Gun abuse???

[IheartGUNS]

So I walked into a gun store and I saw a handgun that kinda interest me. I asked if I could look at it, and he hands it to me. I asked if it was okay to dry fire, he said sure(semi-auto). Just as I was about to, another guy stops me and says use a snap cap. Funny thing about this is while I was there customers along with the workers would let the slide slam while the chamber is empty...Ouch

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[CZ Fan]

When I was taught to shoot, I was instructed to never dry fire. I don't dry fire my own firearms very often but it seems dry firing in the store is just a way for the customer to get a feel for the trigger. Personally, I always ask the clerk if its ok to dry fire before doing so.

 

[eganx]

When I learned to shoot I too was instructed not to dry fire. After growing up and learning a thing or two about mechanics I can't see the harm in most circumstances when done occasionally.

 

[branson4020]

I'm happy to be educated here. I always thought that it was OK to dry fire a striker-fired pistol. I also thought it was a good idea to always let the slide slam forward on an auto (especially a 1911), round chambered or not. What's correct? Have I been guilty of gun abuse all these years?

 

[rolandson]

For hammer fired handguns it is possible to gage the pull and release of the trigger without dropping the hammer; just hold the hammer with the weak hand thumb. One will get everything without stressing anything.

 

[halmbarte]

Depends on the gun.

Most modern guns can be dry fired w/o any ill effects. Some guns are known for having fragile or brittle firing pins.

I generally dry fire the bubblegum out of my guns. You can train w/o expending ammo or hitting the range.

H

 

[eganx]

BTW.....dry firing a rimfire could damage the chamber if the firing pin has the ability strike the chamber mouth.....

I would like to know why one wouldn't release the slide under the power of the recoil spring with an empty chamber.....that one is new to me

 

[IheartGUNS]

I was taught not to do either if its not your gun. Personally I don't do it to any of my firearms unless I had to.

 

[Both Eyes Open]

For the OP, I would say, if the clerk said ok then go ahead. If the person saying no is another clerk ask them to supply a snap cap. If the person saying no is a customer then the clerk gets to make the call. I have to agree that an occasional dry fire probably wont hurt much unless its a rimfire. I have also learned not to so I don't dry fire any of mine much if ever. That is not because its bad but out of habit. Just my 2 cents.

 

[SteelyDan]

If I couldn't dry fire my gun without it breaking then I wouldn't trust putting an explosive projectile in it! Not like I run around willy-nilly dry firing, but I do check operation after cleaning, etc. Same with using the slide release.

 

[pokerace]

Depends on the gun.

Most modern guns can be dry fired w/o any ill effects. Some guns are known for having fragile or brittle firing pins.

I generally dry fire the bubblegum out of my guns. You can train w/o expending ammo or hitting the range.



If a gun does not hold up with dry firing or dropping the slide I will not own it.......!!!

 

[pokerace]

BTW.....dry firing a rimfire could damage the chamber if the firing pin has the ability strike the chamber mouth.....

I would like to know why one wouldn't release the slide under the power of the recoil spring with an empty chamber.....that one is new to me

you drop the slide so as not to chamber a round. Then you insert the mag.

 

[buick455]

The only centerfire pistols that I know of that suffer from dry fire practice is CZ's they have a roll pin that the firing pin will hit if it doesn't contact a primer (or snap cap first) but it will only show damage after thousands of dry fires and then you could just get a new roll pin I use snap caps in my CZ's because i don't want to fight taking out a mis-shaped roll pin.

Even some newer rimfires (semi not revolvers) can be dryfired without damage such as walther p22's and SIG mosquito (with the saftey engaged) and I know ruger MKII and MKIII have a firing pin stop pin and as long as it's in good shape it won't do any damage.

I've never heard of any damage from letting the slide slam shut exept that the new gun may have barrel smiles or a new revolver might get a cylinder ring so on some high end (safe queen type guns) the shop may not want dryfires

 

[eganx]

you drop the slide so as not to chamber a round. Then you insert the mag.

Right......that didn't answer the question I asked. So what damage would/could occur when releasing the slide under full power of the recoil spring on an empty chamber do??? None I suspect. Can someone please chime in on this????

 

[Velzey]

When you hit the slide release and let it slam home, when firing there is a cartridge in there for a cushion..When its empty is just slams home, the slide batters the barrel face..Like on Hi Standard 22 pistols (or Brownings 22, Colts 22 etc etc) the slide just bumps right off the breech face...Any dirt or crud gets embedded into both surfaces. It really wont hurt it, but yah it does a little.

1911's or Hi Powers, its meant to be closed on a round, and it does batter several metal to metal surfaces...but it takes quit a few times to do any real damage.

I have worked on 1000's of pistols and you can really tell some of them have had the rat snot dry fired out of them!

 

[Fumes]

I wouldn't be able to disassemble half the guns I own if I didn't dry fire them.

 

[deen_ad]

The experts (gun manufacturers) don't prohibit it that I have seen, so unless they do in their instructions I see no harm in it.

 

[waltermitty]

When you hit the slide release and let it slam home, when firing there is a cartridge in there for a cushion..When its empty is just slams home, the slide batters the barrel face..Like on Hi Standard 22 pistols (or Brownings 22, Colts 22 etc etc) the slide just bumps right off the breech face...Any dirt or crud gets embedded into both surfaces. It really wont hurt it, but yah it does a little.

1911's or Hi Powers, its meant to be closed on a round, and it does batter several metal to metal surfaces...but it takes quit a few times to do any real damage.

I have worked on 1000's of pistols and you can really tell some of them have had the rat snot dry fired out of them!

i'm not sure if i agree with *that* explanation. on a rimfire, the firing pin impacts
the rim. if, as you say, the slide uses the rim as the cushion and pinches it against
the chamber mouth, you seriously risk setting off the round with slide impact alone.
i would submit that the slide v chamber is headspaced so that the rim isn't pinched

 

[Mikej]

In my thinking using the slide release to drop the slide with, OR without a shell in the mag, will tend to round off the notch the release hangs in. So I always pull the slide back,slide realease will fall, and realease the slide to chamber a round. Not dropping the slide under full spring pressure on an empty chamber, seems like common sense to me.

Dryfire? I've read from people on this forum that certain guns need hundreds of dry fires, and slides worked to get properly "Broken In". In magazines I've read many articles saying use dry fire excersizes to hone skills. Don't know about that but I do dry fire my guns to try and be better with them.

Mike

 

[Allfat]

On my Keltec PF9, it says in the manual do not dry fire without a snap cap. Well, when I first got the gun, I didn't have any snap caps, so I figured how much damage can it really do? So I dry fired it quite a bit to get a feel for it.

Quite a bit later, I decided to do a full teardown of the pistol for cleaning (it was functioning perfectly fine). Remove the bolt that captures the firing pin and the firing pin is supposed to just fall out the back. It didn't. I had to make a tool to punch out the firing pin from the front using a hammer because it was so deformed it would not come out of the channel it rides in. You could tell where the firing pin was impacting the bolt that captures it because the bottom of the threads were really screwed up as well. A new firing pin and a new bolt and some snap caps for future dry-firing and no problems ever since, firing pin just falls out now.

So dry-firing a weapon can do damage, it depends on the design of the weapon and probably on how many times you dry-fire it.