I dry fire one of my S&W revolvers every day usually a Model 10 or 64. Upon the advice of a friend who is a retired S&W employee I always use snap caps.

The question I have is this really necessary ? Is there any real
evidence that dry firing without snap caps is more harmful than with them.

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I like Ike.

Someone here said they knocked out the firing pin bushing when dry firing without them.

I never have

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

I'm not sure snap caps are necessary, but as they aren't expensive why take chances?

I've heard it can hyperextend the firing pin causing damage. I paid $17 for mine.

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"The Dude abides"

Scroll down to the bottom of this thread, there are many similar weekly, monthly posts on snap capping.

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Still Running Against the Wind

Snap caps are cheap. Have them for all my calibers. No reason not to.

Thanks all. BTW I had not discovered the Similar Threads sections before. My tendency toward the oblivious must be operating.

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I like Ike.

No worries no one knows they are there. Plus they are not there until someone posts a similar thread (kinda of a time space continuum thing),

The official SW Factory(owners manual) reply is it is OK to dry fire a center fire, I do not see the need to do it on a daily basis though.

FAQs - Smith & Wesson

Can I dry fire my S&W handgun? Q: Can I dry fire my Smith & Wesson?

A: Yes, except for the .22 caliber pistols which includes models 22A, 22S, 422, 2206, 2214, 2213 and 41.

.22 caliber revolvers such as models 17, 43, 63, 317 and 617 also should not be dry fired.

Q: Why can't I dry fire my .22 pistol or revolver?

A: Dry firing a S&W .22 pistol or revolver will cause damage to the firing pin.

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Still Running Against the Wind

I have come to realize that my take on this isn't shared by
many S&W owners but being old school and and having heard
from as far back as I can remember not to dryfire(snap) guns
I have to ask; what possible reason does anyone have for
sitting around at home and snapping a quality, closely fitted
older mechanical device like a S&W revolver thousands of
times??? And how can any reasonably intelligent person think
that doing so doesn't subject said precision mechanical
device to wear because a round isn't fired when snapped???

I met a shooter that competed at Camp Perry. The story was he wore out a trigger group before ever sending one down the bbl. Things wear under use. I have made snap caps for odd calibers by filling in the primer hole with silicone.

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Front sight and squeeze

Dry fire practice is an important part of learning trigger control, especially for bullseye. It teaches you to squeeze the trigger and not jerk it. One drill I have practiced is to balance a penny on the front sight. You should be able to dry fire the pistol without the penny falling off.

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Common sense isn't so common.

Nope, not one shred of evidence that snap caps prevent damage. Neither is there evidence that dry practice does any more harm than just firing the gun.

Mechanical things wear and break. That's the world. They will wear out through firing them. They will wear out through dry practice. I just haven't seen one wear out from dry practice yet.

I have over 8K rounds through one gun. I do at least 20 dry presses to each live round I send down range. That means I have over 100,000 dry presses on that one gun. It hasn't failed yet.

If a person were doing just this, I would agree with you; pointless. Just clicking the gun has no value, but doing dry practice is the key to improving trigger control. Improving trigger control means your groups will get tighter. Tighter groups are good, right?

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Freedom isn't free.

Some people buy guns to collect and sit in a safe as an investment or hobby.

Some people buy guns to shoot and enjoy and don't care about wear, scratches, or worn out parts.

Some do both.

There is no problem with dry firing unless you bought for the first reason