poll: to dry fire or not to dry fire

[timjake]

I dry fire my M&P40, but not my M&P22.

 

[alwslate]

I never dry fire any of my guns. I can't see any purpose whatsoever in
dry firing guns other than putting unnessessary wear and tear on them.
I tend to baby my toys, even those that have a reputation for
toughness. If they are tough then they will just last that much longer if I don't abuse them.

 

[S&WForty]

Someone posted in a (Shield?) thread several weeks ago that they have dry fired the pistol probably 50 times for every actual round fired. With no issues.
Now that my trigger seems to have gotten smoother, I won't be dry firing as much, but I'll still do it while practicing.

I seem to group better when I have dry fire practiced immediately before a range trip.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[rwsmith]

I think that at one time it was true

I think that older guns and probably old SA guns broke firing pins when dry fired. I think the mechanism was improved at some point and doesn't happen now unless there is a misfit in the hammer/pin/bushing mechanism. I'll bet that there are very few people that have actually broken a firing pin in a center fire pistol due to dry firing. Maybe we should make another poll.

 

[Mac59]

That's what snap caps are for.

All the gunsmiths I know tell me that the springs don't like the wear they receive from a lot of dry fire. I use snap caps for practice firing.

 

[beach elvis]

Not my 617 but on the Ruger MK III, it's required as part of the field-stripping process. I still wince when I do it.

 

[kamloops67]

my s&ws not very often ,but my new vaqueros get hammered ,no snap caps either after 2 yrs and 30000 +dryfires one of the guns gave up a transfer bar but the others are still going strong .a transfer bar is about 20 bucks and isnt all that hard to install...rugers are tough.
when im inspecting a gun at a show or store i put my off hand thumb under the hammer to test trigger, usually the clerk or owner will tell me dont bother, but its an easy way to show respect for the firearm and owner

 

[snubbyfan]

I practice dry firing my snubby almost daily. I use a laser for trigger control practice by pointing the red dot at my wife's favorite stuffed Pooh Bear's belly and keeping it there as I pull the trigger.
I also use the laser for point shooting and both eyes open practice. I'll point the gun at something, activate the laser and see how close I am.

 

[Duster340]

Yes except my rimfires.

 

[semperfi71]

I dry-fired, very minimally, a M28-2 a few years ago and it peened out the firing pin orifice to the point that any safe magnum load fired in it would extrude the primers and tie up the cylinder.

I use snap caps and still will only dry-fire to test function. I get to shoot enough that dry-firing is not necessary.

 

[jmg1911]

Of course! Dry fire is the best way to learn trigger control. I have been shooting for 50+ year and still have to go back to dry firing occasionally when my groups open up. It also helps maintain a proper, consistant grip.