# Dry firing a firearm **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 31, 2004, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-firing-a-firearm/226905 "2004-01-31T11:16:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-firing-a-firearm/226905/21 "2004-02-01T00:38:26Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > IMO, none really. Some guys will argue that it will damage the sear - that manually lowering the hammer will rub on the sear and cause a bur. Looking at a cutout view of the little parts and how they interact, it looks like it’s possible. Maybe if I spent $2500-$6000 on a pistol, it would concern me too. Add to that, the fact that these guys want every little advantage possible. Not to mention general superstition that comes with every sport… > But mainly what I meant earlier was that dry firing causes no damage, whereas manually lowering the hammer could possibly (however unlikely) cause wear on your sear. > > But seriously, gun geeks are worse than the Comic Book Guy… I call boo-hockey on that. If a gun is to tweaked there isn’t enough overtravel for the sear to clear the moving part of the hammer then the weapon is likely to be unreliable anyway. In any event lowering the hammer while holding the trigger in a 1911 (so it doesn’t catch the intercept notch) is _exactly_ the same as firing the weapong except the hammer isn’t moving as fast. You have a point that firearms culture is rife with superstition and its own urban legends. My own 1911 is tricked out but not tweaked so tightly it won’t function any more. Fact is it’s a series 80 Colt so I have to allow a little more overtravel so the mechanism will allow the firing pin to move. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-firing-a-firearm/226905/22 "2004-02-01T01:03:31Z")
I know nothing about guns, but I’m curious – if the firing pin is the thing that triggers the primer, then isn’t it constantly exposed to the heat and pressure of the cartridge exploding? And wouldn’t that kind of punishment eclipse any sort of damage that might be caused by dry firing? ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-firing-a-firearm/226905/23 "2004-02-01T01:23:25Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > I know nothing about guns, but I’m curious – if the firing pin is the thing that triggers the primer, then isn’t it constantly exposed to the heat and pressure of the cartridge exploding? And wouldn’t that kind of punishment eclipse any sort of damage that might be caused by dry firing? The very tip, just a few thousandths of an inch, of the firing pin is in the chamber. It takes a certain amount of punishment but not nearly as much as you think. The fact is that crushing the primer absorbs energy that must be absorbed elsewhere when dry firing. Most modern firearms are designed to absorb this energy without damage due to robust firing pin stops. This is not always true of rimfires or guns like the Colt single action army (1873 “Peacemaker”) where snap caps are recommended. ---
**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-firing-a-firearm/226905/24 "2004-02-01T14:59:39Z")
God only knows how many thousands of times I dry fired that M16 in the course of normal training in three months of USMC boot camp. Pretty much cured my fear of dry firing centerfire rifles. (Although I would ask the owner first.) ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-firing-a-firearm/226905/25 "2004-02-01T16:23:06Z")
Actually, dry firing at the TV is a great way to improve reaction times for combat courses. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![olefin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d78d45/32.png) [@olefin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/olefin)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-firing-a-firearm/226905/26 "2004-02-01T16:23:13Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Basically, dry firing a modern semi-auto centerfire pistol will cause no damage.\* That’s exactly what I thought but glad to hear it from a **Professional**! I own a Glock and the dealer where I purchased it told me the same thing. I noticed your signature, I’m also a Life member of NRA. ---
**Author:** ![Stana\_Claus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stana_claus/32/13874_2.png) [@Stana\_Claus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stana_Claus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-firing-a-firearm/226905/27 "2004-02-01T16:49:46Z")
With all this talk of how bad it is to dry fire a rimfiring gun, I have a question. I recently came into possession of my dad’s old Winchester Model 74 .22L semi-automatic rifle. After a target shooting session, when the last round has been fired, the hammer is still cocked and ready to keep going. Should it be left in this state with the safety on, or should it be dry fired to uncock it? Or, is there another way to safely uncock it for storage? SC ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-firing-a-firearm/226905/28 "2004-02-01T19:12:29Z")
