AR-15 Dry Firing Questions

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - AR-15 Dry Firing Questions

Posted: 5/27/2002 12:16:57 PM EDT

1) Will dry firing eventually damage the firing pin?

2) If so, is it better to use a Snap Cap or remove the firing pin?

TIA...JJ

Posted: 5/27/2002 1:13:07 PM EDT

[#1]

I suppose anything is possible, but not necessarily likely. That thing is so damn hard that you would really have to try to hurt it.

Any abuse that it receives will be on the flange, and will basically mimic a live-fire hammer strike. It bottoms out on the back of the bolt every time you pull the trigger whether or not it goes "bang".

Like I said anything is possible, but I've never seen it happen.

Saleen

Posted: 5/27/2002 1:20:16 PM EDT

[#2]

I have snap caps for all my guns. Its good for practicing stance and trigger control indoor.

Posted: 5/27/2002 1:27:45 PM EDT

[#3]

Snap caps are awesome for weeding out bad mags as well, but you need at least 3-4, as it's the last 2-3 rounds that seem to cause problems.

Generally 22LR rimfire is bad to dryfire, but alot of centerfire rifles can take it. There are always exceptions to this, but 22LR is almost always a bad idea to dryfire.

HMC- Snapcaps are plastic bullets, with a spring and metal button where the primer is, so the firing pin impacts the button and has a gentler impact as the spring simulates the give of a primer being hit. They are pricy, around $8-$11 for two .223

Posted: 5/27/2002 1:49:26 PM EDT

[#4]

Dry firing won't damage most firearms of quality, modern manufacture. I say most because I suppose there are exceptions to the rule.

.22 lr or any other rimfire should not be dry fired.

Many shooting "pro's" dry fire their weapons hundreds of times a week - with no ill effect.

Posted: 5/27/2002 1:54:00 PM EDT

[#5]

You can dry fire aan AR15 til hell freezes over, and it won't hurt a thing. Now I suppose that somewhere out there someone has had the experience of doing some damage whilst dry firing, and we may well hear from that person on this site, but a have dry fired 7 or 8 AR's that I've owned over the years thousands of times without doing any damage. I WOULD NOT remove the firing pin. To do so will cause the hammer to hit what it's not designed to hit.

If you're really paranoid, buy a spare firing pin for 5 or 6 bucks, and dry fire away. I've had a spare for over 20 years now. Still haven't used it

Posted: 5/27/2002 1:57:18 PM EDT

[#6]

Think about it for a second. The mass of the hammer and the firing pin verses how much of the firing pin actually protrudes thru the face of the bolt to contact the primer.

There is no way that the small area of firing pin that contacts the primer is actually going to have any shock absorbtion value.

In other words, on the AR-15 rifle there is NO difference in Dry vs. Live firing.

Posted: 5/27/2002 3:41:47 PM EDT

[#7]

Any Marine can tell you about the HOURS spent dry firing (snapping in) during the days leading up to rifle qualification. Doesn't hurt the rifle or firing pin one bit.

Posted: 5/27/2002 4:55:37 PM EDT

[#8]

in case it hasn't hit you yet.... It's ok to dry fire the AR15/M16 Series of rifles. It's actually part of the function test. I was an Armorer, and believe me, we dry fired a rifle or thousand.

Posted: 5/27/2002 7:59:29 PM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
Any Marine can tell you about the HOURS spent dry firing (snapping in) during the days leading up to rifle qualification. Doesn't hurt the rifle or firing pin one bit.

That's right. Not only does it not hurt your weapon, dry firing while snapping in will make you a better shooter if done regularly. I have also dry fired AR15/M16's a few thousand times without any evidence of damage. Never tried snap caps though...Semper-Fi

Posted: 5/27/2002 8:46:42 PM EDT

[#10]

Dry fired my AR repeatedly for practice.
Even done it without the upper on, to test my trigger weight and such (although I don't recomment this technique without first covering up the bolt catch flange). No damage.

Posted: 5/28/2002 7:24:22 AM EDT

[#11]

. I WOULD NOT remove the firing pin. To do so will cause the hammer to hit what it's not designed to hit.

That's the least of your problem in that scenario! Without the firing pin to keep the cam pin in place, you can lock your weapon up reeeeeaaaaaal good. Bad enough to necessitate barrel removal to remedy the situation.

Never ever assemble your AR without a firing pin. If you do remember that disaster is waiting just around the corner having a smoke and a joke with your good friend Murphy.

Saleen

Posted: 5/28/2002 7:57:33 AM EDT

[#12]

Words of caution:

Before dry firing anything....Make sure and double check that there is nothing in the chamber.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - AR-15 Dry Firing Questions

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