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Dry firing

Posted By: Sq2 hunter

Dry firing - 12/25/15 03:58 AM

What's yalls opnion on dry firing a remington 700? Is it okay and/or should I put a spent resized brass with old primer in the chamber? Just trying to get used to slowly squeezing..
Posted By: Jbell99

Re: Dry firing - 12/25/15 04:06 AM

Personally I'm very perticular and try not to I was raised as not to dry fire. They do sell snap caps so you can do it and not have to worry and great for practicing
Posted By: J.G.

Re: Dry firing - 12/25/15 04:07 AM

Dry firing practice is essential to improved trigger squeeze, in any position. I recommend doing it all the time, and I do it on every rifle three times before shooting a live round on the range.

I never use a snap cap or fired case. Dry firing won't hurt the bolt and firing pin. I store all rifles dry fired to relieve spring compression.
Posted By: 68A

Re: Dry firing - 12/25/15 04:18 AM

I was raised being told to never dry fire. I started shooting with an idpa champ a few years back and he asked if he could shoot my pistol, I gladly obliged. First think he did was rack the slide and dry fire it 3 times, he could tell by the look on my face I was a little peeved. He gave me the rundown and ever since then I will always dry fire before shooting. As Jason said, it's excellent practice and will not hurt anything.
Posted By: BigPig

Re: Dry firing - 12/25/15 04:20 AM

Originally Posted By: FiremanJG
Dry firing practice is essential to improved trigger squeeze, in any position. I recommend doing it all the time, and I do it on every rifle three times before shooting a live round on the range.

I never use a snap cap or fired case. Dry firing won't hurt the bolt and firing pin. I store all rifles dry fired to relieve spring compression.


Yup^^^ I like to load a spent round or snap cap into the magazine for practice, lets you watch your follow through to see if you're screwing it up
Posted By: Texas Dan

Re: Dry firing - 12/25/15 04:34 AM

Originally Posted By: BigPig
Originally Posted By: FiremanJG
Dry firing practice is essential to improved trigger squeeze, in any position. I recommend doing it all the time, and I do it on every rifle three times before shooting a live round on the range.

I never use a snap cap or fired case. Dry firing won't hurt the bolt and firing pin. I store all rifles dry fired to relieve spring compression.


Yup^^^ I like to load a spent round or snap cap into the magazine for practice, lets you watch your follow through to see if you're screwing it up


A few dry fires at random and safe targets after getting settled into the stand equates to a field goal kicker kicking practice balls into a net before hitting the field for an attempt. And just like a kicker, it can help settle the nerves when it comes time for the real thing.
Posted By: Sq2 hunter

Re: Dry firing - 12/25/15 04:35 AM

Thanks guys!!!! I have always heard it's bad too but it's good to know it's not a problem.
Posted By: BigPig

Re: Dry firing - 12/25/15 04:43 AM

I dry fire the hell out of my duty pistol. That poor gun has surpassed 20,000 rounds, has prob been dry fired 5,000 times.
Posted By: TFF Caribou

Re: Dry firing - 12/25/15 04:54 AM

Think about it. On a center fire rifle, there is nothing for the firing pin to hit to damage it. I don't dryfire rimfires as often, but even that doesn't seem to hurt them.
Posted By: Toxarch

Re: Dry firing - 12/25/15 09:10 AM

I dry fire mine. My bolt action rim fire 22 lr says not to dry fire or it will damage it. I do have snap caps for it. On many bolt action center fire rifles, you can hold the trigger down while locking the bolt and that will release the firing pin slowly. That's what I do when storing my rifles.
Posted By: colt45-90

Re: Dry firing - 12/25/15 12:25 PM

I don't dry fire .22's or shotguns, which I use snap caps to release the firing pin. I always use snap caps on doubles prior to storing
Posted By: SnakeWrangler

Re: Dry firing - 12/25/15 12:43 PM

I believe the "never dry fire" mentality came from the 19th century. The advances in metallurgy and manufacturing technology have all but eliminated any issues they had back then. I always dry fire after unloading and for practice... Have Crimson trace lasers on most pistols and dry fire them lots to practice on trigger pull and muzzle control...good cheap practice up
Posted By: 1860.colt

Re: Dry firing - 12/25/15 06:00 PM

cheers Good thread, not an expert on dry firing, like you try ta avoid it... Even when starting fastdrawing, live rounds.. Depends on type gun, most have light small springs on firing pin.. Colt .45 had a built on fire pin on hammer... Again i don't dry fire, just like with bow, dry fire didst hit anything but can dammage limbs... rofl tis a postal reject here, sometimes my posts& threads get marked, return ta sender 2cents postage due .... Merry Christmas ta all... flag
Posted By: syncerus

Re: Dry firing - 12/25/15 06:05 PM

Never dry fire a .22 as it can break the firing pin. Dry firing centerfires is harmless to well made firearms. I once had a problem dry firing a Spanish shotgun. To my mind it was a quality issue.
Posted By: Cast

