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Dry firing

5260 Views 31 Replies 15 Participants Last post by  jakedrennan45
So I'm just curious how much/or if dry firing wears the recoil spring? I assume other springs are affected the same as live firing but since dry firing doesn't cause the slide to go back and forth so intensely i figure it's not as bad but I'd really like to hear some of your inputs. Thanks
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jakedrennan45 said:
So I'm just curious how much/or if dry firing wears the recoil spring? I assume other springs are affected the same as live firing but since dry firing doesn't cause the slide to go back and forth so intensely i figure it's not as bad but I'd really like to hear some of your inputs. Thanks
Another thing kinda off topic but in my concealed carry class this morning I was told by the instructor that semi autos on avg fail every 7 rounds but didn't get much further into it..if that's true I'm assuming it's not taking user error into consideration as well as gun brand. He said a cop he knew that was involved in a shoot out carried 13 rounds and his gun malfunctioned twice during the incident. Now I found this to be very unsettling and almost considered a revolver but I'm skeptical on that because there are so many possible variables. I have fired about 10k rounds thru my glocks and the only malfunctions were ammo and two limp wrists when I first bought my g21..any thoughts on that also?
Dry firing will not wear your recoil spring assembly. Even resetting the slide does less damage to it than actually shooting it does.
Ghost23 said:
Dry firing will not wear your recoil spring assembly. Even resetting the slide does less damage to it than actually shooting it does.
For sure thanks. I figured resetting the slide was less damaging than shooting but wanted to make sure. I sometimes dry fire hundreds of times each day so I wanted to be clear I wasn't making my recoil spring unreliable.
Best way to get to know you trigger is to dry fire a lot!
jakedrennan45 said:
For sure thanks. I figured resetting the slide was less damaging than shooting but wanted to make sure. I sometimes dry fire hundreds of times each day so I wanted to be clear I wasn't making my recoil spring unreliable.
No without resetting the slide, your recoil spring won't be affected.
jakedrennan45 said:
semi autos on avg fail every 7 rounds
LOL, that's nonsense. No one would carry one or make mags bigger than that.
Yeah, when I use the stock Colt mags in my 1911 it fails to fire after 7 rounds. But that's 'cause the mag only holds 7, I just call it being M/T.

If you've put 10K, or 10,000 rounds through your Glocks, your own experience should contradict such nonsense.
Maybe he got his stats back in the 80's when semi-auto pistols were called jamatics. Auto pistols and ammo have improved greatly. In shootings where guns fail I believe it's caused by other factors, like something obstructing the slide travel, limp wristing, inadvertent application of the safety and dropping the magazine.
Danzig said:
Maybe he got his stats back in the 80's when semi-auto pistols were called jamatics. Auto pistols and ammo have improved greatly. In shootings where guns fail I believe it's caused by other factors, like something obstructing the slide travel, limp wristing, inadvertent application of the safety and dropping the magazine.
Totally off topic: I really like Danzig (and Samhain) but Glenn was in his prime while in the Misfits. Great to see another punk in these parts. :)
So I'm just curious how much/or if dry firing wears the recoil spring? I assume other springs are affected the same as live firing but since dry firing doesn't cause the slide to go back and forth so intensely i figure it's not as bad but I'd really like to hear some of your inputs. Thanks
Your Glock never feels a thing in the recoil spring when dry firing... Now many GLOCK owners (myself included) have dry fired their guns hundreds of thousands of time without failure but GLOCK now says to include a Snapcap during practice like this.

Another thing kinda off topic but in my concealed carry class this morning I was told by the instructor that semi autos on avg fail every 7 rounds but didn't get much further into it..if that's true I'm assuming it's not taking user error into consideration as well as gun brand. He said a cop he knew that was involved in a shoot out carried 13 rounds and his gun malfunctioned twice during the incident. Now I found this to be very unsettling and almost considered a revolver but I'm skeptical on that because there are so many possible variables. I have fired about 10k rounds thru my glocks and the only malfunctions were ammo and two limp wrists when I first bought my g21..any thoughts on that also?

I would have to ask him to (or challenge) show proof of where he learned that tidbit of information. Sorry my experience says different.



IJS........
If dry firing messes up a glock...I am screwed. lol

There are some guns you shouldn't dry fire. A Glock isn't one of them. To me, dry firing is the best training tool out there.
.22 rimfire is only one you shouldn't dry fire.
jujutsuka said:
LOL, that's nonsense. No one would carry one or make mags bigger than that.
Well you kinda took that out of context but I thought that also seemed outrageous.
jakedrennan45 said:
Well you kinda took that out of context but I thought that also seemed outrageous.
Ya I wonder where he got that data? Lol
nicolasfroelich said:
Ya I wonder where he got that data? Lol
I'm just guessing it must be based on the overall reliability of semi autos since day 1. While there are plenty of crappy guns out there that bring down the numbers I still think its basically irrelevant because modern day semi autos made by a reputable manufacturer don't have problems like that. I'm just going to dismiss that part of the class.
.22 rimfire is only one you shouldn't dry fire.
And alot of older firearms, especially the cheaper manufacturers. Firing pins on many firearms 50 years ago were made out of much more brittle metal and they just won't hold up to dry firing unless the pin has been upgraded/dated.
bhale187 said:
And alot of older firearms, especially the cheaper manufacturers. Firing pins on many firearms 50 years ago were made out of much more brittle metal and they just won't hold up to dry firing unless the pin has been upgraded/dated.
Not to mention Glocks use a stricker. And not a small pin.
bhale187 said:
And alot of older firearms, especially the cheaper manufacturers. Firing pins on many firearms 50 years ago were made out of much more brittle metal and they just won't hold up to dry firing unless the pin has been upgraded/dated.
True, I've also heard sidexsides and overnunders shouldn't be dry fired but I'm no authority on those guns.
I have several Glock pistols and have been shooting Glocks for over 15 years, and I can probably count the number of times one of my Glocks have malfunctioned on one hand. If a Glock malfunctions, chances are it is shooter error, not the gun. I'm not saying that it can't happen, but for me, it has not happened much. Each of my malfunctions, I can tell you what I did wrong. My .02 Ymmv
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