Do you know first hand of breaking a firing pin by dry firing (poll)

[M3Stuart]

Have you ever owned a Rossi revolver? They are so well designed, that you only have to dry fire it a couple times to break the hammer nose off. It's a reeeeeall bonus!

I haven't owned a Rossi since.

 

[Texas Star]

Well, maybe not often. I broke the hammer nose on a S&W Model 64-3, SN 1D513XX, from the legendary Bangor Punta era. I assume my excessive dry firing was responsible.

It was a cheap and easy fix at the local gunsmth.

But what if it'd happened in the middle of a gunfight?

I think both Beretta and CZ warn against dry firing of their 9mm autos. I have twice broken firing pin stops on Colt (not copies) of the 1911 pistol. One was a WW II Lend-Lease gun and the other was a postwar commercial Govt. Model.

I practice operating the action of my Rem. M-870, but don't pull the trigger until the session is finished and the gun is put away.

I don't often dry-fire any guns meant for serious protection or for use in remote areas where a gunsmith would be a long way off.

 

[deanodog]

I broke one dry firing a model 10-5 police trade-in. Was it cracked before.....who knows.

 

[feralmerril]

This is a old friends story, not mine. He was a retired combat veteran of both world war two and korea and was a guard with me. He said was going through a village in korea when a solider rose up in front of him to shoot him. The gun misfired, he and /or his guys shot him and they took the rifle apart to see what happened. I dont remember if it was a SKS or a Ak 47 type. It had a broken fireing pin.

 

[CoMF]

I've had it happen to a M19 snub. Twice. With snap caps. Nice as it was otherwise, I had no regrets selling it at that point.

I suspect it might have been a fitment issue.

 

[imashooter2]

I had a Cylinder and Slide Extra Length pin break while using snap caps. Never had a factory S&W pin break... many thousands of pulls with and without snap caps.

 

[Old 44 Guy]

I had a male teacher in High School that was in the Battle of the Bulge. He told us ROTC students about the Carbines with broken firing pins then. And the soldiers peeing on their M-1's keep them going in the bitter cold. Later on I broke the firing pin in a Carbine I owned. I dry fired it & is the only firing pin I ever broke in over 60 years

 

[rwsmith]

Preliminary result

It appears that there are enough broken firing pins to say that this is not just an old shooter's tale.

The last time I saw a broken firing pin was on a gun that was very old when I was a kid (I'm 57 now) and I'm not sure what the cause was.

I probably should have specified modern center-fire handguns, but this is good enough to convince me.

Oh, and thanks for the stories. They put things in perspective and are a fun read, too. (Peeing on M-1s?)

 

[gregintenn]

Yup, the old Tokarev (CZ 52) pistols were known for it.

That's the only gun I've ever broken a firing pin on.

I don't know about yours, but my CZ 52's hammer release lever performs the same action as the trigger.

 

[rwsmith]

That's easy

But what if it'd happened in the middle of a gunfight?

You just tell the other guy that you'll have to get back to him when you get the gun fixed. Kinda like a rain check.

 

[adwjc]

In 1985 I was standing next to a guy on the firing line at a training course, when his brand new model 64 lost the nose of its (hammer mounted) firing pin while in use.This was in the first ten or so rounds fired. It was the only pin failure I have ever seen in a S&W revolver (at the time we worked in a 1200 member PD where everyone was armed w/ revolvers).

My own firing pin that broke (while dry firing) was in a Bauer .25 (Stainless) it still fired with the tip broken off.

 

[gregintenn]

But what if it'd happened in the middle of a gunfight?

Probably not going to make much difference if you're dry firing in a gunfight.

 

[Alpo]

Stevens 311 12 gauge SxS. Broke both of them, dry-firing. Broke one, and when the gunsmith had it apart to replace it, he called me and told me the other one was cracked.

 

[Cyrano]

I'ved broken two. The first was on a CZ 52 pistol. One day it wouldn't fire. I looked at it and determined the tip of the firing pin was missing. I replaced the pin, but did something wrong, for now if you operate the hammer drop the pistol fires.

The oher was a Savage 1907 pistol. Broke the tip of the firing pin dry firing it. It's a bear to replace. The firing pin (sriker, actually) and about a 2 inch long muscular spring have to go into a 1 inch long hole. No fun. I don't dry fire this one any more.

 

[Bullzaye]

I purchased a brand new Grendel P-10 in 1988 (give or take a year), and about the 3rd time I took it shooting, I accidentally dry fired it when the slide failed to lock back after the last round. There was a "click", and when I opened the action, about a half inch of firing pin fell out of the gun. It had a hollow, light weight firing pin. I returned it to the factory with an explanation, they fixed it and returned it with a note chastising me for having dry fired it, explaining that because of its design, it should NEVER be dry fired.

Also, my Father came back from WWII with an Astra .25 ACP pistol (along with a P-38 and a Radom.) At some point after the war, the firing pin broke. I can't say for sure what its history had been, or what the cause of the broken firing pin might have been.

Tim

 

[jimmyj]

Wimp Jimmy has broken the firing pins by drying firing in:
1. German Luger
2. Enfield Tanker Model .38 Revolver
3. Taurus Model PT 92 9mm Pistol
4. Colt Agent .38spl Revolver

Now in the present I do not "Dry Fire" firearms, I now just lose gun parts.

 

[psquarejr]

I have seen it once on a new Ruger SR22....22's are a NO-NO

 

[Stevie]

Winchester 94 and Marlin 336 will both break firing pins from dry-firing...fine shotguns..Star B pistols...CZ52 pistols...many rimfires can break pins or damage chambers.

Lots of guns can be damaged by dry-firing

 

[GKC]

It's common on Ruger P345s if the gun is dry fired without a magazine in place. On this particular pistol, when the magazine is not in the gun the firing pin is blocked but the trigger will still release the hammer. This is not like other guns with magazine disconnect safeties, even other Rugers (like the LC9), in which the trigger will not even operate when there is no magazine in the gun.

When you dry fire a P345 without a magazine in the pistol, it will damage the firing pin...sometimes with just a few dry fires. Prospective P345 buyers should definitely check this when buying used or display guns. IMO, this is a poor design on Ruger's part. The P345 has now been discontinued, but I wondered why they didn't redesign it when it was in production, after the problem was realized, instead of revising the owner's manual to advise against dry firing without a magazine in place. (I guess that was cheaper.)

 

[hannstv]

I broke the firing pin on a Star 45 cal. I bought new in the 70's, never had been shot. Still have the gun, still hasn't been shot.