You aren't supposed to dry-fire a rimfire are you? I was helping out with the local cadet unit down at the range and the RO was making each kid dry-fire thier .22 as part of the safety check. Just want to know for sure before I tell the RO he shouldn't do that.
Dry Fire
- Thread starter slicknick
- Start date
I've heard both yes and no answers here on cgn. Some have said that dry firing is perfectly fine and that they have done it hundreds of times, while others strongly believe that dry firing is bad for the gun and that it should only be done when dummy rounds are used. I've done it with my guns, nto that often mind you, but I've still done it and I haven't had any problems (yet).
Most modern .22's can be safely dry fired.
The reason why people say "don't dry fire a .22" is because of the firing pin; as you know it uses the chamber face to hammer the rim of a .22 to ignite. If you dry fire an older .22 the pin will peen the barrel and eventually it will stop firing and you will need to replace the barrel or firing pin.
Most newer .22's will now have a safety pin which prevents the pin from making contact with the chamber face.
To test wether or not your .22's are safe to dry fire you will need to examine the bolt... take a pen and press as hard as you can on the firing pin. If the pin stops shortly have you apply pressure it is safe to dry fire. If the pin moves noticeably then it is not safe to dry fire.
Hope that helps... I know some of the terms I used are not correct
The reason why people say "don't dry fire a .22" is because of the firing pin; as you know it uses the chamber face to hammer the rim of a .22 to ignite. If you dry fire an older .22 the pin will peen the barrel and eventually it will stop firing and you will need to replace the barrel or firing pin.
Most newer .22's will now have a safety pin which prevents the pin from making contact with the chamber face.
To test wether or not your .22's are safe to dry fire you will need to examine the bolt... take a pen and press as hard as you can on the firing pin. If the pin stops shortly have you apply pressure it is safe to dry fire. If the pin moves noticeably then it is not safe to dry fire.
Hope that helps... I know some of the terms I used are not correct
- Location
- Edmonton, AB
What rifles were the cadets using? The .22LR Enfields are NOT dry-fire safe. We had all our rifles into the gunplumbers for that reason. We changed our SOP to cycle three times, and stick a finger into the chamber to feel around before a visual inspection.
My old Cooey gets dry fired all the time, only because I lose count from time to time, and there's no bolt hold-open.
My old Cooey gets dry fired all the time, only because I lose count from time to time, and there's no bolt hold-open.
Just got off the phone with Richard, a gun-smith for CZ. I was curious about dry-firing my particular model, 452-Silhouette, and it turns out that all CZ rimfires have a lug-stop on their firing pin that impacts inside the bolt and stops the firing pin short of the breach face.
He still doesn't like to dry fire his own rimfires, though they have had to do it thousands of times at the factory, on test guns, and he has not seen it ruin any rifles so far.
I asked if he recommended snap caps for dry fire practice and he agree'd, though said re-using discharged rounds is fine as well, so long as you don't use them too many times and that you only use rounds discharged from your own gun, as discharged rounds reshape to the chamber they're fired from.
Hope this helps answer some questions others might have on this subject, I know it did for me.
Cheers,
bcode
He still doesn't like to dry fire his own rimfires, though they have had to do it thousands of times at the factory, on test guns, and he has not seen it ruin any rifles so far.
I asked if he recommended snap caps for dry fire practice and he agree'd, though said re-using discharged rounds is fine as well, so long as you don't use them too many times and that you only use rounds discharged from your own gun, as discharged rounds reshape to the chamber they're fired from.
Hope this helps answer some questions others might have on this subject, I know it did for me.
Cheers,
bcode
- Location
- Newmarket,Ontario
how about the Cooey model 60 & 600?
Which 10/22's, though?
You may be incorrect. I have never been part of canadian forces but in some other places pulling a trigger is one last piece of making rifle safe. It makes sence and when young lads are switching to centrefire rifles in a real world reflex is already there. Rifle is not safe until hammer has dropped. Becomes natural instinct: drop mag, cylce, examine, pull trigger, safety on. Everything in one fluid sequence.
Some target pistols for example have to be closed with brass case in a chamber because they are not safe to dry fire and there is no de-cocking or external hammer. One thing you do not do is storing your thing with cocked hammer.
my 10/22 has been dry fired at least a thousand times. How else do you know you're empty when shooting?
bang bang bang *CLICK* Reload, repeat.
A very simple way to check:
Take a Post-It-Note and rip off a small section that has the sticky backing.
Take said small section and cover the chamber and chamber face. (The part where the firing pin would hit.)
Take a sharpie marker and thoroughly mark the tip of the firing pin.
Dry fire the gun multiple times while marker ink is still wet.
Inspect paper for marker transfer.
Transfer = pin hitting chamber face. Do not dry fire.
No transfer = pin blocker or other safety. Safe to dry fire.
Take a Post-It-Note and rip off a small section that has the sticky backing.
Take said small section and cover the chamber and chamber face. (The part where the firing pin would hit.)
Take a sharpie marker and thoroughly mark the tip of the firing pin.
Dry fire the gun multiple times while marker ink is still wet.
Inspect paper for marker transfer.
Transfer = pin hitting chamber face. Do not dry fire.
No transfer = pin blocker or other safety. Safe to dry fire.
my 10/22 has been dry fired at least a thousand times. How else do you know you're empty when shooting?
bang bang bang *CLICK* Reload, repeat.
You mean you don't count rounds?
