Dry firing

[stevelee24]

I dry fired my 15-22 a few times when i first got it, only after i read the instructions it says DO NOT DRY FIRE.
do you think i could of done any damage as ive not tested it yet i never realised dry firing could do damage

 

[neiljrosen]

A few times won't hurt it. Repeated dry firing will.

 

[stevelee24]

A few times won't hurt it. Repeated dry firing will.

thats good to know
will not be doing it again

what kind of damage does dry firing do out of interest??

 

[ragingyeti]

It could break the firing pin. If your gun still fires, you should be in the clear.

 

[tacticool22]

This has been discussed at length. These firing pins can't break, they are a bar. The old round ones were fragile and could break and they would dent the breech face. Dry fire, don't dry fire, it's your gun, do what you want.

 

[Juvicator]

The pin doesn't reach out of the bolt far enough to touch the breach. The FTF sometime happen because the little half round recess whertr the shell rests gets build up in it and the round is just a hair too far for good inpact, but you can refire sometimes and it works. Take the bolt out press the pin in all the way and measure it. It is shorter than the recess, it can't hit the breach. Dry fire is the same stroke as live fire. The hammer hits it the smae distance reguardless.

 

[Brett248Vista]

The pin doesn't reach out of the bolt far enough to touch the breach. The FTF sometime happen because the little half round recess whertr the shell rests gets build up in it and the round is just a hair too far for good inpact, but you can refire sometimes and it works. Take the bolt out press the pin in all the way and measure it. It is shorter than the recess, it can't hit the breach. Dry fire is the same stroke as live fire. The hammer hits it the smae distance reguardless.

Take your bolt out of your rifle. Push on the firing pin with a punch or a screw driver. I think you may find that it can touch the chamber.

 

[Juvicator]

Did that, pin is .0131 shorter than the recess the shell fits into, on mine anyway. I have worked around machinery all my life, and don't hold a lot of stock in the "don't dry fire" school of thinking. We have huge punch presses that have thousands of pounds per sq inch blasting steel punches thru some tough material up to .375 thick. They last years, hard for me to think that a steel bar being pooted along from spring power would just obliterate the pin. I think it is more of a safety practice "don't dry fire because you may screw up and have a loaded gun"

 

[Dixie fix]

Did that, pin is .0131 shorter than the recess the shell fits into, on mine anyway. I have worked around machinery all my life, and don't hold a lot of stock in the "don't dry fire" school of thinking. We have huge punch presses that have thousands of pounds per sq inch blasting steel punches thru some tough material up to .375 thick. They last years, hard for me to think that a steel bar being pooted along from spring power would just obliterate the pin. I think it is more of a safety practice "don't dry fire because you may screw up and have a loaded gun"

i concur

 

[Brett248Vista]

Did that, pin is .0131 shorter than the recess the shell fits into, on mine anyway. I have worked around machinery all my life, and don't hold a lot of stock in the "don't dry fire" school of thinking. We have huge punch presses that have thousands of pounds per sq inch blasting steel punches thru some tough material up to .375 thick. They last years, hard for me to think that a steel bar being pooted along from spring power would just obliterate the pin. I think it is more of a safety practice "don't dry fire because you may screw up and have a loaded gun"

Actually the "Don't dry fire" came about from Poor Metallurgy and also the fact that some rifles can and will nick the chamber area. I know you work in the machining field so you can appreciate how much better materials have gotten. On an old rifle I could easily see the firing pin fracturing because it's either too hard, or has too many inclusions of foreign matter.

I don't think firing pins shear these days.. But again you could nick the chamber on certain weapons and not even all 15-22's are the same.. Some firing pins do extend past the outer dimensions of the bolt.

 

[HalfSwiss]

Did that, pin is .0131 shorter than the recess the shell fits into, on mine anyway. I have worked around machinery all my life, and don't hold a lot of stock in the "don't dry fire" school of thinking. We have huge punch presses that have thousands of pounds per sq inch blasting steel punches thru some tough material up to .375 thick. They last years, hard for me to think that a steel bar being pooted along from spring power would just obliterate the pin. I think it is more of a safety practice "don't dry fire because you may screw up and have a loaded gun"

Juvicator, I think you are doing a static measurement. When that hammer hits the rear of the firing pin, there is an initial impulse that can send the firing pin further than the measurement you took. That is if there is not a firing pin stop built into the design. I don't know if there is or not on the 15-22, but I do know that I have had to take a top brand 22 to a gunsmith to have the burrs taken out of all six chambers in the cyclinder of a gun advertised to be OK to dry fire. Also, I don't know what the manufacturing variations might be on the firing pin length for a 15-22. In this case, the manual says don't and live firing is a heck of a lot more fun for practicing trigger control.

As for your comment on safety, I agree with you.

 

[Juvicator]

No I get all that, old metal working was, well old. The pin on my bolt is attached to or is the same part as the cone shaped striking pad the hammer pops, when fully pressed mine will not go past the recess or to the face of breach. I've heard of pins getting cracked or shearing from hot loads, but that usualy causes other problems as well.

 

[guy22]

I have ~ 20 guns. Have dried fired them all. Usually to judge the trigger pull. I don't think dry firing a modern rifle, pistol, or shotgun a few times hurts at all.
Can't really think of why someone would repeatedly dry fire? Wet fire is so much more fun!

Guy22

 

[CBR240]

....
Can't really think of why someone would repeatedly dry fire? Wet fire is so much more fun!
Guy22

Because ... my x-wife would not let me use live ammo in the living room; so I had to buy snap caps for my 9mm pistol.

When I was young (that was 40 years ago), I broke the firing pin of my 1956 Marlin Model 60 bolt action rifle, by dry firing it. I still have the gun (it's had a few firing pins over the years), and it still has a dent in the chamber. I think these experiences left some of us overly worried about dry firing rimfire guns.

I don't thnk these issues exist with most modern guns, but S&W says no dry firing with the 15-22, so I try not to.

 

[Big Philly]

I'm 25 years old, I have been dri-firing all my Guns since i got them at 17. i have not had one problem with broke/bent firing pins, or messed up gouged receiver face. Guns are built strong then they were 20 years ago. I have dri-fired my 22/45 over 1000 times. Unless S&W are making weak firing pins i don't see why u cant.

 

[HalfSwiss]

Big Philly, the 22/45 has a firing pin stop pin that runs across the bolt so it is designed to not have that problem. BTW, they built some very nice guns 20 years ago. I have some very strong Mausers from 60 years ago. It's the design that normally determines if it's OK to dry fire or not. S&W 15-22 manual says don't so I don't. But then, dry firing isn't something that I do anyhow.

 

[corpulent]

Couldn't you use a spent casing?

 

[mewisemajic]

Couldn't you use a spent casing?

Yep. That's what I do when I want to dry fire my 15-22.

 

[Fabzzblood]

i was using spent casings until one got jammed in the chamber. looks like it bends them up to much

 

[Docholliday87]

It's funny that you ALWAYS hear don't dry fire but I've spent many many hours stuck in crappy firing positions on the grassy knoll of MCAS Camp Pendleton dry firing the hell out of an M16A2 or on my last trip to the range the A4. Upon asking about the don't dry fire rule I was quickly told to "Shut the hell up and keep snapping in." All you can really say then is Roger that Gunney and keep on keeping on.