Dry fire.

My .22lr lever henry gets dry fired every time i empty out the magazine. I just cant keep track of rounds fired (16 in the tube) Is that a problem you think? Is there an easy way to know you've fired the lost round?
 
i think it depends on the gun.
i just picked up the new ruger american rimfire and right in the manual it says you can dry fire them.

so, ya, gun dependent id guess.
 
I sent an email to Henry about dry firing my H0001L and they recommended not to excessively dry fire it. When I took my bolt appart, I did see that there is a stop pin that should prevent the firing pin from hitting the barrel face. You will be fine. You would notice a small divot on the barrel face just above the chamber hole if the firing pin was hitting it.

My .22lr lever henry gets dry fired every time i empty out the magazine. I just cant keep track of rounds fired (16 in the tube) Is that a problem you think? Is there an easy way to know you've fired the lost round?
 
Just keep a few empty shell cases and drop the trigger on them , that's what I do , but MAKE SURE there EMPTY ! I usually do this in the field just to be safe .
 
I just received my new Henry pump 22. The Henry forum on rim fire central state not to dry fire.On taking it apart and getting familiarized with the gun the front of the bolt is recessed to accommodate head space dimensions.The firing pin travel is controlled by the distance the hammer can travel forward till it drives the pin forward flush with the rear of the bolt assembly.When the hammer reaches maximum travel it is stopped by the rear width of the bolt,thus stopping any further travel on the firing pin.When the pin is in this forward position the striker end of the pin does not protrude past the outer face of the front bolt face.With the pin all the way forward it is still not flush with the flat surface of the bolt due to head space requirements it is impossible to have the pin strike the chamber face as there is a clearance there.This would make it safe to dry fire that firearm.The previous post from a member about Henry's reply would confirm this clearance.Their statement its safe but about how many times is not really understood.All of these observations can be confirmed without gun tear down.Cycle the bolt back and move it forward about 1/2" you can then push the firing pin forward with a pencil to its max forward position flush with rear bolt surface and observe it still has a minus dimension to the make it flush to front bolt surface.Don't have a lever gun to also confirm this guy some fellow gun nut will be able to confirm this .

R
 
If you do some research you will find a metric ton of BS on the subject of dry-firing. There are guys who can "prove" that dry-firing a gun in which the firing pin strikes nothing is still undesireable because of mysterious stuff like "crystallization" of the metal or some such voodoo. If guns really were as fragile as some claims, we could never use harsh language around them for fear of offending and weakening the metal by altering its molecular structure.:)

ronnie01, if you are concerned about dry-firing your Henry once at the end of each magazine loading (and I think that's probably nothing to worry about...) you could do what we did as kids with our tube-magazine Cooeys. My dad was concerned about dry-firing as well...he simply had us load a spent .22lr case as the last round inserted into the tube i.e. the round closest to the muzzle. You lost one round of capacity, but you gained an "alarm clock" that alerted you when you were empty, with no dry-firing occurring.

If your concern is dry-fire for practice, just be aware that putting an empty case into the chamber and then cocking the hammer manually for numerous trigger pulls will mangle that case up so that removal can be difficult, and I would think that after a very few strikes of the firing pin the metal of the cartridge case has been deformed so much that it isn't achieving anything in terms of cushioning the firing pin fall. Using a plastic drywall anchor (flexible) might help here...I don't know. Maybe check the condition of it after a few trigger pulls, and keep monitoring it for deterioration. Even if you got only a few pulls per anchor, they're cheap.

I've gotta get out of this thread now before I learn something else...this morning I found out what the third button on the Keurig is for, so I'm done for the day...:)
 
........Cycle the bolt back and move it forward about 1/2" you can then push the firing pin forward with a pencil to its max forward position flush with rear bolt surface and observe it still has a minus dimension to the make it flush to front bolt surface. Don't have a lever gun to also confirm this guy some fellow gun nut will be able to confirm this .

