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Is Dry Fire Okay?

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dry fire semi-auto sig sauer smith and wesson
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4.8K views 34 replies 11 participants last post by  Wolfspirit  
M
#1 ·
My wife and I just bought our first pistols, so we are new to this.
Sig Sauer P365 for her.
Smith & Wesson M&P9 M2.0 4" bbl for me.

At CCW last month, the instructor told us NOT to dry fire the .22 revolvers we borrowed from a family member. The instructor said it was bad for the revolver. However, is that true for our new semi-auto pistols? Should we avoid dry firing them during practice?
 
#4 ·
I have found differing opinions on that, in my tours of the Internet. The safest way to dry fire is with "Snap Caps" (available at your LGS or on Amazon). You can get them in all handgun calibers.
 
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#5 ·
Should be fine to dry fire centerfire pistols. I actually have a .22 lr revolver that it is OK to dry fire but it's a 1960's High Standard Double Nine.

And I have a .22lr Glock 44 that it is OK to dry fire.

So you really have to look at each gun and see what the mechanism is and look at the manual to see what it says if you have the manual.
 
#9 ·
For .22 rimfire, use #4-6 x 7/8" drywall anchors
243854


For centerfire, dryfire is normally OK, but snapcaps are cheaper than replacing gun parts.

With the exception of Ruger .22 pistols (which are made to be dry fired) the firing pin on some will hit the edge of the chamber mouth, denting it, and causing fail-to-fire.
 
#10 ·
m_ridzon,

You never want to Dry Fire any 22 cal Weapon. The reason is the 22 Ammunition is detonated by the Firing Pin being square striking only the outside Rim of the Case. If there is no round in the Chamber the square Firing pin strikes the actual metal on the Barrel Chamber Mouth. This in time can cause the Metal there to flow, flare and be damaged since they is no Brass Lip to absorb the strike and not stopping the Firing Pin. "If that makes sense?_

As far as your 9mm Pistol I would suggest Carlson's Snap Caps they come in a pack of 5 for about $28.00.
They have spring loaded Primers in them. You just load up your Magazine and Dry Fire. Operating the Slide after each if them is loaded into the Chamber out of the Magazine.
And the good thing is you can randomly load them in a Magazine with live rounds to practice not flinching and trigger control while shooting at a Range. We have used this technique for years to solve problems with shooters flinching or snapping the Trigger.

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#11 ·
Sniper03 said:
m_ridzon,

You never want to Dry Fire any 22 cal Weapon.
Actually, the Glock manual states that it is perfectly ok to dry fire the .22 caliber Glock 44 semi-automatic pistol.

And the owner's information page on my High Standard Double Nine .22 caliber revolver says you can dry fire it as well.

No need to pay that for snap caps either, you can use dry wall inserts and they do the same thing for about 2 cents each.
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A
#12 ·
It depends on the firearm. Most modern firearms aside from most those chambered 22LR are safe to dryfire. There are some vintage and antique firearms that should not be dryfired, even ones in modern calibers.

The best example of the latter is the Star BMs. The BMs are in 9mm Luger, but the early long pin variants could be damaged if dryfired. The later short pins were safe to dryfire, however, unless you strip the gun down and remove the firing pin, there is no way to tell if it is a long pin or short pin because being police surplus, there was a chance that the pin had broken in the past and was replaced. Moreover, the short pins and long pins will fit in both older and newer model BMs.

So it is best to find out dependent on the individual firearm.
 
#13 ·
Depends on your pistol. Cant say its "good" for any fire arm. Dry firing is jusr more wear on a mecanical device. Will it ever matter in the time you own the fire arm ? Unless something just breaks likely not.

Personally the only dry firing i do is a function check on a pistol or rifle ive had apart.
I know its recommended by the " experts" but past learnjng the basic operation of a firearm IMO based on teaching friends aquaintences to shoot the tiny benifit of aiming and snapping an empty gun goes out the window after the first live rd is fired.

Dry fire has no explosion going off a foot or so from your face. And no recoil. It doesnt translate to live fire experience at all . But if you enjoy it and it doesnt damage your particular firearm , have at it. Firearms should be fun as well as serious SD business.

JMO
 
#19 ·
Actually that isnt true of " any" striker fired pistol.
Just a few example is the sr 9 , 9c , 40 and 40 c. Or most any pistol with a mag disconnect.
Firing those style pistols without a mag in them WILL damage the firing pin over a short time.

Muscles dont have memory. They simply do what the brain says do.
One can practice drawing , flicking off safetys , etc at home without actually pulling the trigger and dry firing.
 
M
#21 ·
Folks, just to be clear...I'm not asking about dry firing a .22 revolver. Thank you to those who have offered feedback about it though. My mention of it was only for comparison and contrast to a semi-auto. I do not own a .22 revolver. I borrowed one for my CCW last month. The instructor made it exceptionally clear that I should NOT dry fire my friend's .22 revolver. Today though, I own a semi-auto and am asking you folks about dry firing it.:)
 
#22 ·
I would be more concerned with properly mentally assessing any perceived threat than having great muscle memory that did a fine job of eliminating someone that the brain didn't properly think through the consequences of what muscle memory can do. Whatever the circumstance and subsequent response, if there is one, the one(s) with the gun is responsible for the outcome. Great muscle memory can conceivably get one in more trouble than wanted. There's the other side of the coin. I get the feeling that some gun carriers are always looking for a threat or fight. They're always there but seldom warrant a response.
 
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#23 ·
Southernguns said:
I would be more concerned with properly mentally assessing any perceived threat than having great muscle memory that did a fine job of eliminating someone that the brain didn't properly think through the consequences of what muscle memory can do. Whatever the circumstance and subsequent response, if there is one, the one(s) with the gun is responsible for the outcome. Great muscle memory can conceivably get one in more trouble than wanted. There's the other side of the coin.
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Fair enough. Those are great points. Yes, hopefully an armed citizen has enough wherewithal to think through everything going on at the scene before taking irreversible actions. I'm of the opinion that muscle memory would help me get to the point of almost firing, to then stop for a moment to assess before going further. However, at that point, if needed, I would be fully ready to fire.

Southernguns said:
I get the feeling that some gun carriers are always looking for a threat or fight. They're always there but seldom warrant a response.
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I get that feeling/vibe from some folks too. I am not one of them though. If it were up to me, I'd never - NEVER - have to draw the firearm for SD!!
 
#34 ·
Well that's pretty critical in the big scheme of things.

So, keep up the good work, and practice is necessary. I always had a 9mm and a 22 that my wife shot a lot. Since the ammo prices jumped up, I don't shoot much 9mm any more because it's too expensive to replace. So, I bought a Glock 44 so we have 2 guns that we can go shoot together and we shoot every week. I can still find .22lr for about a nickel a round but 9mm is about 40 cents a round.

You need probably some good help with sight picture, trigger control and POA vs.POI determination.

Good luck !
 
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