I don't want to do any damage to mine and I read a few stories of people having issues after dry firing while others say that it's fine. Mine is the California version with mag disconnect safety. Does anyone have an official verdict on that ? Thanks !

There are several posts about this, both good and doubtful but not referenced at the bottom of this page.

Here is a list of FAQ's made by S&W. Scroll down to Q? #5.

FAQs | Smith & Wesson

Hey great ! Thanks guys, much appreciated ! ��

Well, if ya couldn't, ya'd be in a pickle tryin' to field strip it.

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NRA Benefactor

Understand something about mechanical devices, they do wear or break with use. So, what does this have to do with dry firing. It's very simple, there are mechanical means used to limit the forward stroke of the firing pin and the return position. On many pistols it's usually a small cross pin that fits into a notch cut into the firing pin. Other designs may have the forward position limited by a stepped diameter.

So, what does this have to do with dry firing. Well if you only dry fire the pistol when you field strip it you'll only dry fire your pistol 52 times a year if you clean in after a weekly range outing. If you're a daily shooter that means you'll dry fire 365 times a year. In either case it will take a very long time to accumulate 10,000 dry fires. Now what happens when you dry fire your pistol 1000 times per day and multiply that by 364 days in a year assuming you take Christmas off. With 364,000 strikes on an unprotected firing pin I would expect that something will break.

When any factory states that dry firing is completely safe they are assuming you are only doing this for field stripping or an occasional function check. They are NOT considering that you may be doing this to develop trigger strength or skill. I would advise that if you want to dry fire to gain trigger strength and skill that you use Snap Caps to provide a cushion for the firing pin strike. BTW, I would also suggest that you ignore those idiots who use a fired case, because they never consider that repeated strikes on an empty case WILL just dimple the primer depth to the mechanical limit of the firing pin stroke. Repeated strikes on an empty case will simply behave like a nail struck repeatedly with a hammer and we all know what happens when we keep hitting a nail, hit it too many times and you get an Owls Eye, something than no good carpenter ever finds acceptable. I would also ignore those who advise using silicone sealant to make your own snap caps, it is just way TOO soft to do anything.

I know they seem expensive but Azoom Snap Caps use a 60 durometer urethane in the primer area that is long lasting and VERY tough. In fact that urethane is so tough that you will find the Aluminum failing on that snap cap before that urethane ever shows any wear. BTW, that is correct you WILL wear out your snap caps if you use them for trigger practice. Once you see how they wear out first hand you will understand why I ALWAYS use a snap cap for any trigger practice. Note, when you find your slide seems to be dragging or even jammed just pull harder on the slide and take a look at the Headspace Edge on the snap cap and run your finger across that burr that has formed. It's an indication that snap cap needs to go in the trash.

Scooter 123 pretty well covered it.

S&W says it is OK to dry fire any of their guns except rimfires. Why wouldn't they, they sell the parts you will need when something breaks! If you dry fire any gun you will break a firing pin eventually, at least, so be prepared! Your choice, do what you want.

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Gunsmithing since 1961

Wow, very informative, I'm going to opt to not dry fire it anymore until I get some snap caps, thanks do much!

I ordered snap caps off Amazon two days ago by coincidence. I don't dry fire enough to worry about but I'll be using them to help train my wife in how to deal with function issues by mixing a couple in magazines with the real stuff at the range. I've got .22, 9mm and .38 on the way.

If S&W states that it's ok to dry fire, you bet your "donkey" that I will.