> [@](#): > > With all this talk of how bad it is to dry fire a rimfiring gun, I have a question. I recently came into possession of my dad’s old Winchester Model 74 .22L semi-automatic rifle. After a target shooting session, when the last round has been fired, the hammer is still cocked and ready to keep going. Should it be left in this state with the safety on, or should it be dry fired to uncock it? Or, is there another way to safely uncock it for storage? - - - **Don’t** leave it cocked! The usual procedure is to grab a few empty shells at the shooting site, and when you get home, _first_ hold them upside down and tap them with a screwdriver or something a few times good to knock out all the crusty burned ash, and then insert one through the ejection port (use a pair of needle-nose pliers if you have to) and then fire the last time on that. And you shouldn’t let the gun fire twice on the same spot on the rim–if you take the shell out and need to reinsert it, note where the firing pin is striking (12 o’clock seems most common) and rotate the shell so the pin strikes on an unflattened spot. - There is also a company that makes snap-caps, plastic spring-loaded shells to allow dry-firing without any damage. They sell a 22LR model but the problem is that it isn’t spring-loaded, it’s just a hard plastic shell shape and it gets chewed up quickly with use. Nobody I have ever met used a 22LR snap-cap. * * * > [@](#): > > …I dry fire for practice but I make sure there is no ammunition in the room and clear the weapon every time I handle it. I only aim it in a direction that couldn’t possibly hurt anyone if there was a round in the chamber… - Padeye - And while we are on the general subject of shooting, I have _never never never_ understood the reasoning behind “dry-firing for practice”. I have heard people say that “it smoothes out the trigger on a new gun”, but I would bet that is BS in practical terms; you would have to fire a gun thousands of times to accumulate any significant wear on the concerned parts, and a gunsmith can smooth them in less than an hour anyway, for a fee. And I have heard of Olympic-style target shooters actually going to the range and spending a significant time dry-firing and “envisioning the shot”, and I just GOTTA say, _this sounds like hippy BS to me_. The only justification for it is some lame excuse because you can’t afford to blow off that much ammo–if you are at a range in front of a target and pulling the trigger, then the best practice would seem to be to, you know, _actually firing bullets downrange_. It is simply the beginning of an unsafe habit, like doing trigger-finger spins. Bow-hunters don’t seem to suffer from not being able to dry-fire, and my firm belief is that nobody else benefits from doing it either. ~ ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-firing-a-firearm/226905/29 "2004-02-01T19:30:55Z")
[QUOTE=DougC - And while we are on the general subject of shooting, I have _never never never_ understood the reasoning behind “dry-firing for practice”.[/QUOTE] My impression was that it acclimates one to the “feel” of the trigger action. I can see this being useful for a firearm one is using for the first time, or haven’t used in a while. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-firing-a-firearm/226905/30 "2004-02-01T20:02:57Z")
Outside of the scope of the OP but I differ with you on dry fire practice **DougC**. It isn’t a substitute for live fire but can be very beneficial for trigger control and follow through, particularly with double action weapons. Learning to exert force with one’s index finger while not moving the arm or other fingers has to be learened. Dry fire allows the shooter to watch the sight picture and see any unwanted movement, unlike live fire. Comparing it to bowhunting doesn’t hold water. How would you dry fire a bow? The stored energy can’t be taken out of the system as it’s directly tied to the shooter’s fingers. In any event while there are similarities the motion of releasing a bow string and pulling a trigger are not the same. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-firing-a-firearm/226905/31 "2004-02-01T20:08:00Z")
> [@Padeye](#): > > How would you dry fire a bow? Oh, you can _do_ it, but it’s exceptionally bad for the bow. As you say, the energy has nowhere to go but back into the system, i.e., you and the bow. and unlike the dry-firing or a pistol, there’s a LOT of energy to dissipate in a dry-fired bow. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-firing-a-firearm/226905/32 "2004-02-01T20:14:32Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > Oh, you can _do_ it, but it’s exceptionally bad for the bow. As you say, the energy has nowhere to go but back into the system, i.e., you and the bow. and unlike the dry-firing or a pistol, there’s a LOT of energy to dissipate in a dry-fired bow. I was fortunate enough to be on hand when some jackass did just that. The upper limb snapped, and the bowstring ripped up his forearm pretty good. I say “fortunate” because he was in so much pain, he couldn’t stop the bleeding by himself. Tripler I only dry fire rarely, and even then only on function checks on government weapons. ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-firing-a-firearm/226905/33 "2004-02-01T21:53:12Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > The dry firing paranoia stems from old single actions and rimfires back in the day. Don’t dry fire your 22s or revolvers! Quite a few modern .22 rimfires are safe to dry fire, as they employ stops to prevent damage to the firing pin. Of course, not all of them do, so better safe than sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-firing-a-firearm/226905/34 "2004-02-01T22:09:39Z")
