Many of us who grew up around firearms have been warned for years never to dry fire any firearm. But can you really damage your firearm by pulling the trigger on an empty chamber? The answer is, as you might have guessed, “it depends.” Most modern firearms are safe to dry fire, but there are some notable exceptions.
Rimfire rifles and pistols should never be dry fired. The reason is due to the design of rimfire chamber. When a rimfire firearm is dry fired, the striker hits the outside mouth of the chamber instead of the soft brass rim of the cartridge. This can not only damage or destroy your firing pin, but over time will peen the barrel face. Extensive peening can be so bad that ammunition will no longer chamber.
Many older pistol designs had notoriously brittle firing pins, such as the CZ-52. Pull the trigger on an empty chamber with that pistol and you’re almost assured of having a broken firing pin in just a couple dozen strikes. The problem with many centerfire designs is that the firing pin travels too far when dropped on an empty chamber. In many semiautomatic firearms, the firing pin is only stopped when it hits the end of the firing pin channel. Other pistols, such as older Smith & Wesson revolvers, have the free floating striker pinned to the hammer. Again, there is the same problem that when the firing pin over-travels, it can hit the frame potentially causing damage to the striker.
While you can safely dry fire almost any modern pistol, rifle, or shotgun, why take the chance? It’s obvious from a design standpoint that firearms were not designed to be frequently used that way. Modern firearms are designed to have the firing pin hit the primer, ignite the powder, and make the thing go “boom” while propelling a small projectile out of the barrel at a high velocity. They are not, by design, intended to be dry fired thousands of times. Dry firing a modern centerfire firearm does not result in the firing pin “hitting air” – something has to stop it if the primer or a snap cap isn’t there. That impact, whether it’s a pin, rivet, or just the firing pin channel, is what can eventually damage your firing pin.
Will a modern firearm hold up to it? Sure, modern metallurgy has enabled engineers to produce much stronger steel, virtually eliminating problems from dry firing centerfire rifles and pistols. But they’re not designed to, so why risk it? Snap caps and various other designs of dummy ammunition allow you to fire nearly any weapon without risk of damage to your firing pin, or any other part of the firearm.
Every time I purchase a firearm in a new caliber, I always pick up a pack of snap caps to practice with. They’re inexpensive, and are great not only for dry firing, but also an invaluable resource for practicing malfunction drills. I carry a snap cap in all of my bolt action rifles for use when the rifle is unloaded so that I can release the spring tension on the striker without dropping it on an empty chamber.
So, is it safe to dry fire your pistol? We contacted Ruger and asked their technical advisors to see what they had to say. According to them, dry firing is perfectly fine on all of their modern centerfire firearms for clearing the weapon, dropping the hammer/striker, or just trying out the trigger. However for practice, they said you should definitely use snap caps. And that just makes sense. When practicing for USPSA Limited Revolver, I’d regularly go through 100 trigger pulls a night, on snap caps as that was how I’d been taught. Ruger technicians confirmed for us that if you’re going to be practicing with your revolver or semiautomatic pistol, you should seriously consider using snap caps.
Rimfire firearms should never be dry fired without the use of dummy rimfire training rounds made of soft metals such as brass or aluminum, or polymer rimfire snap caps. Most modern centerfire firearms can be safely dry fired, but infrequently. If you’re going to be dry firing for practice, it’s always advisable to use snap caps. And as always, if you’re checking out your buddy’s rifle, or handling a new pistol you’re considering purchasing at your local gun shop, ask permission before dry firing.
The mission of Cheaper Than Dirt!’s blog, “The Shooter’s Log,” is to provide information—not opinions—to our customers and the shooting community. We want you, our readers, to be able to make informed decisions. The information provided here does not represent the views of Cheaper Than Dirt!
I’m curious.
Your last paragraph says “rimfire firearms should never be dry fired without the use of rimfire snap caps”. You then link to this product: http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/15585-5.html, which is Pachmayr’s .22 LR training rounds… and your own webpage for that product specifically states: “do not use for dry fire”.
