Dry fire question

[Parrothead]

I am not new to firearms but i have always wondered about this issue. How do merchants and others feel about dry firing? If i am looking at a gun at a gun store.....is it "rude" to dry fire the weapon before purchase? Also, if you friend shows you a new firearm.....can you dry fire it without getting a strange look?

Thanks for the help...... i feel i know the answer. I just want to verify it with a knowledgeable group of shooters. Thanks

[DavidD]

Without going into the usual arguments about whether you should or shouldn't, with or without snap caps, I say do the polite thing and ask the merchant. I've found that most don't mind if you dry fire a "fantastic plastic" but wouldn't like it very much if you did it to an Ed Brown or a nice Over/Under Shotgun.

[Parrothead]

thanks david. Thats how i have treated the situation in the past. However, when shopping for a glock, i got a lot of strange looks when i ask. I know it is suggested on a glock but i always felt it was common courtesy to ask. I got the impression from some vendors thought i violated "standard procedure" when shopping for a gun. Thanks again

Edited January 17, 2010 by Parrothead

[DavidD]

I understand completely. With a Glock, don't ask and just act like you knew you could . What amazes me though is that any merchant who is trying to get you to purchase their product would make you feel uncomfortable in the process. Sometimes, gun store employees aren't the best salesmen as I'm guessing you've figured out by now.

[tntnixon]

One of the important things to know (maybe the most important), when purchasing a firearm, is how the trigger feels. If someone will not let me dry fire it, then they obviously do not want me to purchase it. Personally, I really don't care if it's a Ed Brown or a Perrazi O/U, I must feel the trigger first ,period, but it is polite to ask.

[DavidD]

One of the important things to know (maybe the most important), when purchasing a firearm, is how the trigger feels. If someone will not let me dry fire it, then they obviously do not want me to purchase it. Personally, I really don't care if it's a Ed Brown or a Perrazi O/U, I must feel the trigger first ,period, but it is polite to ask.

I agree and if the merchant wants, they can and do provide snap caps.

[CatsEye]

I just always ask. I wouldn't even consider a gun they won't let me dry fire but it is their stuff.

[analog_kidd]

I know most people on this forum wouldn't do it, but I gotta say it. When you do ask the merchant if you can dry fire the gun, please don't aim it am when you do it. I'm sure it's been checked a 100 times, but I think it's bad form.

[Guest Tusculum]

Maybe you were specifing center fire, But never on a rimfire! Thanks, Jack

[DaveTN]

If I wanted to try out the trigger in the store I would ask before doing it.

As far as a friends…. I wouldn’t dry fire my own, so I wouldn’t dry fire someone else’s.

[SavageSig]

I only dry fire after asking for permission. I think it's fine for centerfires, but it's always better to ask when messing around with somebody else's equipment.

I remember once that I was going to buy a Taurus 145 Mil-Pro from Academy, but nobody could tell me with finality if it was DA/SA or DAO. Sign said DA/SA, guy at the counter said DAO, and online apparently you could get either. I asked if I could just pull the trigger and find out. He said absolutely not, that there was a strict no dry firing policy at the store. So I said forget it.

[Guest BEARMAN]

I agree and if the merchant wants, they can and do provide snap caps.

I agree 100 % with that statement!

I had a friend of mine, who I told NOT to dry fire my Beretta Jetfire .25 acp, while he was handling it.

He said...quote: "aw, it's not going to hurt the d**n thing!" and pulled the trigger...and...tink!!!... the sound of the firing pin hitting the linoleum floor!!!....yep, broke dead in two!

He quickly said " Well...I've never had one do that before"! Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

He did take it over to Gun City and have a new firing pin installed, on HIS dime, of course.

Still, to this day, NOT a big advocate of dry firing,without snap caps,on any weapon.

[et45]

I have been in several gun shops that have a sign saying "no dry firing" and then turn around and watch one of the employees lock the side back on an auto pistol and hit the slide release slamming it forward.

[LngRngShtr]

et45 that is like nails on a blackboard, or a drill bit to my ear but is a good litmus test as to how much the clerk understands his product

most folks don't understand the feeding round cushions the closing of most semi-auto actions..

one shop I used to go to ( in 1980s ) had a nice fancy sign stating :

Feel Free to dry fire anything in the house... $35.00 a snap

that store is closed now but I would have loved to have inherited that sign

John

I have a few that I dry fire, mostly my 1911s and I really wish other companies copied Browning on the Medalist safety mechanism.... it has a dry fire setting

[-Bristol-]

Interesting thread. I normally ask and as stated, some shops have a set policy. But for shops where all the staff know the product really well; they seem to understand that it is a gun specific question. Some designs will accomodate it and some absolutely not.

[eapking]

Best to ask first.

I do find it a bit ironic that most say not to dry-fire the Ruger MK III, yet Ruger has that step mentioned more than once in their "take-down procedure from hell".

Otherwise, I've used what amounts to snap caps in mine and they really don't like to eject.

[Guest Drewsett]

I always ask before I dry fire any weapon that is not mine.

[Retired Navy GMC]

Does anyone know of a list that states what firearms shouldn't be dry fired and why? Every gun that I have owned or worked with while in the military has had in the owners manual to dry fire as part of the function check procedure after reassembly.

As for dry firing in a gun store, I always ask the sales associate prior to dry firing, just as a courtesy. And I have never been told not to. I have never seen a firing pin or firing pin spring break due to dry firing.

If I was asked not to dry firing a gun that I am looking at purchasing, the sales associate should have snap caps available so that I can see what the trigger pull is like. If they don't I would probably take my business somewhere else.

Just my $.02

[Guest louderthebetter]

I'm don't like dry fire my own guns but have no problem if using snap caps.

Dry fireing may not hurt the gun but,I cringe just a little bit when someone

does it.

Some time back I was looking at window shopping at a gun shop here in Chattanooga and some guy with his G/friend was holding a revolver and talking to the sales guy and all of a sudden he pointed the gun at the wall and dry fired it five or six times as fast as he could pull the trigger.The salesman looked like he had been slapped in the face and you could have heard a pin drop.

The the dumb a$$ that did it never had a clue how stupid that looked.I wanted to say something but just gritted my teeth and walked away.