Dry Fire

[DMN]

I'm sorry if this is a frequently asked question. I have spent a couple of hours in the forum today and I didn't notice a thread on dry firing.

I have two Mark III pistols. A Standard 6", and a 5 1/2" Target Bull Barrel. I have been told by quite a few people that I will never hurt a Mark III by dry firing. I have also been told that I should "never" dry fire a Mark III without a snap cap.

So........what's the story. I practice target acquisition and trigger work in my back yard, without snap caps. I've never had a problem. But, am I hurting my Marks?????? :?:

Thanks

 

[Firsttimegrampa]

Myself I never dryfire any Rimfire guns not even a Ruger rimfire.. Centerfires are another story tho.

 

[rugerguy]

yep, times you can do it and often, other times it may "break" something on the next hit...me, I do NOT tell anyone to dry fire rimfire guns.........fixed far too many over the years that tell us, NO........
the dry firing they often refer to in the manual is the term they use to "lower the hammer on an empty chamber..." to do this you must "dry fire it......" ( pull the trigger....AGAIN. on an EMPTY chamber....)spent cases, ( from the same gun) or snap -caps will do the job if in doubt......

 

[Snake45]

The Ruger .22 autopistols can be safely dry-fired, according to the owner's manual. The firing pin does not hit the chamber.

Still, I can't bring myself to do it too much. :wink:

 

[Wobble]

It's an "old wives tale"........you can dry fire the Mark III all you want with no problems. They even say to do it in the owners manual. The firing pin NEVER strikes the chamber wall. Besides, snap-caps for rim-fires are kind of joke -- and a big waste of money. If it makes you nervous, use spent cartridges to dry fire.

 

[wproct]

I have dry fired my Ruger autos many many many times, no problem. My only caution is that I do routinely inspect the firing pin and it's retainer pin just to make sure everything is intact.

 

[CajunBass]

Look at it this way. The owners manual tells you it's ok to dry fire it. IF something were to break, Ruger would have to fix it, because they told you it's ok to do it.

 

[Snake45]

I have dry fired my Ruger autos many many many times, no problem. My only caution is that I do routinely inspect the firing pin and it's retainer pin just to make sure everything is intact.

That retainer pin is critical. Friend of mine brought me a Mark II that he'd put back together without that. The gun had a burr so big on the chamber that ammo wouldn't even chamber anymore.

The pin was, incredibly, in the box! I filed the burr out with a small hobby file, replaced the pin, and the gun ran fine. He thinks I'm a genius.

 

[blume357]

I think on guns that it is listed as okay to dry fire you should be good to dry fire to check trigger pull and function. But I think just sitting around pulling the trigger is not a good thing.

 

[mattsbox99]

DO NOT USE .22 LR "Dummy" rounds to dry fire, they are not made for dry fire practice.

During Steel Challenge season I will dry fire my MKIIIs for 10-20 minutes a day, I've never had any issues whatsoever.

 

[DMN]

During Steel Challenge season I will dry fire my MKIIIs for 10-20 minutes a day, I've never had any issues whatsoever.

Thanks for everyone's response.

mattsbox99, I dry-fire my MKIIIs to practice trigger control. When I do it (a few times per week), I might do it for 20 minutes to a half hour each time. I guess that would come to close to a hundred dry-fires a week.

 

[zenbiker]

As long as the retainer pin is in place, dry firing CANNOT hurt the gun!

 

[leejack]

I don't dry fire anything very often, but I do dry fire my Rugers occasionaly.

I think the manufacturers air on the safe side with regard to the operation of their products. Having said that, if Ruger says it's OK, then I wouldn't worry about it.

I don't have a Mark, just SA Rugers.

Lee