I've talked to gunsmiths who said that they have had to repair S&W revolvers with hammer mounted firing pins where the owner was dry firing them.

Is this true? Would it be detrimental to dry fire such a Smith?

Thanx so much.

I've talked to gunsmiths who said that they have had to repair S&W revolvers with hammer mounted firing pins where the owner was dry firing them.

Is this true? Would it be detrimental to dry fire such a Smith?

Thanx so much.

As far as revolvers go, the S&W factory indicates that all revolvers, with the exception of rimfires (.22cal.) can be dry-fired without ill effect. My understanding is that you can dry fire a rimfire revolver on occasion, but that it should be the exception, rather than the rule.

Regards,

Dave

Truly excessive dry-firing in the tens of thousands will damage the hammer nose and/or the recoil plate where the firing pin comes out. Occasional snapping will not hurt it. I make it a practice to ease the hammer down using my offhand thumb when dry-firing.

I have dry fired some of my guns a thousand times or more to smooth them out. I'm sure others here have dry fired there's even more.

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Dick

I would just go get some snap caps if it were me.

When I was shooting PPC for many years I dry fired thousands of times with my hammer mounted PPC gun with no problems. I still dry fire a lot to stay proficient.

Julian

+1

When SW switched to the frame mounted pins, I called SW factory and asked one of their gunsmiths if dry firing was OK. He said you would have to do it millions of times to hurt them. I was concerned because the Cylinder + Slide firing pins are known to break, and warn against dry firing. I have not heard of SW pins breaking.

If it's a problem I haven't encountered it and I do a lot of dry firing with both frame and hammer mounted firing pins. I use snap caps in my .22s, nothing in my centerfire guns.

I have dry fired the **** out of a few of mine with no problems, but snap caps are cheap insurance if you are worried

Dry firing will not harm the revolver. It is a great way to smooth the action and get used to the trigger. The S&W instruction sheet used to recommend it. It read something to the effect of "practice dry shooting with empty revolver," or words to that effect. The factory web site still recommends it, except for rimfires.

The factory even used to supply a dry fire practice target with their guns.

Here is what their current website says about it-

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.

Well, if dry firing a model 17 will harm it, and the new versions of S&W revolvers have frame mounted firing pins (like the model 17); couldn't one extrapolate that dry firing frame mounted firing pins is not good for the gun?

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ken
SWCA #1959

Toroflow,

I believe the difference here is the fact the Model 17 is a rimfire vs. a centerfire. The rimfire, with a chamber which is still recessed, there is a slim chance of the firing pin striking the chamber rim, that can't happen with a centerfire.

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Non illegitimae carborundum

Correct. It is not the frame mounting of the FP that makes the difference. It is the possibility of the FP striking the rim of the charge hole on the cylinder. That obviously cannot happen with the centerfire. It is not supposed to happen with the rimfire either because of the stop built into the FP, but I guess the tolerances can be such that it could occasionally happen, so S&W does not recommend it with the current guns.

Can someone point me to a source of 22 snap caps?

Bob

I believe that Brownells, and Midway both sell them. Check their websites.

Pachmayr makes .22 rimfire snap caps. I bought mine online, either from Brownells or directly from Pachmayr.

Thanks and thanks to Tim. Until this thread I didn't know such a thing existed. I need to practice double action with my M17 and this is it. Great!

Thanks Bob

Back in the 1950’s I bought a very old .22 revolver that was an unusual name brand to me. It seemed okay until I looked closely at the back of the cylinder and saw the deep (peen) marks from the firing pin striking each cylinder hole with no shell in place. The cartridges were a problem to load and extract until I removed the bur in the chamber. The dips were narrow but deep enough I was surprised it fired okay. The fired shells were not only indented on the outside but bent downward on the lower-side to form a wrinkle when looking sideways.

I read that some semi auto .22 pistols and rifles have safety pins that stop the firing pin before it hit’s the barrel when empty. I dislike having to leave a 22 semi auto cocked in long storage so consider it nice when okay to snap them off. I have read that sometimes a safety pin gets broken or someone cleaning gun forgets to put one back in.

