Dry fire by accident

Emshey

Emshey

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Hey I have a SDASS Martial 12 gauge shotgun and I accidentally dry fired it once I was wondering can this do any damage? Been hearing mixed response when researching it, I'm hoping I have nothing to worry about the gun is brand new and was only done once. Any feedback greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
are there 12g snap caps? maybe that'd be a good thing to use as a precaution....but I'm a noob so I really don't know wtf I'm talking about.
 
While I take no responsibility if you bugger your gun up, 1 dry fire? No damage. 5 Dry fires? No damage. 50 Dry fires over the firearms life, no damage. 100 consecutively? BAD IDEA.

The big problem from dry firing comes from free floating firing pins, the SKS in particular. Enough dry firing and you WILL stick that pin in the forward position. Spring loaded firing pins, unless you've got a real Weighty hammer, or a Lightweight/soft firing pin, you should be ok, just don't go nuts with it. I've never seen a gun break from dry firing.

Of course, I've also never seen a round Hangfire (I've seen duds, bad primers, but never a delayed fire). Doesn't mean I'm gonna look in the muzzle to see what's wrong.
 
Periodic dryfiring should be no problem. Snapcaps are an excellent idea - they absorb the energy of the firing pin strike.
 
in a center fire the firing pin hits nothing if you did it thoasands of times it could weaken the pin and have it break but realisicly it won't break On a rimfire it could
 
For most of us, the reality is that regardless of what the manual says or the unofficial SOP is, we cringe when a firearm is dry fired. I don't do it even though I know that most of my firearms would not be harmed in any way shape or form from doing it. I just operate on the why risk it protocol.
 
it will only damage it if you dry fire it a hell of alot of times. i put it to the test with a old (was told ~1960's) stevens 311 SxS 12g that i had. i dry fired it probly about 300 times each day (about 4 days a week) after about a year and a half the one hammer finaly broke so i baught a new set for it! the whole "dry firing" stuff mostly just referes to rimfires since lots of them will hit the rim of the barrel/chamber and that is what will cause damage to the firing pin and chamber. other that that its a load of BS unless you do what i did.
 
There's a good selection on 12G snapcaps around on the market they're about $5 each, I got a bunch I use to make sure everything's in place after taking the gun apart. Just avoid the translucent ones with the spring, they've been recalled.
 
My dad got an old Remington 22, I think it had been dry fired once per magazine before he got it, because with certain types of ammo the rim would deform but not set off the round.

Dry firing wore the firing pin and the face of the barrel down a little, pushing things away from the ideal spec. After a little labor intensive 'smithing, and a new custom machined and heat treated firing pin, we got it working like a champ. Still, for the amount of rounds it had through it, and the amount of time it spent in someone's closet, it shouldn't have needed all that work.

Avoid dry firing if you can in general. Count rounds. But the odd time isn't going to ruin your new baby... :D
 
I personally don't have any issues with dryfiring a centerfire, however, I've read somewhere that you shouldn't dry fire a shotgun, even though it's CF...I don't see the difference myself. Any truth?
 
because the edge of the .22 chamber is the anvil against the firing pin, i think something less important to me should be in between. So, I made a snap cap for it.

found something like a test round for operation (feeding, extraction) but listed as NOT a snapcap, so i didn't buy them.

I pried out a slug and burnt the powder, snapped the rim. At least with my .22 bolt action, I can recock simply by lifting the handle.

As far as centerfire's concerned, I'd really like to find some nice snap caps... spring loaded fake primer for instance. The deformation of the primer, where the pin strikes is my problem with homemade snapcaps; eventually that part is bashed out and no longer supports the firing pin.
 
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