J-frame dry-fire- How much is too much?
- Thread starter petepeterson
- Start date
No dry fire, and no grease on any of my guns, thank you. Lube per manufacturer's instructions.
Alk8944
US Veteran
Sure, go ahead and dry fire all you want! You will know how many times was too much when something breaks! The parts most susceptible to damage from dry firing are hammer noses and rivets, frame mounted firing pins and their springs, hammer studs and trigger studs. Yes, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that it does no harm, simply because the poster has never had an issue themself, good for them! Call S&W and they will tell you go ahead and dry fire, they sell parts and repairs!!! Simply read the revolver posts in the various sub-forums and you will find numerous posts about broken parts. For some reason most seem to think that normal firing is what causes breakage necause that is when it is noticed. But how many dry-fire cycles has the gun been through before the breakage occurs?
Think about this. As reported in some posts S&W has taken the position, at least sometimes, that parts breakage is not a warrantee issue but normal wear and tear. Older guns will not be repaired by S&W if parts are not available. Finally, based on posts from this forum parts breakage of Aluminum framed models seem to be more frequent than for steel framed guns, but breakage occurs with both steel and airweight models.
Think about this. As reported in some posts S&W has taken the position, at least sometimes, that parts breakage is not a warrantee issue but normal wear and tear. Older guns will not be repaired by S&W if parts are not available. Finally, based on posts from this forum parts breakage of Aluminum framed models seem to be more frequent than for steel framed guns, but breakage occurs with both steel and airweight models.
Before I load a new gun I dry fire 2000 times cleanig and lube every 500 times. After that it goes to the Range. At home I will do dry fire practice. Empty gun check twice. Start from holster draw shoot at safe target/backstop. If the gun can’t take it, I don’t want it. I’ve done this for the last 40 years with every Revolver I owned. Of corse the Carry Revolvers get dry fired the most.
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Well as expected, opinions are all over the place, here’s mine:
I dry fire a new gun sparingly using snap caps. I probably pull the trigger 50 or so times max. I do this to get the feel of the trigger prior to actual firing. After that, I shoot the gun with real ammo and that’s it, no more dry firing. I look at dry firing like sitting in your driveway revving up your engine to 5k rpm for hours on end.
I dry fire a new gun sparingly using snap caps. I probably pull the trigger 50 or so times max. I do this to get the feel of the trigger prior to actual firing. After that, I shoot the gun with real ammo and that’s it, no more dry firing. I look at dry firing like sitting in your driveway revving up your engine to 5k rpm for hours on end.
The opinions are always all over the place on the do's and don'ts of dry firing. Why not just buy some snap caps for a few bucks, and use them for their intended purpose and not worry if what you ( indefinite ) are doing is OK?
Well, I'll qualify it by saying most of my guns are about 100 years old or more, but even with my newer guns, I don't dry fire. I'll cycle the action with my thumb on the hammer so it doesn't snap down.
Range ammo is generally cheap enough that I'll just it shoot a lot.
Range ammo is generally cheap enough that I'll just it shoot a lot.
ABPOS
Member
I dry fire all of my centerfire guns.
I do have to admit, my last range session I had a round fail to ignite. I don't THINK it was from dry firing and the round could be the blame. I will have to keep an eye on it. Obvously if it keeps happening then I have an issue. This was the first time.
But that's one of the upsides to a revolver. Just keep pulling the trigger if that happens.
Only other thing I did was put a little CLP down the little hole of the trigger on the backside where it meets the frame. I think that helped smooth it some too. I don't think CLP in there will hurt things or gum up too much. But I could be wrong.....
I do have to admit, my last range session I had a round fail to ignite. I don't THINK it was from dry firing and the round could be the blame. I will have to keep an eye on it. Obvously if it keeps happening then I have an issue. This was the first time.
But that's one of the upsides to a revolver. Just keep pulling the trigger if that happens.
Only other thing I did was put a little CLP down the little hole of the trigger on the backside where it meets the frame. I think that helped smooth it some too. I don't think CLP in there will hurt things or gum up too much. But I could be wrong.....
I never dry fire any of my guns. I'm always amused when I see where
someone says that no wear is put on the gun by cycling the action if no
round is fired. When I read the posts about dry firing a revolver thousands
of times I get a mental image of some guy on his couch snapping his gun
at the bad guys on TV and yelling BANG! Boys with toys
someone says that no wear is put on the gun by cycling the action if no
round is fired. When I read the posts about dry firing a revolver thousands
of times I get a mental image of some guy on his couch snapping his gun
at the bad guys on TV and yelling BANG! Boys with toys
photoman
Member
If you don't want your gun to break, just softly place it in the sock drawer and never take it out. Problem solved!
Arquebus357
Member
Dry firing reminds me of another human activity. What's that called again ???
You should see how many times they get dry fired during the assembly process . . .
I never dry fire any of my guns. I'm always amused when I see where
someone says that no wear is put on the gun by cycling the action if no
round is fired. When I read the posts about dry firing a revolver thousands
of times I get a mental image of some guy on his couch snapping his gun
at the bad guys on TV and yelling BANG! Boys with toys
rogerwnuss
Member
How about you swap her the 442 with the already nice trigger, at least until you clean-up the 642.....
LoboGunLeather
US Veteran
The J-frame revolvers feature a coil main spring. In my experience many of these are quite heavy and you can benefit greatly by changing over to a Wolff spring kit. Takes about 10 minutes to change out the rebound spring and main spring. Anyone with a good working knowledge of the S&W revolvers can do it without any damage to the revolver. A gun smith probably has a minimum shop charge, but it shouldn't be prohibitive for such a simple chore.
Only thing I would add to the discussion is a warning against dry firing any rimfire firearm (there are plenty of J-frame .22's out there). Repeatedly driving the firing pin into the chamber rim will eventually damage one or the other, or both.
I wouldn't think it would be the 10,000 or more times I've seen
some posters on here claim. I saw one post about having to
replace snap caps after 25,000 impacts. Some posters brag about
thousands of dry fires and seem to think this makes them the
authority on SD shooting. I really doubt there is much
correlation between snapping a revolver at the TV, lamps etc in
a home and defending yourself at arms length against a deadly
assault in a mall parking lot at night.
When asked by students for my suggestion for a concealed carry gun
I always suggested S&W 642. I would also suggest at least 1,000
practice draws along with dry fire. Of course not all at once, and also
of course after being absolutely, positively, 100% certain the gun was
not loaded. My old 642-1 has been dry fired thousands of times, and
it is very smooth.
I always suggested S&W 642. I would also suggest at least 1,000
practice draws along with dry fire. Of course not all at once, and also
of course after being absolutely, positively, 100% certain the gun was
not loaded. My old 642-1 has been dry fired thousands of times, and
it is very smooth.
Bakebfr480
Member
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Squirt some gunslick in the action and shoot/dry fire it..........It will improve!
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