.22 Rimfire dry fireing

[gdnagle]

OK thought I would start a thread about what different manufactures say about dry fireing their rimfire firearms. These are quotes from their manuals that I have, or from their FAQ's If anyone else feels like checking their manuals maybe they could post their recomadations from those manfactures.

Ruger 10/22 page 14 (You should practice "dry-firing" an empty …)
Ruger Mark l page 7-- 4.If desired or if circumstances require it, the bolt can be left in the open position, being held there by the safety. If it is desired to close the bolt, again look to be certain the chamber is empty. Then, push the safety down (the letter "F" will show) and the bolt will snap forward. Keep your fingers out of the receiver! 5. Make certain the muzzle is pointed in a safe direction, then pull the trigger to decock the pistol.

S&W 15-22 page 14 Caution: Never dry-fire the rifle as damage to the firearm could result.

Remington site states FAQ We do not recommend dry firing the rimfire rifles / firearms

Colt –Umarex USA M4/M16 .22 Page 13 Decocking: Make sure that the firearm is ON SAFE and unloaded (magazine removed, chamber cleared, empty chamber indicator (blue tab) is installed, and barrel clear of any obstructions)! Pull charging handle rearward and then release allowing it to freely move forward. Place safety in the OFF (Fire) position, make sure the muzzle is pointed is a safe direction. Pull the trigger. The hammer drops to a de-cocked position. Can not find info on other Umarex models

Sig Sauer Sig522 page 47 --7.2 Function Check 5. Rotate the safety lever to the "F" (FIRE) position;
6. Pull the trigger and hold — the trigger is not blocked and the hammer releases (falls);

 

[gdnagle]

Just got this email from Henry Repeating Arms, Co

Thank you for owning a Henry. Occasional dry firing of our rifles
(for example forgetting to count the rounds when shooting) is fine and will
not damage the rifle. We do however recommend to extend the life of your
rifle to avoid dry firing when possible.

 

[Faulkner]

Ruger SR22 pistols are okay to dry fire according to the owners manual.

 

[forresth]

as a rule, I don't dry fire rim-fires. I know some can handle it though.

Honestly, I don't dry fire any of my guns excessively, but it is fun to occasionally send a pencil flying.

 

[Old cop]

I have a Model 18, Model 317 and a Ruger Single Six and do not dry fire any of them. Ruger recommends against it so I took it that it was not a good idea for any of them.

 

[Gunslinger808]

Pretty much all MODERN rimfire semi autos are safe to dry fire.

 

[Cyrano]

if I dry fire a 22, I put a fired case in the chamber to cushion the fall of the firing pin. I don't do this often, but I am working with my Remington 540XR Target right now and it has an empty in the chamber.

 

[forresth]

Pretty much all MODERN rimfire semi autos are safe to dry fire.

I know the Phoenix I was considering getting at one point was not dry fire safe.

 

[2152hq]

Depends on the firearm, depends on the design and materials it's made of.
Some will take it all day long, some will not.

The RF firing pin is supposed to fall a few .000" short of the chamber edge in a properly set up gun.
That allows it to fire a cartridge by crushing the rim, but in the case of a dry fire, the tip of the firing pin will not hit & dimple the edge of the chamber itself.

That's all fine and well.
But during dry firing the firing pin is held in restraint (usually by a cross pin) from hitting the chamber edge.
Continued dry firing can batter than restraint method, which doesn't come into play during live ammo firing, till it allows the firing pin to reach the chamber edge.

Now the chamber can be damaged, and many times the firing pin itself is damaged as it's hammered down onto the steel surface. The cross pin can bend in some cases if they're flimsy enough, sometimes they just shear off a little from the battering and allow the extra forward movement.

Some firing pin designs are just frail to begin with. Add to it poor materials and heat treat and it can get really bad.
Dry firing w/o the cushing effect of the cartridge case in front of it will show up rather quickly in a damaged firing pin.

Some can take it, some can take a lot of it, some not at all.
I just avoid it.
That goes for any firearm, older or new.

