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Dry firing ? do you?

Henry0ReillyHenry0Reilly Member Posts: 10,889 ✭✭✭
edited February 2004 in General Discussion
In Basic Training, we "snapped in" for hours with our M-16A1 before we went to the range. S&W revolver instructions encourage(d) the practice of dry firing to learn trigger pull. Certainly semi-autos that don't lock open can be expected to be dry fired fairly often.

Do you dry fire?

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Semper Fi

Remember Ruby Ridge.

Experience is the best teacher and usually charges accordingly.
I used to recruit for the NRA until they sold us down the river (again!) in Heller v. DC. See my auctions (if any) under username henryreilly
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Comments

  • gogolengogolen Member Posts: 1,619 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Oh I do remeber the days of dime and dowel drills. I try not to dry fire if I can avoid it I figure now if I am going to let the hammer fall might as well have a round in the chamber.

    http://banners.wunderground.com/banner/gizmotimetempbig_both/US/MI/Lapeer.gif
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  • Shootist3006Shootist3006 Member Posts: 4,171
    edited November -1
    If you don't, you are most likely NOT a good shot.

    Get some snap caps and practice, practice. practice. You can work on every thing from grip to sight alignment to trigger pull to drawing and target acquisition. I dry fire rifles, pistols (and revolvers), and shotguns. You can even cure flinching ang trigger jerking.

    NRA ENdowment, CRPA Life, NRA ILA EVC, Past President NRA Members Council
    Quod principi placuit legis habet vigorem. Semper Fidelis
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  • Henry0ReillyHenry0Reilly Member Posts: 10,889 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by gogolen
    Oh I do remeber the days of dime and dowel drills.


    Indianapolis.gif


    Please explain dime and dowel drills.

    avitar.jpg
    Semper Fi

    Remember Ruby Ridge.

    Experience is the best teacher and usually charges accordingly.
    I used to recruit for the NRA until they sold us down the river (again!) in Heller v. DC. See my auctions (if any) under username henryreilly
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  • old06old06 Member Posts: 577 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    As ashame as I'am too say this yes more than once. But in all these years I only broke one pin on a old 760 Remington and I dont know how many guns.

    psalms 16
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  • bambihunterbambihunter Member Posts: 10,742 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Only on guns that specifically say it's ok to do so. The Glock's come to mind on this, as it is required they be dry fired for takedown.
    Fanatic collector of the 10mm auto.
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  • hslaterprycehslaterpryce Member Posts: 927 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Worked on guns for a long time when I had my shop in FL. Never had to replace a firing pin because someone had "dry fired" it. At least no one told me that was the cause. It is not a good practice, hoever, so I do try not to dry fire any weapon. Some heve to be for takedown etc, but remember you are pulling the trigger on a gun - is it loaded? How soon we forget.... Just my advice
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  • SilverBoxSilverBox Member Posts: 2,347 ✭
    edited November -1
    Yeup I dry fire on centerfire firearms. Don't use those snap caps either. Never had a problem so far. I try not to do it excessively but I don't get all worried about it either. If a fireing pin can last for 10,000 falls on primers a few hundred or even more dry fires ain't gonna hurt it.

    I will dry fire rimfires to, but the frequency is much much less then on centerfires. Rimfire dryfiring is asking for it :).
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  • p3skykingp3skyking Member Posts: 23,916 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Silver is up to speed. Centerfires (good ones) are not hurt by dry firing. Rimfires will mushroom the tip and cause misfires until you reshape and sharpen the tip. DON'T DRYFIRE RIMFIRES.
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  • Henry0ReillyHenry0Reilly Member Posts: 10,889 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by p3skyking
    Silver is up to speed. Centerfires (good ones) are not hurt by dry firing. Rimfires will mushroom the tip and cause misfires until you reshape and sharpen the tip. DON'T DRYFIRE RIMFIRES.


    I use 22 snap caps but only when putting guns away for storage, I don't snap in with them.

    avitar.jpg
    Semper Fi

    Remember Ruby Ridge.

    Experience is the best teacher and usually charges accordingly.
    I used to recruit for the NRA until they sold us down the river (again!) in Heller v. DC. See my auctions (if any) under username henryreilly
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  • PATBUZZARDPATBUZZARD Member Posts: 3,556 ✭
    edited November -1
    Dime and Washer drill. You insert a stick into the end of your barrel, and then balance a washer or a dime on the end of the stick. You then practice your trigger pull until you can dry fire your rifle every time without jerking it and thus causing the dime\washer to fall off of the stick. It is a great way to practice trigger pull. I already knew how to shoot, and it helped me to get better.

