Dry fire a "Pre 17" 22 5 Screw ??

[G-Mac]

I've always believed it was OK to dry-fire any centerfire S&W revolver. In fact, have heard that it's good for the gun to do so....smooths out the action. I've also believed....and I'm sure that it came from being a member here....that you should not dry-fire the rimfires. Sooo....I have never done that. No reason to start now. I think Lee's post was very informative. How can you argue with the people that made the gun?

 

[Green Frog]

Would you dry-fire this?

Not in this lifetime!!
Froggie

 

[handejector]

Would you dry-fire this?

Sure. Ship it to me.

 

[ms]

From our past

Lots of info here: Dry fire Model 17?

 

[JudgeColt]

I was going to make my case again that dry-firing will not damage the chamber of any modern rimfire if the firing pin is not out of specification, but I made it in the thread ms just linked.

Firing pin breakage is the real danger, not chamber damage.

 

[Inland7-45]

Dry Firing

I stopped dry firing my S&W and Colt revolvers years ago. The reason was a broken firing pin on a used Colt Cobra and a Model 27 that I bought new. Both guns had been dry fired.

I now use snap caps for center fire and empty cases for .22s.

I no longer care to risk breaking a firing pin on any of my Colts or S&Ws. Since factory repairs are no longer an option on older Colts and S&W will not no work on guns made before a certain date I want to avoid breaking anything.

Another thing to be aware of is the possibility of damage to the hammer itself on guns with wide spur target hammers. I have seen an early Model 29 -2 and K-22 with a Target Hammer have the hammer spurs fall off. Both guns belonged to a fellow club member who dry fired the guns frequently.

This was in the early 70's and we were fortunate enough to have a club member who worked in the service department at S&W at that time. The owner of the two guns was able to get the hammers replaced and thanks to our friend on the inside the work was turned around quickly. According to our friend the wide spur hammers had a stress area built in to the point where the spur met the hammer. Without a primed case or a snap cap to cushion the blow the repeated shock of the hammer hitting the frame would over time cause the metal at this point to crystalize and the spur would break off. According to the owner the first spur fell of during a dry fire session and the second spur detached during live fire. Apparently the damage was already done and the spur fell of after the practice of dry firing had stopped.

I am not sure if the factory still has forged hammers for repairs. I do know that it would be costly to replace a hammer even if the part is still available. My vote on dry firing an older Colt or S&W is not to do it.

Is there anyone on the forum who also knows of cases where dry firing has damaged a hammer?

 

[rct269]

I hesitate to think where we would be without Old Wives and their tales?

Ralph Tremaine