R

I just did the same thing with my lever gun and it's the same situation as you found. When pushed ahead the firing pin is still a little shy of the front face of the bolt.

When I see any gun listed as safe to dry fire I don't take this to mean that I can dry fire thousands upon thousands of times with no risk. To me it means that it's OK when I get to the end of the magazine and drop the hammer that last time for the "CLICK" that says I'm empty.

To those that think it's all or nothing I'd suggest you read up and try peening a rivet or learn a bit about metal working. Ever look at a the end of a well used cold chisel or pin punch in a heavy duty shop? On the well used chisels the ends are peened and mushroomed over from any years of hitting the end of the chisel with a hammer. And while the hitting end is tempered back to a softer condition than the tip it's still harder than mild steel. Yet it deforms into that mushroom shaped lump. It's no different with dry firing. When done enough times one should not be surprised if something gives. Call it crystallization or just peening or whatever. And obviously some guns are more tolerant than others. But in the end I just prefer not to make a steady habit of it.

Of course then there's the guns which don't have a controlled travel firing pin. Those simply are not OK to dry fire at all.
 
If you do some research you will find a metric ton of BS on the subject of dry-firing. There are guys who can "prove" that dry-firing a gun in which the firing pin strikes nothing is still undesireable because of mysterious stuff like "crystallization" of the metal or some such voodoo. If guns really were as fragile as some claims, we could never use harsh language around them for fear of offending and weakening the metal by altering its molecular structure.:)

ronnie01, if you are concerned about dry-firing your Henry once at the end of each magazine loading (and I think that's probably nothing to worry about...) you could do what we did as kids with our tube-magazine Cooeys. My dad was concerned about dry-firing as well...he simply had us load a spent .22lr case as the last round inserted into the tube i.e. the round closest to the muzzle. You lost one round of capacity, but you gained an "alarm clock" that alerted you when you were empty, with no dry-firing occurring.

If your concern is dry-fire for practice, just be aware that putting an empty case into the chamber and then cocking the hammer manually for numerous trigger pulls will mangle that case up so that removal can be difficult, and I would think that after a very few strikes of the firing pin the metal of the cartridge case has been deformed so much that it isn't achieving anything in terms of cushioning the firing pin fall. Using a plastic drywall anchor (flexible) might help here...I don't know. Maybe check the condition of it after a few trigger pulls, and keep monitoring it for deterioration. Even if you got only a few pulls per anchor, they're cheap.

I've gotta get out of this thread now before I learn something else...this morning I found out what the third button on the Keurig is for, so I'm done for the day...:)

I have no concerns at all about dry fire on that pump just passing info along so others can discover and not just rely on what some posters say that the dry fire will peen the chamber.

I also have numerous other 22's and really haven't found any peened or marked chambers as of yet. Amazing what can become an urban legend about dry fires isn't it!! "LOL"

R
 
I am a Post Press Finisher (I make books and News papers) we have a Spring about the same as a firing pin spring and kept under pressure, if another part of the system was to brake this pin closes down and stops the part from crashing into the rest of the system. This spring has been under pressure for about 37 years when the safety system caught because that spring did what it was meant to after being put under pressure in 1977.

So yes springs can be kept under pressure of a very very long time.
 
I bought a used Walther TPH in REALLY nice overall condition -really cheap given the overall condition but about one out of three rounds would not fire - bottom line was - some previous owner had dry fired it enough to create a "divet" in the barrel face - popped the barrel out - milled a "smidge" off the face to remove the divet - gun works flawlessly. My general policy is not to dry fire a .22 rim fire but to each his own ...FWIW
 
I bought a used Walther TPH in REALLY nice overall condition -really cheap given the overall condition but about one out of three rounds would not fire - bottom line was - some previous owner had dry fired it enough to create a "divet" in the barrel face - popped the barrel out - milled a "smidge" off the face to remove the divet - gun works flawlessly. My general policy is not to dry fire a .22 rim fire but to each his own ...FWIW

So how do you do "proper practice" then?
 
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