    Patrick Buzzard
    Michigan National Guard
    19K-- tanker
    "Strike Hard!!"
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  • PATBUZZARDPATBUZZARD Member Posts: 3,556 ✭
    edited November -1
    I was always told that it's ok to dry fire most weapons, but NEVER dry fire break open shotguns, or rim fires. On rim fires your firing pin doesn't strike the center of the cartridge, but strikes the rim. If you dry fire instead of hitting a soft brass rim, your firing pin can strike the steel of the reciver and snap. Shotguns i don't remember why not to dry fire, but I know it's a bad idea.

    Patrick Buzzard
    Michigan National Guard
    19K-- tanker
    "Strike Hard!!"
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  • IconoclastIconoclast Member Posts: 10,515 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    A lot - but only with snap caps. And I did have a CF revolver firing pin break from firing without a cap. I use snap caps in the break open shotguns so I can relieve the tension on the springs without having the pins bottom out on the inside of the action.

    "There is nothing lower than the human race - except the French." (Mark Twain)
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  • He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 51,460 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Only with snap caps. Otherwise, not no way, not no how.

    He Dog
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  • dheffleydheffley Member Posts: 25,000 ✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Do you dry fire?

    Yes, I do, but I do use "snap caps" when ever I can for protection.

    How you doin'!wolf_evil_smile_md_wht.gif
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  • select-fireselect-fire Member Posts: 69,446 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Nope !! no dry firing for me. I will get a rifle or shotgun and shoot it without even trying out the trigger for hardness of pull. My index finger has the feel. And yeah 30-06 your right again, I can't shoot ... just ask some other board members... Ha Ha Ha.
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  • DIRTYRATDIRTYRAT Member Posts: 2,167 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    It's not done here very often...

    "I AM MY OWN WORST ENEMY"
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  • mohawk600mohawk600 Member Posts: 5,513 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    not if I can help it
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  • Contender ManContender Man Member Posts: 2,110 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    When I was at the peak of my competition days I dry fired more than live fire ... I'd shoot a match, then that night maybe snap off another couple hundred.


    If you only have time to do two things so-so, or one thing well ... do the one thing!
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  • HangfireHangfire Member Posts: 3,010 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I never Dry Fire without snapcaps!![Or at least a fired case to check trigger pull in a shop]

    Love them Pre-64's!!!!-Bob
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  • pickenuppickenup Member Posts: 22,844 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    If you shoot competition (IPSC, IDPA, 3-gun) you have no choice. At the end of every stage, you MUST dry fire your gun. I grew up being taught that you NEVER dry fire any gun. Wanting to shoot competition, I had to do some research. SIG along with other manufactures, say TO dry-fire you pistol after you have cleaned and reassembled it. I figure if the manufacturer is going to TELL me to do it. It must be OK. Still took me a while to get used to doing it. I do not do it on rim fires though.


    The gene pool needs chlorine.
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  • matwormatwor Member Posts: 20,594
    edited November -1
    Ok, I'll probably show some ignorance in this post but as someone once said, "The only stupid question, is a question never asked."

    I grew up taught not to dry-fire any gun, so I try not to. But, if there is no shell in the chamber, that is the chamber is "empty" what is there for the firing pin to hit, rimfire or centerfire??

    "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

    Edmund Burke
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  • jsergovicjsergovic Member Posts: 5,526
    edited November -1
    After cleaning, usually. Except the 3032. It says not to.
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  • rcrxmike_2rcrxmike_2 Member Posts: 3,275
    edited November -1
    Maybe it's a wifes tale or whatever but I never dry fire a gun. Even when i've purchased a gun, new or used, i've chambered a round, strapped it to sandbags, ran a 20 foot rope to it, and gave it a yank. especially older military pieces. (hey no sense in takin a chance)....... in a post above, i saw....'then you probably arent a good shot'.....I don't suck, as 90% of the time i see the muzzle flash in the scope.