Sometimes I have put a small piece of writing tablet paper on the front of the chamber to see if the firing pin smashes through the paper with one or two hammed drops.

(Lawyer warning - never do this)
Finally I decided to use a fired shell rotated slightly past the previous indentation. That worked very well for releasing hammer spring tension for storing a hammerless semi auto 22. (A purist would never leave an empty shell in a chamber but I am not a purist) So I also began using fired shells to dry fire my 22 revolver. Each time I clicked on all six chambers I opened it up and rotated each shell slightly more than the width of previous indentation. I did not have the type cylinder that was cut inward to surround the head of the shell, but I doubt it would make a difference.

In this day and age of lawsuits no manufacture would ever recommend dry firing on empty rim-fires so I guess I also will not recommend it either. Also never drink alcohol or talk on telephone when dry-firing unless your kids are grown, you are over 50 years old, and can ignore women really well.

I have broken 2 hammer noses (hammer mounted firing pin) on my Model 19 dry firing. Once with snap caps and once without snap caps. It should be noted this was while doing crazy fast border line abusive dry firing (yeah I know, don't say it). I rarely dry fire now except very few slow firers.

The benefit I see in snap caps is not so much protection of the firing pin as more closely approximating the weight of a loaded cylinder when practicing double action. (Yes, I know that changes as soon as the first round is fired, but simulation has its limits) The aluminum A-Zoom caps are pretty good, but even better are deprimed cases with the primer pocket filled flush with silicone gasket-goo and an appropriate weight projectile (seated over inert material the same weight as your preferred powder charge if 5 or 6 grains makes a difference to you). They are also good for reloading and ball-and-dummy drills.

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I need ammo, not a ride.

I got a model 396 a while back and I have dry fired it some but, am wondering if these alloy framed guns with frame mounted firing pins might have problems with extended dry firing. A hard steel firing pin getting smacked into an softer alloy might deform the frame area. It kind of bugs me that I get a tink noise when I do dry fire. Think I am going to avoid it with this gun and make some snap caps for it.

Never dry fire any rimfire, even with empty cases. If you hit the a point that has been contacted, you can still damage the chamber or firing pin.

#4-8 x 7/8 in. Yellow Ribbed Plastic Anchors (100-Piece)

get these at any good hardware store. Under 4 bucks for 100. check the size first but I think this is the one that fits nearly perfect in revolvers (.22).

Small yellow plastic dry wall anchors(size 3?) make perfectly good, cheap 22lr snap caps.

why not save your money and just use a fired, empty .22 case?

Yep. Work perfectly.

S&W says Centerfire revolvers can be dry fired and Rimfire's can not. That said, I use Snap-caps or a spent cartridge for my CF's most of the time anyway. Always for the RF's!

Because if you hit the same spot on the rim more than once, it's no different than not using snap caps.

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Formerly know as Lucky Derby

Third reboot of an 11 year old thread, guys. The OP seems to stop by every July or so, look for him in about 6 weeks.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Man, I hope it's ok for I've been doing it withe the same revolvers for up to 45 years.

I had a gunsmith tell me that sometimes the hole on the recoil shield will get a burr from the firing pin peening the hole. He said it could cause the burr to bury into the primer and cause trouble revolving the cylinder. He said a quick filing with a emery board would fix it. He told me, "Dry fire if you want to."

Dry firing: A good way to smooth out new actions & practice if done right. In the 30+ years I owned a gunsmithing business I saw 1 broken hammer mounted firing pin, it was my gun & bought new. I saw 2-3 boogered firing pin bushings. I repaired countless rimfires w/ peened chambers & a few flattened firing pins. Why would anyone buy an expensive gun but skip snap caps that cost less than $10? They may need to defend themselves & their loved ones w/ these expensive tools they can protect cheaply... Think about it.

