger creep stops and the hammer will begin to fall.


Is it bad for the gun in a DA/SA to manually pull back the hammer, hold the hammer, pull trigger and lightly de-cock the gun? Bad for the hammer spring?


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## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

TheLAGuy said:


> Is it bad for the gun in a DA/SA to manually pull back the hammer, hold the hammer, pull trigger and lightly de-cock the gun? Bad for the hammer spring?


Naw, you can do that if you want. In this day and age, modern firearms have improved vastly, just in over the past 20 yrs. or so. Metallurgy has improved significantly, and has been one of the best improvements.


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## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

TAPnRACK said:


> I only use snap caps to simulate malfunctions in training... probly the best reason to own a few.


That's a great idea,I am slowly teaching my wife. She wants to start shooting. I need to make sure she can rack the slide and feed ammo with a semi. Would the snap caps feed and eject similar to live ammo?
I never owned a snap cap


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## paratrooper (Feb 1, 2012)

pic said:


> That's a great idea,I am slowly teaching my wife. She wants to start shooting. I need to make sure she can rack the slide and feed ammo with a semi. Would the snap caps feed and eject similar to live ammo?
> I never owned a snap cap


They will not rack the slide or eject. Most simply have a spring inside to absorb the energy from the firing pin.


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## rex (Jan 27, 2012)

paratrooper said:


> They will not rack the slide or eject. Most simply have a spring inside to absorb the energy from the firing pin.


Exactly.The cheaper plastic snapcaps will get beat up in time and fail to feed well,and some just don't want to from the start without a little finessing.The good ones from AZoom are good and last well feeding like dummy rounds.Another trick is make a dummy round and put a pencil eraser in the primer pocket,but you need to know someone that reloads and put a serious crimp on the bullet to prevent setback with extended use.They too eventually get beat up but they're cheap to make.


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## XD40inAVL (Feb 1, 2013)

berettabone said:


> I never dry fire any firearm.....why? Just go shoot the thing.


Because there are techniques that can be learned and improved without making it go bang every-time, which can even disguise some poor techniques.


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## TheLAGuy (Nov 28, 2012)

Exactly!


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## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

Went to buy some ammo, sorry no 9 mm, 40 sw, or 45 cal. At my favorite supply store..looks like I' ll be dry firing this weekend


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## TheLAGuy (Nov 28, 2012)

pic said:


> Went to buy some ammo, sorry no 9 mm, 40 sw, or 45 cal. At my favorite supply store..looks like I' ll be dry firing this weekend


I wish I had a shooting range inside.


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## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

TheLAGuy said:


> I wish I had a shooting range inside.


Can't you just shoot down in your basement..go make your own gun range,be careful:watching:


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## TheLAGuy (Nov 28, 2012)

pic said:


> Can't you just shoot down in your basement..go make your own gun range,be careful:watching:


I live in Los Angeles my friend. That would be nice, but I'd get my ass thrown in jail if I attempted to do something like that. Probably before the 1st round was fired. Ya know?


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## Broondog (Feb 1, 2013)

i just sit on the front porch and shoot.

i can't wait for nicer weather. there's nuthin like a cool lemonade, an easy chair and few boxes of ammo to pass the time.


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## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

Broondog said:


> i just sit on the front porch and shoot.
> 
> i can't wait for nicer weather. there's nuthin like a cool lemonade, an easy chair and few boxes of ammo to pass the time.


Very nice, Sounds nice. The lemonade sounds nice too.


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## TheLAGuy (Nov 28, 2012)

Broondog said:


> i just sit on the front porch and shoot.
> 
> i can't wait for nicer weather. there's nuthin like a cool lemonade, an easy chair and few boxes of ammo to pass the time.


where do you live exactly, that sounds really pleasant.


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## sarabellum (Mar 4, 2013)

mikemc53 said:


> OK, I've heard arguments both ways (though heavier on the negative) as to whether dry firing is harmful to the gun.
> 
> Thoughts?? And is it more so (one way or the other) for certain guns?
> 
> If it is bad, what exactly are the issues?


I agree with the folks who responded that it is advisable to dry fire when purchasing a new/new to me firearm. However, as a general proposition, for me it is inadvisable to develop a habit of dry firing or using one's thumb to bring the hammer down; someday that practice might lead to an accidental discharge. Any thoughts?


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## Broondog (Feb 1, 2013)

pic said:


> Very nice, Sounds nice. The lemonade sounds nice too.


 thanks man, it is nice. i have a 320yd safe field of fire off my front porch. at 350yds out a hill crests and there are houses that way, albeit out past 1000yds but they are still there. safety first ya know.

i also have 3 dedicated ranges. 40yd pistol range directly behind the house, 65yd (safe) heavily wooded range that could really be longer but there are 4 wheeler trails out that way that get used on occasion, and a 155yd berm'd rifle range.

horses permitting i can practice out to 300+ but i usually reserve throwing lead that direction for varmints and such.



TheLAGuy said:


> where do you live exactly, that sounds really pleasant.


southeast Missouri, 10 miles from nowhere and 30 miles from somewhere.