 

[jspick]

Dry firing a 22 will cause damage IF the firing pin can hit the back of the chamber. Some manufactures have firing pins that do not reach the back of the chamber so no damage will accure. BUT repeated dry firing causes the firing inside the bolt to hit something to stop it from hitting the back of the chamber. Repeated dry firing can cause the firing pin to stress and break without the rim of the cart. to absorb the force of the strike. I always use snap caps or spent cases. On the spent cases I turn them when I hear the strike of the firing pin gets more of a metal on metal sound instead of the softer sound hitting a brass rim.

John

 

[oldRoger]

We were taught to either remove the firing pin or substitute a special dry fire practice pin in our Anschutz Target Rifles. I do that to this day.

I have seen evidence of firing pin hits in older, much fired M41 barrels.
While it may be that the pin is not supposed to touch, the tolerances are very tight. While the peening that results can be smoothed out, the danger is that there will be no support under the case.

My conclusion is don't dry fire it if you can avoid it. Plastic snap caps are available; they don't last long but are much cheaper than barrels.

 

[11B Lifer]

M17s

if I dry fire a 22, I put a fired case in the chamber to cushion the fall of the firing pin. I don't do this often, but I am working with my Remington 540XR Target right now and it has an empty in the chamber.

Ditto. M17s in .22 are prone to peanning the cylinder.

 

[Erich]

Vis-á-vis the LCR-22, Single-Ten, Single-Nine, Single-Six, Bearcat and SP-101s in the rimfire calibers, Ruger's FAQ says

All Ruger revolvers can be dry fired without damage, and dry firing can be useful to familiarize the owner with the firearm. However, be sure any firearm is completely unloaded before dry firing!

 

[therevjay]

as a rule, I don't dry fire rim-fires. I know some can handle it though.

Honestly, I don't dry fire any of my guns excessively, but it is fun to occasionally send a pencil flying.

If the pencil go's flying then the fireing pin is hitting it, not the chamber edge. So, no harm done.

 

[guy22]

The Sig I have says its is OK to dry fire, also the my new Ruger SR22.
As a rule I was trained to never dry fire any 22. Could hurt the firing pin, or the wall of the camber.
Might not be true today. I still don't dry fire mine.
JMHO

Guy22

 

[Dave Nash]

OK thought I would start a thread about what different manufactures say about dry fireing their rimfire firearms. These are quotes from their manuals that I have, or from their FAQ's If anyone else feels like checking their manuals maybe they could post their recomadations from those manfactures...

"gdnagle":

I can never figure out the rhyme or reason of how certain topics get fitted into certain Boards on this Site (or most others on the Internet for that matter) but in catching up on a bunch of things this evening, I saw your Thread here and in reading through it for the first time tonight, I noticed that in addition to a number of the factory recommendations that you asked for, things drifted a little and it now includes a number of opinions and personal practices as well.

I recently contributed several times to another Thread in a different Board on this same Site (Dry Fire Practice) regarding dry firing in general, the use of snap caps, issues regarding safety, and (just the other day), possible damage to firearms caused by dry firing because somebody asked about it. This last one goes into centerfire issues as well but a good part of it deals specifically with rimfires.

If you are interested in it (in reading your Thread this evening, I found it interesting that much of what I had say there parallels what is going on here: factory guidelines, expected problems, issues occurring on a gun-to-gun basis, etc.), here is a link to that "damage" Post (although I would recommend that if you have the time, that you read all of the entries in the Thread that contains it for you might find some of the others interesting as well): "Joewisc": I am sure that there are...

As you will see from my Post (made before I became aware of your Thread here), I fully agree with you that obtaining and following the factory guidelines is extremely important. You should be congratulated for starting this Thread here.

 

[Cyrano]

If you have a striker fired automatic pistol (like my Hammerli/Walther Olympia 22 short), how do you get it uncocked after firing except by "dry firing" it?

 

[Cpo1944]

safe way to dry fire

Those little plastic dry wall screw anchors work great.
They fit perfectly and will cushion the firing pin fall.
No damage to anything, so click away -No worries.
Jack