Question about dry-firing .22 revolvers

Workingzombie

I just purchased a used H&R Sportsman .22. Now I know one should not "dry fire" .22's in general, but does that also include .22 revolvers? I want to practice my trigger pulls by dry-firing indoors. if I can't, I suppose I could always put empty .22 cartridges in it.

perry shooter

Either get some snap caps or place a small bit of rubber in the hammer slot of the frame . a empty case is only good about 5 times before you need to turn to a new surface . something like a small piece of a rubber mat in the hammer slot is better.

rock,roll,n,load

Don't dry fire. You will wind up peening the mouth of the chambers causing the fired shell casings to hang up when ejecting them.

Workingzombie

thanks for the advice

JudgeColt

I do not know about all brands, but Colt .22 revolvers and Smith & Wesson .22 revolvers can be dry-fired without damage. The firing pin does not hit the edge of the rim recess, nor does it hit the bottom of the rim recess. If the firing pin makes no contact, how can it peen the mouth of the chambers? In lesser brands, I have dry-fired High Standard and Iver Johnson rimfire revolvers with no damage.

I think this fear grew out of old single shot rifles where the firing pin could hit the chamber mouth and damage it, but I have never seen a repeater that had a chamber that could be damaged by dry-firing. (How could that design flaw be allowed to exist since, in a repeater, such as a semi-automatic for instance, it will usually be shot until empty, and the "empty" condition is revealed by the hammer falling on an empty chamber.)

Some rimfires have fragile firing pins that tend to break if they have nothing to "cushion" the blow (working sort of like an inertia bullet puller so as to "pull" off the end of the firing pin), so that may be a concern. That concern is mostly with rifles that have long firing pins. On revolvers, the firing pin is either on the hammer or is so short that inertia breakage is not an issue.

I do not have an H&R Sportsman, but I suspect it can be dry-fired without damage. With the action open, manipulate the mechanism so as to have the hammer fall fully and see how far the firing pin projects. Compare that projection with the chamber depth and I will bet it will not reach the rim recess bottom. If it does not, there will be no chamber damage. Whether firing pin breakage will be an issue, I cannot say.]

If you are still worried about it even after that logical explanation, get some snap caps and have at it!

spasmcreek

have had to ream chambers on a bunch of the cheaper import 22s like fie, excam, etc that had dimples on edge of cylinders...no to much problem with American made...but not a good practice

lcdrdanr

I have owned several H&R and NEF .22LR pistols and never had an issue with them UNTIL some dam fool dry fired them. First one happened immediatley upon acquisition and although I do not remember the peening on the mouth of the chamber but the firing pin DID begin hanging up and refusing to retract, causing the revolver to lock up.
The second one I had for several years with nary a problem until an acquaintance borrowed it and dry fired it. Upon its return the firing pin would hang up and not allow the cylinder to rotate.
The third one I acquired new and, again, had no issues with until someone dry fired it and again, the firing pin would hang up and refuse to retract.

My theory was that the firing pin itself, with nothing to hit, continued on and began peening out the hole it goes through, ultimately crating a sticky firing pin situation.

I have observed the peening of the chamber mouth on both a Davis two shot derringer that was dry fired (.22 Mag) and on a FIE Schmidt Hawes Single Action in .22LR.

Dry firing = ultimate problems. Don't do it.

Dan R