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## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

What type of gun/round are you shooting varmints with. Twenty years ago, I loved shooting varmints.We call em woodchucks up north here. The farmers didn't mind, them woodchucks could be a 

nuisance. Horse break a foot,etc.

We would use a 220 swift to reach out and a 223 in close.


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## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

> I agree with the folks who responded that it is advisable to dry fire when purchasing a new/new to me firearm. However, as a general proposition, for me it is inadvisable to develop a habit of dry firing or using one's thumb to bring the hammer down; someday that practice might lead to an accidental discharge. Any thoughts?


I have heard that a few times,,,"bringing down the hammer on a live round is not good practice." I would not recommend to anyone to slowly release the hammer down on a live round.

I do it all the time with confidence, especially with single action revolvers, lever action rifles.

But it is an action that I would not recommend.

If you were in a situation, pulled out your revolver, cocked the hammer, ready to defend yourself. The bad guy flees.

Of course you will then need to lower the hammer back down on a live round.

This would be a reason to practice that action of lowering the hammer down with your thumb,imo.


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## rex (Jan 27, 2012)

Lowering the hammer is a bad idea,at some point a slip is inevitable.The only gun that needs this done is a single action revolver,everything else gets decocked or safety on.If it's a DA revolver,the only time you are going to cock it is target shooting so you are fifing that round anyway,do not cock the hammer in a self defense situation,it's a waste of time and can bring on a headache later if you need to shoot and it was found out you did cock it.If you can't shoot a DA revolver in DA you either need the trigger smoothed out or a different gun.


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## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

rex said:


> Lowering the hammer is a bad idea,at some point a slip is inevitable.The only gun that needs this done is a single action revolver,everything else gets decocked or safety on.If it's a DA revolver,the only time you are going to cock it is target shooting so you are fifing that round anyway,do not cock the hammer in a self defense situation,it's a waste of time and can bring on a headache later if you need to shoot and it was found out you did cock it.If you can't shoot a DA revolver in DA you either need the trigger smoothed out or a different gun.


I have hunted with da revolver. Would you cock the hammer before the shot?? ,,if you had the opportunity??


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## Broondog (Feb 1, 2013)

pic said:


> What type of gun/round are you shooting varmints with. Twenty years ago, I loved shooting varmints.We call em woodchucks up north here. The farmers didn't mind, them woodchucks could be a
> 
> nuisance. Horse break a foot,etc.
> 
> We would use a 220 swift to reach out and a 223 in close.


coyotes are the problem down here.

7.5x55 Swiss from a scoped K31 dialed in at 250yds for reaching out to the far pasture. inside 150 i'll use a Winchester Mdl 94 chambered in .32 WinSpl and just iron sights.

most of my long guns run the gambit from 6.5 Swede to 8mm Mauser. i would like to scope the Swede. that would reach out to the next county!  i did just recently pick up a Mini 14 but have not fully vetted the rifle yet. it's my only venture into the .223 range and i'm not sure if i like it or not.


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## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

Broondog said:


> coyotes are the problem down here.
> 
> 7.5x55 Swiss from a scoped K31 dialed in at 250yds for reaching out to the far pasture. inside 150 i'll use a Winchester Mdl 94 chambered in .32 WinSpl and just iron sights.
> 
> most of my long guns run the gambit from 6.5 Swede to 8mm Mauser. i would like to scope the Swede. that would reach out to the next county!  i did just recently pick up a Mini 14 but have not fully vetted the rifle yet. it's my only venture into the .223 range and i'm not sure if i like it or not.


The mini 14 was my up close 223.Witout a scope. Great gun, I think you will like it.


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## Harryball (Oct 10, 2012)

For those that may still have some issues with Dry practice, take a look at this video.


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## high pockets (Apr 25, 2011)

Broondog said:


> i just sit on the front porch and shoot.
> 
> i can't wait for nicer weather. there's nuthin like a cool lemonade, an easy chair and few boxes of ammo to pass the time.


I used to do this, too, but the neighborhood kids get tired too soon. They say dodging bullets is wearing them out. That's one of the problems with kids nowadays, no stamina any more!


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## Broondog (Feb 1, 2013)

high pockets said:


> I used to do this, too, but the neighborhood kids get tired too soon. They say dodging bullets is wearing them out. That's one of the problems with kids nowadays, no stamina any more!


yep, they spend too much time video gaming and not enough time outside getting exercise.

i work in a stressful, active environment and at 46 i have 3 times the stamina of the 18-30yr olds. they just can't figure how this "old man" does it. and that i still work a farm too on top of a FT job.

kids these days got nuthin on us older folks!


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## Philco (Apr 17, 2012)

pic said:


> I have hunted with da revolver. Would you cock the hammer before the shot?? ,,if you had the opportunity??


I certainly would.


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## Meister (Mar 9, 2013)

Best thing to remember is that virtually all new pistols can be dry fired due to manufactures installing "plates" to prevent damage when a cartridge is not chambered. Older handguns either did not have this mechanism or in the case of Smith & Wessen had the firing pin on the hammer that should NEVER be dry fired or you run the risk of breaking it clean off of the hammer.


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