Re: Dry firing - 12/25/15 06:07 PM

You can dry fire a 10/22.
Posted By: syncerus

Re: Dry firing - 12/25/15 06:33 PM

Interesting discussion on dry firing the 10/22 and Mark 1/2 pistols:

http://rugerforum.net/ruger-10-22-rimfire/57988-dry-firing-10-22-a.html
Posted By: twinbubba

Re: Dry firing - 12/27/15 02:07 PM

I just recently learned, from a young girl working at an indoor range, that after I unload my Savage if I will hold in the trigger as I return the bolt and lock it that the rifle is not cocked thus eliminating the need to dry fire to take the pressure off the firing pin. Since I didn't know this, I can only assume this will work on other rifles besides a Savage 270.
Posted By: Simple Searcher

Re: Dry firing - 12/27/15 06:13 PM

I agree, dry firing is great practice.
My daughter pulled up on a deer when she was about 14. When she pulled the trigger she flinched big time, luckily there was no round in the chamber. She looked at me relieved and said that she would have missed the deer.
She looked through the scope again did a few practice squeezes, jacked in a good round and dropped the deer where he stood.
Posted By: D-Day

Re: Dry firing - 12/28/15 02:41 AM

Not dry firing is a throwback to not dry firing .22s where the firing pin contacts steel...do it enough and something breaks.

Modern actions do not have these issues generally...dry fire away. I have talked to Ruger via email as long ago as 10 years and they said knock yourself out. I dry fire my SP101 all the time. I do use snap caps though in my rifles.
Posted By: Regular Guy

Re: Dry firing - 12/28/15 03:10 AM

Dry firing my Ruger American just sounds nasty. It worries me enough to use a snap cap. Whether it is reccommended by the manufacturer to use a snap cap or not, doesn't matter much to me. The peace of mind I get using a snap cap is worth the tiny investment.

I've had other guns, that I didn't worry as much about dry firing.
Posted By: MikeTX

Re: Dry firing - 12/28/15 03:15 AM

Originally Posted By: Jbell99
Personally I'm very perticular and try not to I was raised as not to dry fire. They do sell snap caps so you can do it and not have to worry and great for practicing


Was always taught not to dry fire. That said, the military taught dry firing an M-16/M-4 repeatedly so I could understand trigger control. I'd always thought that military didn't care about destroying the firing pins, but after reading the above, it may not have done any damage at all.
Posted By: 1860.colt

Re: Dry firing - 12/28/15 05:29 PM

2cents went threw lot of rounds while fast drawing... Fanning & such... Cut the palm of my thand while fanning, end of ihammer fell off... We thought it was uncollectible ta start the draw with hand on pistal... Reaching for the hammer & trigger, hammer back before clearing holster with a smooth action. Twas not always smooth... Dropped pistal few times.. The colt was well made... Bough a new pistal, differnt brand... Every know & then get out my rig, & go threw motion of draw & clear... No bullets or dry fireing... Just action of pulling back hammer has locked up pistal, tis not what they designed for... Personaly just never dry-fired... Some guns better quality... My colt went threw lots of tough action... Thousands of rounds fast draw, & fanning, no problems locking up... Good thread... Tis old school, rifle shot gun, always one eye closed, a lot of young guys shoot shotgun both eyes open, have tryed it, we were fought not ta look at bead any ways, takes getting usdta... flag
Posted By: Flags

Re: Dry firing - 12/28/15 11:49 PM

Good shots shoot a lot. Great shoots also shoot a lot but they dry fire a lot as well. Best way there is to learn trigger control and follow through.
Posted By: rdmac

Re: Dry firing - 12/29/15 09:08 PM

Dry fire all you want. IT's not going to hurt anything.
Posted By: shadams

Re: Dry firing - 12/31/15 03:11 AM

My cz had to be dry fired 4000 times and still function to be NATO certified...
Posted By: 12shotgun

Re: Dry firing - 12/31/15 11:36 PM

Good to know. I do dry fire to store guns but always felt a little concern.
Posted By: Auctioneer1

Re: Dry firing - 01/02/16 10:15 PM

Dry fire away won't hurt anything, but do not dry fire a bow not good.
Posted By: Sq2 hunter

Re: Dry firing - 01/02/16 10:36 PM

I dry fire my bow daily. Works wonders for my follow through
Posted By: 68A

Re: Dry firing - 01/02/16 10:50 PM

Watched a guy dry fire a bow in bass pro the other day. Trying to look cool, he looked it over, looked around to see if anyone saw and put it back on the rack.
Posted By: Dalee7892

Re: Dry firing - 01/02/16 11:09 PM

Should never dry fire a bow or crossbow, can bust them.
Posted By: D-Day

Re: Dry firing - 01/02/16 11:57 PM

Dry firing bow is dangerous to the user and detrimental to the eqmt.

Saw a guy dry fire a bow at Academy 10 years ago...strings snapped. Bows need arrows/bolts for energy transfer.
Posted By: Buzzsaw

Re: Dry firing - 01/03/16 12:55 AM

I use snap caps in every gun I own, but i'm anal and ocdc
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