Is Dry-Firing A Muzzleloader Safe?

[pugjunga123]

Often wondered about my flintlock. I never dry fired it. I'll do the wood thing for practice.

[jhickdog]

A piece of leather over the nipple or a piece of wood will suffice.


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[OverMax]

Never got into dry firing my B/P guns. As those I use have Set triggers. I find just setting and squeezing the trigger/s alone works for me. I don't think doing so hurts anything? but excessive cocking and dry firing on a nipple has to produce some wear & tear on something other than just the nipple alone.

If I really needed to dry fire a cocked lock. >Very sparingly done.< __Bubba 50s reply is how I would go about it.

[mooman76]

I don't dry fire mine either. I was taught not to many years ago and it kind of stuck. I'm not trying to judge anyone that does either. If you do it allot though I think I would pull the nipple and rig something to replace it with, something that would absorb the shock better.

[bedbugbilly]

Lead Fred - I'm curious about your stating that dry firing a flintlock with a flint in the jaw will break your jaw screw every time?

Whether there is powder in the pan or not - the action of the flintlock is the same. If you are breaking a jaw screw . . . then something is out of whack. Your flint shock be cushioned with either a leather or lead wrap and not setting tight against the jaw screw. When the cock falls, the flint hits the frizzed the same and with the same lock geometry whether the rifle is loaded or not. In over 50 years of shooting BP - both flint and percussion - I have never had a jaw screw break. I'm not a big fan of "dry firing" either a flint or a percussion rifle. It's a waste of flint. It's easier to learn the trigger pull by actually shooting.

Percussion rifles - or pistols/revolvers - it will peen the nipple and if done on a bare nipple, over a period of time it will damage the cup of the hammer. If a person feels they must dry fire - then cushion the nipple as already explained above. Again, though . . . the best way to "learn" your trigger pull is to practice and fire your rifle. If the rifle has set triggers - whether it be flint or percussion . . . you can practice by just setting the trigger . . . but also remember that each time you pull on that set trigger, it is striking the sear arm and over time, can peen the trigger and the sear . . . especially if there is a lot of distance that the trigger has to go before tripping the sear.

[Rick Hodges]

I just take a heavy rubber faucet washer...pre cartridge style. Put it over the nipple like a donut.

[Earlwb]

For flintlocks, I would be concerned with the flintlock frizzen getting its face case-hardening worn off when dry firing. Then it won't spark anymore. You then need to get it re-case-hardened again or replace it. In the old days the soldiers used to carry an extra frizzen in case theirs stopped sparking. You cannot leave the flint off as the screw will likely hit the frizzen then too. Maybe a piece of hard rubber shaped like a flint would be the way to go in this case.

[Col4570]

With Percussion guns I do not Dry Fire due to battering the Nipple and Hammer.I usually Dry Fire my Flintlocks to check if sparking prior to the first loading.Over the years I have seen several Percussion Hammers broken off at the Neck probably due to the extra stress of Dry Firing.The several ideas for cushioning the blow are good and would be a help when recreating actual firing conditions minus the ignition.

[Squeeze]

Why would you dry fire anything? I never understood this. How can the pro's outweigh the cons? Either go to the range and shoot, or dont. Dry firing a gun always seemed to make as much sense to me as sitting in the car in the driveway going vroom vroom and pretending to turn the wheel.

[Hickory]

Why would you dry fire anything? I never understood this. How can the pro's outweigh the cons? Either go to the range and shoot, or dont. Dry firing a gun always seemed to make as much sense to me as sitting in the car in the driveway going vroom vroom and pretending to turn the wheel.

Logic of this caliber is seldom seen or voiced.

[rfd]

"dry firing" is personally subjective thing.

on the plus side, it does provide the shooter's finger and brain with positive feedback for the unique trigger action and control of a unique trigger and firearm.

you can get that good brain/trigger training at the range by allowing the firearm to do what it's s'posed to do, and get positive feedback as the machine fires and you get to experience both recoil and noise. the down side *might* be yer wasting ammo in teaching yer brain and finger, there *may* be the associated dollar cost$ of getting to and using the range, and a time frame must be carved out in yer schedule to get to said range (unless yer range is in yer back yard ).

you can dry fire train that specific trigger/firearm whenever and wherever the urge strikes. in doing so, and in *some* cases you wear or possibly damage firearm parts, yer losing the real world sensations of shot control due to the lack of recoil and noise, and missing out the results of physical projectile placement on a target.

however, since most of this is personally subjective, yer choice will always be the correct route to take.

[Col4570]

Why would you dry fire anything? I never understood this. How can the pro's outweigh the cons? Either go to the range and shoot, or dont. Dry firing a gun always seemed to make as much sense to me as sitting in the car in the driveway going vroom vroom and pretending to turn the wheel.

I agree those where my first thoughts but since the question was asked I offered my advise.Your logic is sound.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Why would you dry fire anything? I never understood this. How can the pro's outweigh the cons? Either go to the range and shoot, or dont. Dry firing a gun always seemed to make as much sense to me as sitting in the car in the driveway going vroom vroom and pretending to turn the wheel.

Seems like seeing how the engine fires the day before an important trip is quite different.

You scrape away the striking surface of the frizzen every time you fire, though, and if it is case-hardened it makes sense to save that for real shooting. When people mentioned a piece of wood or rubber with a flintlock, I assumed it was the excellent idea of clamping it in the jaws and using it as a dummy flint.

[curator]

With a flintlock, simply make a wood "flint" to replace the real one and fire away. With a percussion gun, it is not good to let the hammer hit an unprotected cone/nipple. For these I recommend going to the hardware store and finding some "faucet washers" these are half-round with a hole through their centers. They fit right over your nipple and cushion the hammer blow to protect the nipple. Dry fire to your heart's desire. Do not remove the nipple/cone and dry fire as you will possibly damage your lock or stock.

[M-Tecs]

Why would you dry fire anything? I never understood this. How can the pro's outweigh the cons? Either go to the range and shoot, or dont. Dry firing a gun always seemed to make as much sense to me as sitting in the car in the driveway going vroom vroom and pretending to turn the wheel.

Dry fire practice is vital part of training for top level competitors simple because it develops you into a better shooter by ingraining proper position building and rebuilding, sight alignment, sight picture, focus, trigger release and calling the shot.


http://www.beingofservicerifle.com/dry-firing/

https://www.usna.edu/HPRT/_files/doc...Dry%20Fire.pdf

http://www.handgunsmag.com/personal-...etter-shooter/

There are cons to dry firing some rim fires and old firearms. With firearms designed to be dry fired or when using proper snap caps there are only pro's to dry fire.

[Tatume]

Since someone asked to include percussion revolvers in this discussion, Ruger specifically advises that dry firing the Old Army is harmless to the gun.

[swathdiver]

Pardon me, I'm sorta a newbie, but what is a ring cap?

Those red caps that are arranged in a circle that are used with children's toy cap guns. Usually 6-8 caps form a ring and make their sixshooters go bang with flash and smoke for realism while they play cowboys and indians.

Dry firing practice allows one to develop good trigger habits without expending inordinate amounts of ammunition to create the proper muscle memory for accurate shooting and train out any flinching.

[bones92]

Dry-firing can be very helpful in practicing proper technique, particularly when getting to know the feel of a rifle or pistol.

I use short piece of clear fuel tubing, cut a bit long and slipped over the nipple. Keeps the nipple from getting flattened.

For flintlock, one can merely push the frizzen forward to get the feel for the trigger and action without wearing out the flint. You only get so many strikes out of a flint before you have to sharpen it.