Dry firing my pistol

cutt

Established Member
Jul 11, 2020
355
240
st.clair county
Is this something I can do everyday without harm to my H&K? If so what does AGF members recommend. As in 20 or 30 times verses 50-60. I want to improve my trigger finger without blowing a lot of ammo. Thanks Cutt
 

AlabamaLarry

Established Member
Jan 7, 2021
151
82
S. Huntsville, AL
You can Dry fire striker fired pistols "Semi Autos"
Do not dry fire hammer pin fired pistols "Revolvers"

Personally buy yourself some dummy rounds to dry fire for training.
 

kwb377

Established Member
Dec 16, 2019
160
162
B'ham
Is this something I can do everyday without harm to my H&K? If so what does AGF members recommend. As in 20 or 30 times verses 50-60. I want to improve my trigger finger without blowing a lot of ammo. Thanks Cutt

Will not harm your H&K, and there's no set repetition count...do it as few or as many times as you want.
 

madmyk

Established Member
Jan 11, 2021
96
121
Tuscaloosa, AL
You can Dry fire striker fired pistols "Semi Autos"
Do not dry fire hammer pin fired pistols "Revolvers"

Personally buy yourself some dummy rounds to dry fire for training.
Always good to have some dummy rounds anyway. I have someone mix a few into my live mags at the range. Forces you to train for "dud" ammo. You need to have the drill down for "click" instead of "bang". But that is a different topic....

As stated, you should be just fine dry firing the striker pistol...that said, it "wasn't designed" to strike nothing. Will it survive 1K, 5K, 50K times - probably, are you putting strains on things that shouldn't be, yes. Get some fake rounds, be nice to your tools. :)

Just my .02
 

Ed Jennings

Established Member
Jul 6, 2020
49
31
Pleasant Grove AL
You can dry fire almost any center fire pistol or revolver. You can dry fire some rim fires. Some you can’t. Snap caps or spent cases can help. I dry fired a 1911 about a million times learning to be a bullseye shooter. Never broke a firing pin, but always carried an extra.
 

SouthernGunner13

Established Member
Feb 8, 2021
318
371
35766
One thing you can try after "cocking" your empty pistol is to put an empty shell casing on end on the top of your slide. Make sure the casing doesn't fall when pulling the trigger. This helps with creating a good trigger pull. Slow go, but still help when going fast later.
Good luck!
 

daveinalabama

Established Member
Air Force
May 17, 2021
67
63
Huntsville, AL
There's no standard lifespan for strikers or firing pins, so there's really no way to know how many dry fires (or live fires) you can perform before failure. Snap caps, or similar products, are cheap insurance. Do they help? I think so. They certainly don't hurt your handgun.
 

Grooper

Established Member
Jul 8, 2021
21
18
Florence AL
Is this something I can do everyday without harm to my H&K? If so what does AGF members recommend. As in 20 or 30 times verses 50-60. I want to improve my trigger finger without blowing a lot of ammo. Thanks Cutt
Excessive dry firing, in the thousands, MIGHT cause wear on your firing pin. I use a snap cap usually because dry firing is an important training tool for me and I do repeat it a lot.
 

Frank Thompson

Veteran Army & Air Force
Premium Member
Feb 14, 2017
150
181
Auburn, Al
Always good to have some dummy rounds anyway. I have someone mix a few into my live mags at the range. Forces you to train for "dud" ammo. You need to have the drill down for "click" instead of "bang". But that is a different topic....

As stated, you should be just fine dry firing the striker pistol...that said, it "wasn't designed" to strike nothing. Will it survive 1K, 5K, 50K times - probably, are you putting strains on things that shouldn't be, yes. Get some fake rounds, be nice to your tools. :)

Just my .02
Good Point! They are not made to strike
“Nothing”, the Firing pin, spring,etc,,, were made to Strike a Primer and Not go a fraction of an inch more and “bottom out”, if you will , for lack of a better term!
I’ve known people that just Loved to Pull the Slide back on a Pistol-hit the Slide release and let the slide FLY Forward
EVEN without a round in the Magazine!!!! And, just mindlessly down this - One time after another- no limit , to number of times!! This is just Insane abuse of a Pistol .
in the Manual for my 1911, it specifically states that this is HARMFUL to a Firearm.
Once again, that function of a Firearm is meant to be used only for pulling a round from the magazine and loading that round into the chamber—simple-Doing this abuse to a 1911 could destroy an Expensive Trigger job-I’am told..
 

Randomprojectile

Established Member
Nov 29, 2021
24
23
Northern Bama
Each specific weapon design is different, not just the basic design like hammer fired, striker, etc. Some designs can be fully manipulated (dropping the slide, hammer, firing pin, striker, ETC) without ammo or snap caps (the Manurhin MR 73 comes to mind as I write this). Others can not. What will damage a 1911 wont damage a HK P30. The best advice is to learn the design of your weapon and trust the engineers. Use snap caps if required, and don't bother if not. Cheers!
 
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