So what is the problem with "dry firing"?

[You'll shoot your eye out]

I am an old guy who never dry fires a gun. Old habits die hard, especially when you agree with the habit. I am aware that it will not harm most modern firearms. My biggest problem is pulling the trigger of a cocked firearm without the expectation that it will go off! A bad habit by my way of thinking. I don't want to become casual with picking up a gun and snapping it and I don't want someone new to the hobby to see me doing it and think it's ok. accidents happen and I never want to snap a gun without worrying where the bullet will go. I suppose that if you have a sand bucket handy then it's safe, but this will still train your mind that it's ok, it wont go off.

 

[actaeon277]

Use a snap cap, or one of the safety yellow barrels.
Point it in a safe direction, maybe a clearing barrel, or stack of telephone books.

 

[You'll shoot your eye out]

I actually have snap caps for a gun that can only be de-cocked by snapping it. It still grates my nerves. Especially since I KNOW that dry firing this gun will bust the firing pin (AMT Backup .380).

Do you know the feeling when you get a miss fire, or worse yet a hang fire? That's what I feel like when I snap a hammer and the gun doesn't go off, no matter that I knew it wasn't supposed to go off. Old men, old habits.

 

[BigMoose]

The luger is one of those NO DRY FIRING pistols, ever.

 

[JettaKnight]

So... Could you place an empty .22 casing in the chamber, the safely dry-fire it? Ignoring mechanical feeding issues, etc.

Yes, but they LOOK exactly like live cartridges from one perspective. You can't mistake snap caps for live rounds. Snap caps are cheap insurance and offer you the ability to do more drills (like reloads, malfunction clearing, etc.)


The only gun I own that NEVER gets dry fired is my CZ-52. Stories abound about it's fragile firing pin.

 

[JettaKnight]

I am an old guy who never dry fires a gun. Old habits die hard, especially when you agree with the habit. I am aware that it will not harm most modern firearms. My biggest problem is pulling the trigger of a cocked firearm without the expectation that it will go off! A bad habit by my way of thinking. I don't want to become casual with picking up a gun and snapping it and I don't want someone new to the hobby to see me doing it and think it's ok. accidents happen and I never want to snap a gun without worrying where the bullet will go. I suppose that if you have a sand bucket handy then it's safe, but this will still train your mind that it's ok, it wont go off.

That's a GOOD habit!

 

[thompal]

Yes, but they LOOK exactly like live cartridges from one perspective. You can't mistake snap caps for live rounds. Snap caps are cheap insurance and offer you the ability to do more drills (like reloads, malfunction clearing, etc.)

That's true. However, I have NEVER found actual snap caps in .22LR.

 

[JettaKnight]

That's true. However, I have NEVER found actual snap caps in .22LR.

The ones I have are semi-hard plastic - no springs. They don't exact to well from my Marlin 39 and are good for around 20 shots only, but cheap.

 

[actaeon277]

That's true. However, I have NEVER found actual snap caps in .22LR.

Amazon.com: .22 snap caps: Sports & Outdoors

Cheaper Than Dirt - America's Ultimate Shooting Sports Discounter

 

[Bosshoss]

That's true. However, I have NEVER found actual snap caps in .22LR.

I have used drywall anchors as snap caps in my .22's for years. They are #4-6 x7/8 and are yellow and I buy them in a 100 count box. They last for a fair amount of dryfire and are very cheap and easy to deal with.

 

[kenjb]

At the risk of extending this thread unnecessarily, the Ruger owner's manual for their SR9c (striker-fired) says that dry-fire of their gun is just fine. Their only caution is that one must rack the slide about 1/2-inch before each shot to reset the trigger.