kao@cae.wisc.edu (06/30/91)
Hi there This question probably has been asked before. Sorry for asking again. Is dry fire good for a gun or will damage it? Some of my friends told me dry fireing will smooth the action of a (new) gun, while others told me I will increase the wear by doing this. One of a article in "Guns" say dry fireing is good for the Glocks. Does this depend on guns? Thanks in advance. KAo
boyd@mailer.cc.fsu.edu (Mickey Boyd) (06/30/91)
In article <36073@mimsy.umd.edu>, kao@cae.wisc.edu writes:
#Hi there
#This question probably has been asked before. Sorry for asking again.
#Is dry fire good for a gun or will damage it? Some of my friends told me dry fireing will smooth the action of a (new) gun, while others told me I will increase the wear by doing this.
#
#One of a article in "Guns" say dry fireing is good for the Glocks. Does this depend on guns?
#
It is highly dependent on the particular gun in question. I would say that
most centerfire autos (those with spring-loaded firing pins) are safe to
dry fire. Centerfire revolvers with frame mounted firing pins are also
safe. The two types to watch out for are any .22's, and revolvers with hammer
mounted firing pins. Most .22 firing pins (since they must strike the
rim of the cartridge) will hit the edge of the chamber when dry firing.
This will eventually form a burr that can screw up the gun. If you dry fire
a revolver with a hammer mounted firing pin, you put lots of stress and
shock on the pin (without any support from the primer), and can break it off.
Certainly you will increase wear by dry firing. It is that wear that will
"smooth" up an action. It is unlikely that you could wear out a gun by
dry firing it though (except for the exceptions noted above).
If you have a revolver with a hammer mounted firing pin, you can purchase
snap caps to safely dry fire the weapon. These are fake cartridges with
spring loaded "primers" to soften the blow of the firing pin. They are
made in many calibers and gauges (they are a must for dryfiring shotguns,
by the way).
Dry firing, if it is safe on the particular gun, is good practice. I do it
alot (at the TV, I hate low brow mass media crap). If you really want to
smooth up a gritty action, I would suggest getting some very fine abrasive
grease (clover compound is a gunsmith standard, available from Brownells),
coating the inside of the gun with the stuff, and working the action by
hand a couple of hundred times. This is called "lapping", and can dramatically
improve the "smoothness" of an action. Just make sure you use a very fine
grit (600 minimum) so you can't take off too much metal. The goal is to
polish the contact points. Make sure you clean and degrease the gun completely
(and relube it, of course) after you do this.
To summerize, it is safe to dry fire a weapon as much as you want, exceptions
noted above. Remember, very few guns are "worn out" by folks, most are just
kicked around in drawers and closets. I have dry fired all of my guns
except my Ruger MKII many thousands of times, and have had no problems.
--
Mickey R. Boyd | "God is a comedian playing to an
FSU Computer Science | audience too afraid to laugh."
Technical Support Group |
email: boyd@nu.cs.fsu.edu | - Voltaire jamaass@bluemoon.rn.com (Jeffrey A. Maass) (07/01/91)
kao@cae.wisc.edu writes:
# Hi there
# This question probably has been asked before. Sorry for asking again.
# Is dry fire good for a gun or will damage it? Some of my friends told me dry
#
When I obtained my Browning Target 5.5, I had been given the
advice to never dry fire a rimfire, as it will damage the
firing pin from impact with the barrel parts where the .22LR
rim would normally be. If you want to dry fire, insert a spent
case and dry fire of that, a tedious process for a .22 without
an exposed hammer!
I called Browning service, and was told that it's perfectly OK to dry fire
my .22! The service person I spoke to (I have his name, I believe,
in my notebook) assured me that no damage would be done.
I don;t believe him, and do not dry fire.
Does anyone have a good alternative way to gain the training
value of dry firing with a a .22LR?
I was thinking about this today when I tried the Browning 5.5
with my Aimpoint 2000 red dot sight: what a great aid to practicing
trigger control, if only I could dry fire with the red dot at home!
(BTW, this gun shot a 0.4-inch single-hole group of ten shots
from sandbags at 50 feet, sighting with the Aimpoint: gives me a
benchmark to shoot for freehand!)
This is from
jamaass@bluemoon.uucp
jamaass@bluemoon.rn.com
who doesn't have their own obnoxious signature yet