RE: Dry firing for Practice One of the worst bad habits a person can develop is the anticipation of recoil. I always stress to my shooters that they need to pull the trigger the same way every time. And they need to pull it as if the weapon was empty. “Pretend you are firing and empty weapon” I tell them. Dry firing gets you accostummed to a smooth trigger pull with good follow through and no muzzle movement. If all you do is shot live rounds, I will GAURUNTEE… I will bet any amount of money, that you are jerking your trigger just before firing. To prove this to people, I’ll load their magazine and place a dummy round in it. When that round is chambered, they always jerk the firearm wildly. That’s when I tell them to dry fire 25 times and I’ll be back. Then, when I come back, I randomly load their magazine with live and dummy bullets. They must concentrate on smooth trigger squeeze and just let the live round “suprise” them. Firing with recoil just develops bad habits. To undue these habits, you’ve got to have dry-fire practice. IMO dry fire exercises are better per trigger pull than live fire. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-firing-a-firearm/226905/35 "2004-02-01T22:41:58Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > RE: Dry firing for Practice > > One of the worst bad habits a person can develop is the anticipation of recoil. I always stress to my shooters that they need to pull the trigger the same way every time. And they need to pull it as if the weapon was empty. “Pretend you are firing and empty weapon” I tell them. > Dry firing gets you accostummed to a smooth trigger pull with good follow through and no muzzle movement. If all you do is shot live rounds, I will GAURUNTEE… I will bet any amount of money, that you are jerking your trigger just before firing. To prove this to people, I’ll load their magazine and place a dummy round in it. When that round is chambered, they always jerk the firearm wildly. That’s when I tell them to dry fire 25 times and I’ll be back. Then, when I come back, I randomly load their magazine with live and dummy bullets. They must concentrate on smooth trigger squeeze and just let the live round “suprise” them. > > Firing with recoil just develops bad habits. To undue these habits, you’ve got to have dry-fire practice. IMO dry fire exercises are better per trigger pull than live fire. ya beat me to it 😃 Also, I have used blanks, .38 SP, .357mag and dummy - empty chambers all mixed together to work on ‘flinch’. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2004, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-firing-a-firearm/226905/36 "2004-02-02T01:18:36Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > RE: Dry firing for Practice > I randomly load their magazine with live and dummy bullets. They must concentrate on smooth trigger squeeze and just let the live round “suprise” them. Wow. That’s a damned good idea. Both for me teaching, and me being taught. I have to admit, I ‘slap it around’ too. Maybe I should have someone randomly load my mags for me. . . Damned good idea. Don’t worry, I’ll quote you on it. 😃 Tripler I qualified on M-9 this week, but dammit, I want “expert”. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2004, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-firing-a-firearm/226905/37 "2004-02-02T04:39:16Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > … I randomly load their magazine with live and dummy bullets. They must concentrate on smooth trigger squeeze and just let the live round “suprise” them. Yeah, dad pulled this one on me a couple decades ago… The embarrasment cured me of the ‘jerk-one-off’ school of shooting once and for all. Another training technique dad used on me was to place a pencil in a worn-out replacement barrel, aim at a dot on a piece of paper from a distance of about a quarter inch, and dry-fire. The firing pin would strike the eraser on the pencil and kick it out against the paper. The idea was to practice sighting, consistancy of hold, and trigger control. Ideally, the little dots from the pencil would be more or less on top of each other, about 5/8 of an inch below the aiming point. After fifty or so of those, I’m starting to get a little wobbly. Dad, OTOH, can go a hundred or more while still spotting each point directly where it’s supposed to be. Yes, he’s a spectacular shot! ---
**Author:** ![Donovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@Donovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donovan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2004, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-firing-a-firearm/226905/38 "2004-02-02T07:24:39Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Basically, dry firing a modern semi-auto centerfire pistol will cause no damage.\* Provided the pistol is not a piece of crap in the first place (like a Lorcen or a Jennings) you’re not going to be hurting it by dry firing. In fact, some pistols like Glocks and some other similar models (SW99) _require_ the pistol to be dry fired before field stripping. Riding the hammer forward on a 1911 style pistol will actually cause more damage than dry firing it. If you want to see a person freak out hard, just take his $2,500 1911 style Race Gun and ride the hammer forward. > > The dry firing paranoia stems from old single actions and rimfires back in the day. Don’t dry fire your 22s or revolvers! > > Dry firing your semi-auto is one of the best ways to develop proper trigger squeeze and fundamentals. As an instructor, I recommend people dry fire their pistol a couple hundred times or so in the comfort of their own home. They’ll get more out of this than wasting money at a range developing bad habits. When I go to the range, I’ll dry fire at least a couple dozen times before I ever even load the thing. Then I’ll dry fire a couple times after every 100 rounds or so. > Also, an added step in the safe unloading of a pistol is to point it in a safe direction and dry fire. > > So what kind of pistol was he showing you?? > > \*[sup]No. I don’t have a cite. I am a Glock, HK, and Colt armorer. I’m also an NRA firearms instructor, a previous law enforcement/SWAT firearms dealer and I managed a gun range for two years.[/sup] Assuming that the conversation has moved on, there are so many posts below, but he was showing me a Beretta 92FS. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dry-firing-a-firearm/226905.md?page=1)