So…. which is it?
Cheaper Than Dirt Edit: While you can probably use those training rounds as a snap cap periodically, since they are solid aluminum they are not as safe as some of the polymer rimfire snap caps also available on the market. Since they are not specifically designed for dry fire, we cannot condone their use as a snap cap.
Even polymer rimfire snap caps have a “life span” and can only be used a certain number of times before they must be replaced.
Comment by hsoi — May 3, 2011 @ 2:06 pm
Interestingly, Ruger’s manual for the 10/22 specifically says you can dry fire it.
Comment by hsoi — May 3, 2011 @ 5:59 pm
Spent .22LR casings are readily available as a rimfire snap cap..
Comment by Mayvik — May 3, 2011 @ 9:14 pm
My Ruger SR9c manual says the gun is safe to dry fire, but the text of this blog makes
perfect sense. What would be the benefit of taking the chance dry firing on an empty
chamber when snap caps are so inexpensive? And the text also points out that further
questioning with Ruger shows that they recommend snap caps if using it for practice as
opposed to just dropping a hammer.
Comment by Doug — May 4, 2011 @ 2:42 am
I use a laserlyte system to sight-in and practice shoot with, and always use snap caps. I just think it’s better to err on the safe side.
Comment by David — May 12, 2011 @ 3:18 pm
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Pingback by disparar revolver sin balas — March 26, 2012 @ 6:32 pm
In regards to the Ruger Mark III they say the following about it on their website:
Q: Can I dry fire my Mark III pistol?
Yes. The Mark III has a firing pin stop that prevents the firing pin from contacting the rear of the barrel and damaging the edge of the chamber. If you are going to dry fire the pistol extensively, the stop pin and firing pin will eventually wear and contact could occur, and we recommend replacing both the firing pin and the firing pin stop from time to time. You should also monitor the contact of the firing pin with the rear of the barrel.
Ref: http://www.ruger.com/service/FAQs.html#Q114
Comment by Nick — May 26, 2012 @ 10:52 am
[...] sure about not using snap caps… http://cheaperthandirt.com/blog/?p=2784 (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) [...]
Pingback by WARNING -- LC9 Firing Pin Sheer! - Page 2 - Ruger Forum — June 8, 2012 @ 8:01 am
[...] Go here for an in depth look at the do's and don'ts of dry firing..Like it says: Will a modern firearm hold up to it? Sure, modern metallurgy has enabled engineers to produce much stronger steel, virtually eliminating problems from dry firing centerfire rifles and pistols. But they’re not designed to, so why risk it? Snap caps and various other designs of dummy ammunition allow you to fire nearly any weapon without risk of damage to your firing pin, or any other part of the firearm. Here is a link:http://cheaperthandirt.com/blog/?p=2784 [...]
Pingback by Dry firing harmful? - Page 2 - Glock Forum — August 1, 2012 @ 8:54 am
[...] According to Cheaper than Dirt: "Rimfire rifles and pistols should never be dry fired. The reason is due to the design of rimfire chamber. When a rimfire firearm is dry fired, the striker hits the outside mouth of the chamber instead of the soft brass rim of the cartridge. This can not only damage or destroy your firing pin, but over time will peen the barrel face. Extensive peening can be so bad that ammunition will no longer chamber." Dry Fire Practice – Is It Safe For Your Firearm? [...]
Pingback by Cleaning 15-22 — December 2, 2012 @ 6:14 pm
Having grown up in a hunting family & being told don’t but not why has always made me question dry firing, then I joined the Aus Army for 6 years, for the first 4 years we dry fired the 7.62mm SLR & M-60 thousands if not tens of thousands of times & many of these weapons dated back to the Vietnam era, then we were issued the Austeyr & we did the same, not once did we ever have an issue with any weapon, having said that, at least I now have a clearer understanding with regards to Rimfire weapons, thanks
Comment by Col — May 4, 2013 @ 3:32 am