    JOIN PETA! (PEOPLE EATING TASTY ANIMALS) I didn't climb to the top of the food chain to have a salad and spring water!
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  • beachmaster73beachmaster73 Member Posts: 3,011 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Contender man and shootist 30-06 get X-Rings!!! Poor shooters walk around thinking they are good shooters...they are not...in fact most of those people are really poor shots. What contender man and Shootist 30-06 are trying to say is that you need to pull the trigger hundreds of times without hearing it go bang for every time you pull the trigger and hear it go bang. That kind of dedication and practice make for "good shooters". Anybody who has spent a day in high power competition or a day at basic marksmanship training knows about "snapping in"...people who haven't probably aren't as good shots as they think.
    Yeah I'll roger up for putting snap caps in a shotgun, I've always heard that the firing pins in shotguns are softer metal than in rifles.....don't know but the only firing pin I've ever broken from dry firing was in a shotgun. Again BZ to contender man and shootist! Beach
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  • Henry0ReillyHenry0Reilly Member Posts: 10,889 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by matwor
    I grew up taught not to dry-fire any gun, so I try not to. But, if there is no shell in the chamber, that is the chamber is "empty" what is there for the firing pin to hit, rimfire or centerfire??


    Rimfire firing pins may hit the steel edge of the chamber when dry fired. Centerfire firing pins may be excessively stressed when it has to absorb all the striking energy of the hammer without a primer to push against and absorb some of the force. Some guns have a reputation for fragile firing pins, the CZ-52 pistol comes to mind.

    avitar.jpg
    Semper Fi

    Remember Ruby Ridge.

    Experience is the best teacher and usually charges accordingly.
    I used to recruit for the NRA until they sold us down the river (again!) in Heller v. DC. See my auctions (if any) under username henryreilly
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  • select-fireselect-fire Member Posts: 69,446 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I could possibly see dry firing a few rounds in competition. Just like taking a warm up pitches before hitting the mound. But for the average guy to get in the treestand and dry fire his rifle for deer hunting ect. Ha Ha Ha. If one knows their firearm what is the point ??? And yes I can shoot... Your next report will be when GHD comes down and I take him to the range... There will be NO dry firing that day either....
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  • beachmaster73beachmaster73 Member Posts: 3,011 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Contender man and shootist 30-06 get X-Rings!!! Poor shooters walk around thinking they are good shooters...they are not...in fact most of those people are really poor shots. What contender man and Shootist 30-06 are trying to say is that you need to pull the trigger hundreds of times without hearing it go bang for every time you pull the trigger and hear it go bang. That kind of dedication and practice make for "good shooters". Anybody who has spent a day in high power competition or a day at basic marksmanship training knows about "snapping in"...people who haven't probably aren't as good shots as they think.
    Yeah I'll roger up for putting snap caps in a shotgun, I've always heard that the firing pins in shotguns are softer metal than in rifles.....don't know but the only firing pin I've ever broken from dry firing was in a shotgun. Again BZ to contender man and shootist!
    beachmaster73@yahoo.com
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  • beachmaster73beachmaster73 Member Posts: 3,011 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Contender man and shootist 30-06 get X-Rings!!! Poor shooters walk around thinking they are good shooters...they are not...in fact most of those people are really poor shots. What contender man and Shootist 30-06 are trying to say is that you need to pull the trigger hundreds of times without hearing it go bang for every time you pull the trigger and hear it go bang. That kind of dedication and practice make for "good shooters". Anybody who has spent a day in high power competition or a day at basic marksmanship training knows about "snapping in"...people who haven't probably aren't as good shots as they think.
    Yeah I'll roger up for putting snap caps in a shotgun, I've always heard that the firing pins in shotguns are softer metal than in rifles.....don't know but the only firing pin I've ever broken from dry firing was in a shotgun. Again BZ to contender man and shootist!
    beachmaster73@yahoo.com
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  • select-fireselect-fire Member Posts: 69,446 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    NOT !!!
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  • Contender ManContender Man Member Posts: 2,110 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I teach firearms courses. I get students that think that they have very good technique and that lack of performance is more due to a problem with the gun, with the sights, with the ammo ...etc.

    A little trick I play on them is to slip a dud round into the cylinder or mag. while pretending to check things over and return the gun to them. I then tell them to try things again and after every shot to tell me what they see at the time of the shot and just after, in other words concentrate on the sight image. Many make an abrupt movement at the time of the trigger break and with no "boom" they see the movement clearly ... I rate this as 90+% effective, because some are just pain rock heads that could never admit that they are the root cause of the end result.


    If you only have time to do two things so-so, or one thing well ... do the one thing!
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  • matwormatwor Member Posts: 20,594
    edited November -1
    Thank you, HenryOReilly.

