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Dry Fire Practice

AzAfshinAzAfshin Member Posts: 2,986 ✭✭
Didn't want to hijack the Dillon press thread and a search of the forums turned up no threads on this. So, here it is.

Dry fire practice. I've read a lot about how important it is for improving your accuracy, and I admit, after doing it for a couple of hundred squeezes a night for a couple of weeks I did notice a significant improvement. So I kept doing it.

Now, the downside. I use snapcaps to protect the firing pin, but it seems that it's not effective enough protection somewhere else. Sear springs. I have broken two sear springs on my H&K USP tactical doing dry fire practices. Nothing happened during the years I shot it without dry fire practice, but within a year of dry fire practices I have busted 2 sear springs. The spring is easy and cheap enough to replace, but makes me wonder if other parts are getting damaged.

What do you guys think? What's your experience with internal damage from dry firing even when using snapcaps?

Comments

  • swearengineswearengine Member Posts: 1,329 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    How much dry firing compared to actual firing. These parts do break and it maybe they just broke when you were dry firing but would have broken during actual firing.

    You mention a couple hundred dry firings per night. I know many people that don't fire a weapon that much in a lifetime.

    200/night for two weeks equals 2800. 200/night for 180 nights equals 36,000.

    What are your expectations?
  • charliemeyer007charliemeyer007 Member Posts: 6,579 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    If you work at as in trying hard to make a good shot, dry firing can help get you good or keep you good. Casual shooting at the TV doesn't help much IMHO.

    I did the Speer plastic bullets powered by only a primer. Kind of dirty but clearly rewarding cutting holes in paper across the room or down the hall. 38 and 44 were the ones I used, never tried the 45.

    For my 1911 I have a training devise that fits friction tight in the barrel. A spring loaded dart that is well bushed projects about 2" out of the barrel under the strike of the hammer/firing pin, to put a pin prick in the paper. I use green engineering paper as the target. On the grid pattern I blacken an intersection and exactly 4 lines below is where the dart should strike with my POS AMT Hard Baller. When the pin prick is exactly on the intersection every time, then you are well on the way to being a good shot.

    It's nice because I only need to thumb the hammer back, no action cycling. I haven't seen it lately but I should look for it. 100,000's of rounds no broken parts.

    Personally just holding the pistol out at arms length builds the muscle necessary to hold it steady.
  • perry shooterperry shooter Member Posts: 17,390
    edited November -1
    different pistol designs have different results to DRY FIRE the 1911 Type pistols are very forgiving and seldom break a part or damage anything only thing I have ever seen is a Crack in the firing pin retained cheap and easy to replace BRIAN ZINS Camp Perry champion many times over Has most likely DRY FIRED 500,000 times . It is not advisable to DRY FIRE a rim fire pistol. Good Test put a penny on top of the slide when you can hold the pistol out and dry fire with out penny falling off you are on your way.

    EDIT you don"t put the penny on it's edge you lay it flat on top of the barrel or the slide if a semi auto but not fair if it has a flat scope mount built on top surface of slide [:0]
  • charliemeyer007charliemeyer007 Member Posts: 6,579 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I drift the front sight out of the rifles front ramp and set a penny on the flat. When you get good you can keep the penny on the flat threw multiple dry fires with the bolt gun. I'll look for the 45 training device today. I should put it to work, though I much prefer actual live fire. Almost time to put in for the elk draw, I may even put in for a deer tag.
  • AzAfshinAzAfshin Member Posts: 2,986 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Karl, believe it or not, I don't have a problem keeping the penny from falling when I pull the trigger, my problem is putting the penny on and keeping it from falling while I extend my arm [:D]
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