Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Never dry fire a 22

The firing pin can strike the side of the the chamber wall and cause a bur.

That can mess up extraction.


Spog

Also peens/breaks the striker and causes misfires.

Some rifles will let you get away with this though. The CZ 452 striker doesn`t contact the rear of the barrel I hear, and I am pretty sure there are a couple others. It is best to use some type of snap cap if possible on any rifle IMO when dry fireing

A chamber iron will often cure the woes....................

Stick,

Never heard of a chamber Iron ? That a zoom cap or something?

My rifles / pistols are fine, I just caught a buddy dry firing his 22 ALOT... so I gave him a tip and thought maybe it'd be a good idear to share.

Spot

Chamber Iron is a mechanical device,inserted in the chamber,that deals with the peen on the rim of the chamber's mouth proper.

It is a corrective measure,not a safeguard....................

Definitely! Not a good idea with any rimfire. Some makers, most notably Anschutz, are way ahead on this. It takes all of 20 seconds to remove the bolt, a 1/4 turn of the bolt allows one to extract the firing pin, and then reassemble. One can then dry fire till the cows come home with no ill effect. Wish the US makers would give more thought to the bolt designs on all rifles. On extended trips it would be nice to tear things down without a complete toolbox and a need for a 3rd or 4th hand. 1Minute

I have noticed this problem on several guns for sale, the worst on a Colt Official Police that was for sale. The chambers were peened in so badly that there was an eigth of an inch divot in each chamber. My Colt Huntsman also recieved similiar treatment from it previous owner. Less of the shooters fault on this one since it is semi auto with no bolt hold open, find out your mag is empty when you end up dry firing it. Just the same something to be very careful of.

I have no worries about dry-firing an Anschutz or a recent manufacture Kimber. Both are designed to allow this valuable practice technique.
RS

Bushwacker,
I had the same problem on a Colt Huntsman that I bought for a "steal" at a gunshow. It wouldn't chamber a round. Took a small round file and removed the burr. The firing pin had "shrunk" from hitting the chamber so many times. I peened it enough to lengthen it by about .020, and it worked fine. After all my "tinkering" I had a good shooting Colt 22!
Virgil B.

You could always buy the cheap plastic "snap caps". Traditions sells them for .22s. They are not usable for action cycling and the rims get tore up pretty quick but they do work well. You can check to see if your firing pin will damage the chamber by putting a small piece of paper there and seeing if the firing pin hits it. I've also seen plastic wall anchors used for .22 snap caps. I guess you would have to try a few sizes for fit. HTH

My Sig Trailside came with a snp cap in the chamber when I got it new this one has a nice tab to remove it from the chamber. always use the cap the gun has never been dry fired with out it.

Billwnkl.

Never is a long time. Kimber specifically states you can dry fire their current rimfires rifles due to their unique bolt, and S&W and Ruger say you can dry fire their current production revolvers, which have a block that prevents the firing pin from traveling far enough to actually strike the cylinder. There may be others, but these are the ones I own and know about.

Most of the newer guns will not actually contact the chamber. Unfortunately the only way to tell if it does or doesn�t is to snap one and see if it leaves a mark. I dry fire my S&W 617 almost daily without snap caps and the gun looks like new. I�m a died in the wool dry firer and generally not much of a fan of snap caps. When you dry fire as much as I do, snap caps just wont hold up, so I make sure my guns are safe to dry fire.

If I have a classic gun that does allow the firing pin to contact the rim, I generally just drop in a spent shell for a couple of snaps if I feel the need to dry fire.