Overheard at the range

[TAB]

you are correct most likely out come is fire formed and stuck case, but I don't want to be any where close to the type of person that would say something like that.


what if they roll their own?  want to stand near them for their home made rounds?   

[vincewarde]

Never ever dry fire a rimfire as it will damage the gun.

Unless the design specifically permits it (i.e. by not permitting the firing pin to strike the breach face).  The 10/22 is one example.

[billt]

Tom Gresham had a guy from Ruger on his radio show Sunday. He was talking about the new Ruger BX Trigger which is a 2-1/2 pound, drop in trigger for the 10/22. He said it does not hurt a Ruger 10/22 to be dry fired, because they heat treat the breach face of the barrel so the firing pin cannot peen against it.

[TAB]

um so they are saying they treat the barrel to be soft?



why on earth would you do that?

[tombogan03884]

Hard TAB. Instead of peening material off the breach you flatten the nose of the firing pin.

[Sponsor]

[TAB]

so you take out the firing pin, seems like the best solution is to just not dry fire. 

[billt]

um so they are saying they treat the barrel to be soft? why on earth would you do that?

No, just the opposite. I guess I worded it wrong. They harden the face of the barrel so the firing pin cannot peen the chamber. It apparently doesn't effect the shape of the firing pin when this happens. The point the guy was trying to make is it is perfectly acceptable to dry fire a Ruger 10/22. I still wouldn't do it, except to unload the firing pin spring before I put the gun away.

Come to think of it, I've never seen a .22 that was damaged by dry firing. I'm not saying it hasn't happened. But if it's so bad one would think there would be a lot more examples of older .22's damaged from this.

[tombogan03884]

I've seen them with the chamber so peened that a bullet could not pass never mind the casing behind it.

[brushmore]

Come to think of it, I've never seen a .22 that was damaged by dry firing. I'm not saying it hasn't happened. But if it's so bad one would think there would be a lot more examples of older .22's damaged from this.

I have and it could have gotten me killed.  It was on my Savage 22 pump that was my Dad's as a kid so it was from the 50's.  I had it with in my college apartment and one night someone was trying to break in.  One thing I can tell you is that longest time of your life is waiting for the cops to show up in a situation like that.  After I called the cops I was up on the second floor trying to get a round in the chamber of that old pump but it wouldn't budge.  Turns out all that dry fire practice me and my roommates did deformed the breach enough to prevent a round to go in.  Luckily once the burglars heard the sirens they fled and never made it up to the second floor.

It must not be that uncommon because Brownells sells a swage that will fix this type of thing.  I still have that pump and it works great but I have something a little better for home defense now days.   

[billt]

It must not be that uncommon because Brownells sells a swage that will fix this type of thing.  I still have that pump and it works great but I have something a little better for home defense now days. 

I imagine it would take little to remove any metal that was "moved" by the firing pin. A healthy burr would be about all.