Some of you already know yellow drywall anchors make pretty good .22 snap caps.

These are exactly what I've been using for the past 10 or 12 years. I also leave one of them in the chamber of any of my rimfire guns, the ones where I can't just lower the hammer...it allows me to dry fire them, so the gun isn't sitting in a cocked condition for months, or years, on end.

So do fired 22 rimfire cases and the only cost for those is you have to remember to keep them.

Personally...I find that the roughly $4 or $5 that it cost me for 100 of the yellow anchor "snap caps" is money well spent. As opposed to spent brass, the anchors can be snapped hundreds of times, because the plastic does not easily deform, and can survive hundreds of firing pin strikes. Also, they will feed from magazines (most of the time) so I can introduce a "misfire" into the equation for a student, and can observe any flinch or anticipation, which is not possible with spent brass. Finally...it's convenient to peek into the chamber, and see the bright yellow anchor as an obvious indication of status...whereas peeking into the chamber and seeing a brass case, well...you must assume it's a live round, and eject it to verify the status.

Considering that these 100 anchors were purchased 10 or 12 years ago...and that I've given a few out to friends, almost all of my .22s live with them in their chambers, and I still have 40 or so of them in the little box...I'd say it's $4 or $5 well spent. I guess if that's too much of an expense, then the spent brass cases are the next best option.

Over the years I have broken three hammer mounted firing pins. In addition, I had a Ruger Single Six break a frame mounted firing pin. The broken pin worked well without me noticing it until it had peaned each chamber. I removed the burr, and it still works well after more than fifty years after (after I replaced the broken pin which is NOT easy to do.

So, I now NEVER dry fire without snap caps. The tip to use wall anchors as snap caps for rim fires is an excellent one. I couldn't believe how well they fit and worked until I tried it several months ago.

FWIW
Dale53

I’m old school and don’t like to dry fire without snap caps.

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Who are those guys?

My opinion is; I don't care what anybody says about
Dry Firing a Gun, you won't catch me doing it.

I do like the Plastic Anchor idea though!

The Best to you all out there and your Endeavors. Peace.

Attached Images

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Been doing it on hundreds of guns since 1973 with no broken or damaged anything.

Ditto for me, since about 1978. Mine still all go bang.

Never heard or seen that no a S&W Hand Ejector. Seen it first hand on a Colt SAA.

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Formerly know as Lucky Derby

One exception I’ve found is if you have the first generation stainless steel hammer nose, like on. Model 64 no dash. The steel used was brittle and could break. I had that happen to me on my model 64 and I was using snap caps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you guys are hand-loaders, just make some dummy rounds w/out powder nor primers. I fill the primer pockets w/automotive gasket sealer for the hammer to hit. Also easy to spot compared to a live primer. Tried painting the base, but it rubbed off against the recoil shield. I prefer dry-firing with dummy rounds, 'cause the bullet weights make the trigger pull the same as a fully loaded revolver.
Hank M.

I broke a hammer-mounted firing pin while dry firing my used Model 10 (1969/1970 manufacture AFAIK) a few months back. The gun was well-worn when I purchased it. Fired five chambers, and on the sixth I heard a sharp *tink* noise. Looked at the pin afterward and it sheared right off.

I too, broke my model 13-2 firing pin by dry firing. I sent it off to Frank Glen and decided to get a basic trigger job while he replaced my firing pin. Frank told me it appeared to him that my firing pin seemed to break due to it hitting the top portion of the firing pin hole. He added that the early pins where not spring loaded and were susceptible to raising ever since slightly through inertia. He installed a model 66 spring loaded firing pin to prevent this from ever happening again.

I was shocked when I saw the broken pin since I’ve always dry fired my center fired Smiths for decades but evidently, it can happen!

This question seems to pop up all the time. Personally I do not dry fire, but if you are going to, why not just get snap caps, and be done with it?

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Pete
I ain't no fortunate son

And there he was, right on time for his anniversary!

Ammo for M41?

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220