    "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

    Edmund Burke
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  • select-fireselect-fire Member Posts: 69,446 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    As Henry stated it is for getting familiar with the firearm. Just how many that go in to the armed services Have Never shot a gun... The only click I hear is when I have exhausted all rounds. How bout' dry firing a Full Auto... Rat-tat-tat....
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  • plains scoutplains scout Member Posts: 4,563
    edited November -1
    This is my rifle this is my gun. We are talking about rifles right?[:D]
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  • select-fireselect-fire Member Posts: 69,446 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Plains, Last time I looked the M-16 had a selector. ( semi or full )
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  • plains scoutplains scout Member Posts: 4,563
    edited November -1
    Select fire is before the 6 pack, full is after[^]

    (good come back Select Fire)[:D]
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  • shooter4shooter4 Member Posts: 4,457
    edited November -1
    Dryfire practice is part of my training and I teach it in my shooting fundamental courses.

    In the pistol and rifle courses (trigger control section) I use rubber bands to secure a laser pen at the end of the barrel and have the student take aim and hold on a small target, then dry fire a round. They are usually surprised at how much movement the trigger pull gives the barrel.

    Even during live fire practice, I make them dry fire 10 or so shots then live fire 5. The first shot is usually a really good one then they start to jerk the trigger or flinch.

    You will see compebreastive bullseye shooters dry firing during the 3 minute preparation period.

    Of course, you cannot dry fire a rimfire unless it has a dryfire selector or plug.

    I've read where the Olympia Free Pistol comebreastors dry fire more shots then they actually fire in practice and compebreastion.

    My pistol coach dry fires his 1911 .45 1000's of times a week. No snapcaps. Only problem he ever had was shorten the firing pin spring.

    Ball and dummy is another good technique for teaching trigger control. The coach loads the mag with one or more dummy rounds and the rest live rounds. Its amazing to see the trigger jerk on the dummy round.

    Here is an excerpt from the trigger control section in the www.bullseyepistol.com. Website.

    (1) Dry-fire practice will enable the nervous system to rest from the recoil of the shot. By this practice some of the reflexes which are detrimental to firing (tensing of the arm In order to counteract the recoil, the straining of the muscles in anticipation of the shot, blinking from the noise of the shot), are not being developed. They will, In fact, begin to decrease and may completely disappear.

    (2) Secondly, the shooter may continue regular training, but occasionally he may practice "dry". This way, he will not lose the stability of this position, as well as the useful reflexes which the shooter has developed during the process of previous firings.

    {3) By aiming carefully and noting attentively everything that happens to the pistol when he presses on the trigger, the shooter will discover his errors and eliminate them. Training by means of ball and dummy and dry firing is of great benefit. It makes it possible to develop correctly and carefully the technique of pressing the trigger, and contributes to acquiring proper habits In controlling the trigger.

    {4) When beginning to use dry firing the shooter must first overcome the desire to "grab" for a shot when the centered front site is under the bull's eye. Despite the arc of movement the shooter must teach himself only to press smoothly on the trigger and to use the uninterrupted positive control method of trigger action. When the smooth control of the trigger again becomes habitual and he no longer has to devote special attention to it, he can again shoot live cartridges. After starting again to shoot live cartridges, the first training exercises should involve firing at a square of blank white paper, rather than at a target with a black aiming area. Simultaneously, the shooter must devote special attention to analyzing his performance, counteract the desire to jerk on the trigger, and be conscious of reacting incorrectly to the firing of a shot.

    Happy shooting.
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  • HappyNanoqHappyNanoq Member Posts: 12,023
    edited November -1
    Usually doesn't dry-fire firearms.
    I practise with live rounds in just about any case - at a range or other secured places.

    Have been shooting since I was 6.. that's 21 years now.

    I think I've got the feel for a new gun after a few testshots.

    polarbear.gif
    Don't do anything that I've allready done - That'd be just plain STOOOOOOPID.
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  • .280 freak.280 freak Member Posts: 1,942 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Compebreastion

    Compebreastors


    Now, that's funny! Wasn't what I typed, and after seeing those words in other posts in this thread, I had to try it myself, just to see. I guess that the GB censoring software doesn't like "compe t i t ion!
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  • Warpig883Warpig883 Member Posts: 6,459
    edited November -1
    I do it but I don't really consider it dry firing as my guns are well lubed with WD-40





    I am not a number I am a free man

    sig

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  • bobskibobski Member Posts: 17,866 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    i dry fire more than i shoot.

    former air operations officer SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2. former navy skeet team, navy rifle/pistol team member. co-owner skeetmaster tubes inc.. owner/operator professional shooting instruction.
    Retired Naval Aviation
    Former Member U.S. Navy Shooting Team
    Former NSSA All American
    Navy Distinguished Pistol Shot
    MO, CT, VA.
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