Dry fire is ok ?

[ongaro]

On a pistal post i was told it is ok to dry fire rifles ! I have always bin told never to dry fire a rifle but ok for pistal .Why is it ok for pistals and not rifles or is it ok for rifles aswell?

 

[B]

Use snap caps. A rifle primer is much harder that a pistol primer. That means the pin need to work harder so it could possibly lead to some issues.

 

[canadiangunuser]

Glocks claim to be safe to dryfire repeatedly, I don't know about other pistols.

The problem with dry firing centre fire is that it can wear out the opening in the bolt which the firing pin protrudes through. In rimfires it can break the firing pin as without a round there is nothing to stop it from hitting the chamber or barrel.

Once in a while is okay, but if you plan to do it often, then get snap caps for sure.

 

[PileBuck]

From Rugers website,

Can I dry fire my Ruger rifle?
Yes. All Ruger rifles can be dry fired without damage, and dry firing can be useful to familiarize the owner with the firearm. However, be sure any firearm is completely unloaded before dry firing!

This may vary from different manufacturers, check the owners manual.

 

[Calum]

Centerfires yes, rimfires no.

 

[Rod]

Each to their own, but I don't dry fire any of my guns. When my friends want to handle one of them, I expect them not to dry fire.

Rod

 

[Splatter]

The vast majority of modern centerfires and rimfires are just fine for extended dry fire on empty chambers.
Ask any of our Canadian biathletes how many times they dry fire to every round of live ammo they use. (the ones I asked agreed about 5-to-1 is right) And those are some rimfires that get serious work-outs.

 

[Calum]

The vast majority of modern centerfires and rimfires are just fine for extended dry fire on empty chambers.
Ask any of our Canadian biathletes how many times they dry fire to every round of live ammo they use. (the ones I asked agreed about 5-to-1 is right) And those are some rimfires that get serious work-outs.

True but keep in mind biathletes are using über expensive rifles that are built for it.

I'd be very careful with dry firing any rimfire, old or modern as the firing pin comes pretty darn close to the chamber wall.