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Just bought my first two handguns and I am recieving conflicting information on dryfiring. I have a Springfield XDM 9mm and also purchased the SIG 1911-22. I've heard it is ok to dryfire the XDM but not the 22, because of center fire vs rimfire... is this correct?? If so, what would be a recommended way of practicing at home as far as drawing, sighting, firing and such? Is there a way to cock and then let the hammer back down on the 1911-22? Thanks
I've always heard the same. As in its ok to dry fire a center fire gun but its bad to dry fire a rimfire gun. I'm not sure why. But I would look into snap caps. Those are veru useful for training. I even load them in a mag with live ones at the range to practice clearing a jam or ftgb. (Failure to go bang)
So they make snap caps for .22? And I assume are reusable? Sorry if any of my questions sound dumb... but I am very new to handguns
Yup. They make them for just about every caliber.
...Also, you can place a square or rectangle of leather—or even sponge rubber—against the protruding firing pin of the "1911," so that when its hammer drops the hammer hits leather (or rubber), not firing pin.
This works quite well with a "real" M1911, so I have to suppose that it'll also work with the .22 rimfire version.
I understand from the little bit of research I've done on guns that the .22 is not a "real" 1911 but nonetheless its still a 1911 model and that's what I liked about it. For the most part it is a lot like an original 1911. A lot of things in life evolve over the years and are still called the same thing. Take a basketball or baseball for example, its changed a lot but its still a "ball". Hopefully one day I can save enough to get a "real" one, whenever I find out exactly what that is. Thanks for the info though on answering my original question
Rim fire firing pins (not pins actually) can strike the edge of the chamber damaging either the chamber or the firing pin.
I don't remember how often I dry fired center fire guns. But lots. With no damage.
My friend who was in the Army says that they "lived to dry fire".
I do use snap caps because they are cheap, and they guarantee safety (you see the snap cap and the gun is safe). Always dry fire towards a direction that would be safe to actually shoot. I dry fire in my basement aiming towards a concrete wall that is below the ground. Never dry fire at a wall in the house. One day you could make a mistake and have a round fly through the wall.
Dry-fire damage to a Browning Buckmark breech-face.....
http://personal.swayzee.com/jayb/dryfiredamage.jpg
Brownells sells a chamber iron to move the displaced metal back into place, but it's better to NOT cause the problem in the first place.
I use snap caps in all my guns, some say it not necessary but I have seen too much damage without them
Snapcaps are the safest bet.Some 22s firing pins are built so that it limits the amount of protrusion so it can't ding the chamber,but I follow the old rule and never looked into who does this.
There is a catch 22 to dry firing without them.Alot of guns are dry fired thousands of times with no problems,but occasionally things break.I've dry fired quite a few guns with no problems but the fact remains that there's an unintended beating going on.Since there is no primed case to limit the pin's travel,that means the pin bottoms in the breachface's pin hole or the pin's spring stacks and gets stressed.Both have broken over time,which there is no set timeframe for it to happen.The quality of the parts,the spec of those parts,and the design of the gun make it a guessing game.Snapcaps or homemade remedies are cheap.