Breaking firearms for living...

rustysdream

rustysdream

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Estevan, Saskatchewan
This really bugs me....
I just picked up a .22 rifle at Gagnon's Sports, Oshawa, a few days ago. After completing the backdoor registry (....), the old guy behind the counter (Wayne) dry fired my brand new rifle before putting it in the box. My comment that he (someone who sells firearms) should know not to dry fire a rimfire rifle, was completely ignored. I must assume that he's been doing it for all his life without even thinking about the damage he can cause and he simply doesn't care. :mad:
So, watch out if you're shopping at Gagnon's.
 
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some guns are safe to dry fire. i get where your coming from. Its like buying a new diesel truck and the salesmen dont wait for the glo-plug relay and just fires it up cold.
 
What type of rifle? Some rimfires are fine to dry fire. I expect many semi auto rimfires get dry fired considerably through their lifetime, as the magazine get's emptied and the shooter doesn't know it, and takes another shot.
 
It's a bolt action .22, so there's really no reason or good excuse to dry fire it. A salesman should know better.
I know that my rifle was not destroyed... But it's annoying when someone behind the counter is ignorant.
 
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Sorry, but I think you've gotten your panties in a knot over nothing.

If you can't safely dry fire a gun, don't trust it with live ammo.

If you look at the way most modern rimfire rifles are made, the old fear of breaking the firing pin or raising a burr on the chamber are more myth than reality.

Pulling the trigger on a visually inspected chamber is about as definative a means of proving it safe as I can imagine.
 
Wow. We have plenty of real issues of damage to discuss here, I understand where you are coming from, but,
emotion_overreaction.jpg

I don't see it worth getting pissy about.
 
Canuck223 said:
Sorry, but I think you've gotten your panties in a knot over nothing.

If you can't safely dry fire a gun, don't trust it with live ammo.
Pulling the trigger on a visually inspected chamber is about as definative a means of proving it safe as I can imagine.
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Without commenting on your first sentence, I do agree with the second part of your reply. I dry fire my centerfire firearms all the time, not only for safety reason but simply for releasing the pressure of the firing pin spring and of course, when measuring trigger pull.
However, when it comes to rimfire, I either use dummy rounds or I pull the trigger before I slowly closing the bolt.
At least, I do my part not to damage my firearms.
 
rustysdream said:
Without commenting on your first sentence, I do agree with the second part of your reply. I dry fire my centerfire firearms all the time, not only for safety reason but simply for releasing the pressure of the firing pin spring and of course, when measuring trigger pull.
However, when it comes to rimfire, I either use dummy rounds or I pull the trigger before I slowly close the bolt.
At least, I do my part not to damage my firearms.
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The main reason I have always advocated an empty chamber vs a dummy round is the fear of introducing a live round by mistake. While it is easier today to get the dissimilar material dummy rounds for centerfire and shotguns, rimfire remain a problem.

If I ever found myself with a rimfire that I didn't want to risk dry firing, and couldn't decock by pulling the trigger while lowering the bolt, I'd probably just plan on replacing the mainspring or cocking spring early.
 
I can say that its certainly not the best idea to dry-fire a rimfire, as the firing pin doesn't hit the "void" or center of the bore, but the edge of the bore. I had a single action rimfire revolver that certainly had been dry-fired alot, because where the firing pin hit the edge of each cylinder , it actually deformed each cylinder slightly, to the point where loading/extraction became an issue. I had to file down each cylinder edge so that the rounds would not scrape when loaded or extracted.
And the pin in the revolver was certainly a replacement, and on its last legs at that, as it appeared to be wider than normal, obviously compressed from hitting steel rather than brass.
Yet there had been less than 800 rounds down the barrel since new. I bought it off the original owner.
 
I have no opinion either way... I've been known to dry fire my firearms, but knowing how some people don't like it, he really shouldn't have done it to your new firearm. I equate it more to a car salesman double gripping the door of your new car and slamming it as hard as he can... Nothing really will happen but none the less, we'd all be pissy about it. The dealers i deal with have never done it to my purchases or when they were showing firearms.
 
Most modern rimfires are fine to dry fire. Most, not all, but most have a stop built in so the pin does not protrude far enough to peen the chamber, and the stops and pins are made of very very hard metal that will tolerate thousands of dry firings before there is any perceivable wear that even the best instruments could measure. I dry fired my CZ 452 about a dozen times last night while installing a YoDave kit. No big deal for one dry firing, and its especially not worth mentioning names and trying to drag an employee through the mud over it.
 
If you had felt strongly enough about it, you may have wanted to ask him if he had another and taken that one, then expressed the concern with the owner.

As for a definitive check for an empty chamber - a visual check is definitive !
 
regulate34 said:
some guns are safe to dry fire. i get where your coming from. Its like buying a new diesel truck and the salesmen dont wait for the glo-plug relay and just fires it up cold.
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Sorry but unless it's cold out I ignore the diesel glow plugs too; unless they are needed it's a waste of time.
But dry firing a rimfire? Not done. On some the pin will actually strike the side of the chamber entrance and marr it.
 
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