[SkippySanchez]

Since getting my VP9 after years of putting up with the unfaithfulness of 1911s, I've been stepping up my dry fire to 'learn' the difference between hammer and striker triggers.

In a thread in another forum I'm hearing that snap caps should be used if dry firing a lot to avoid damage, "just in case."

I have a dozen or so 9mm dummy rounds with silicone in the primer pockets that work just fine, but I tire of chasing them all over the room.

So what say you? Can I dry fire my VP9 without the dummy rounds and NOT damage my plastic wundergun?

 

[Hunt7]

Extensive dry firing can damage your gun according to H&K. I suspect this rule would apply to any gun.
Can you rack the slide only to reset the trigger?

 

[Renz]

Why are you having to chase your dummy rounds around the room? What I do is lightly rack the slide, not all the way so it wouldn't eject the dummy but still pull the striker back enough for another dry fire.

To answer your question, yes its perfectly fine to dry fire without snaps. I've been doing it for years on my Vp9 and I'm yet to see one issue with it. Most modern striker fire pistols are built to withstand dry fires without causing damage. Even many professionals encourage dry firing with or without snaps. If anyone has anything else to say I'd love to hear their story of someone's striker gun failing because they dry fired too much.

 

[SkippySanchez]

Why are you having to chase your dummy rounds around the room? What I do is lightly rack the slide, not all the way so it wouldn't eject the dummy but still pull the striker back enough for another dry fire.

To answer your question, yes its perfectly fine to dry fire without snaps. I've been doing it for years on my Vp9 and I'm yet to see one issue with it. Most modern striker fire pistols are built to withstand dry fires without causing damage. Even many professionals encourage dry firing with or without snaps. If anyone has anything else to say I'd love to hear their story of someone's striker gun failing because they dry fired too much.

I'll be darned. I didn't know you could reset the trigger without yanking the slide all the way back. I'll do some experimenting; until then, how far back does the trick?

 

[Renz]

Enough to where you'll hear a click (striker in cocked position). Do it slow at first to get the hang of it and soon enough it will become muscle memory. It's maybe about half an inch of reciprocation.

 

[RustyIron]

Extensive dry firing can damage your gun according to H&K. I suspect this rule would apply to any gun.

Can you point me to the page in the manual that says this?

 

[UDT]

Why are you having to chase your dummy rounds around the room? What I do is lightly rack the slide, not all the way so it wouldn't eject the dummy but still pull the striker back enough for another dry fire.

To answer your question, yes its perfectly fine to dry fire without snaps. I've been doing it for years on my Vp9 and I'm yet to see one issue with it. Most modern striker fire pistols are built to withstand dry fires without causing damage. Even many professionals encourage dry firing with or without snaps. If anyone has anything else to say I'd love to hear their story of someone's striker gun failing because they dry fired too much.

This is correct.

 

[philly01]

Why are you having to chase your dummy rounds around the room? What I do is lightly rack the slide, not all the way so it wouldn't eject the dummy but still pull the striker back enough for another dry fire.

To answer your question, yes its perfectly fine to dry fire without snaps. I've been doing it for years on my Vp9 and I'm yet to see one issue with it. Most modern striker fire pistols are built to withstand dry fires without causing damage. Even many professionals encourage dry firing with or without snaps. If anyone has anything else to say I'd love to hear their story of someone's striker gun failing because they dry fired too much.

This


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[grumpy1]

If I am dry firing just a few times, say a dozen time or so I won't use a snap cap. If I am dry firing a lot such as hundreds of times a week I will use a snap cap in any of my center fire pistols. Extremely cheap insurance.

 

[Hunt7]

Can you point me to the page in the manual that says this ?

This issue is not address in the manual. However, a friend and I was having a discussion about " dry firing " one day, and we decided to call H&K and Glock about this subject. We received very similiar answers from both companies. They stated that periodic dry firing would not harm the pistol. But, if you were the kind of guy who likes to sit and watch tv while dry firing your gun for literally 1000's of times. They recommended using snap caps. I'm confident if you call, you will receive the same response.

 

[YVK]

If anyone has anything else to say I'd love to hear their story of someone's striker gun failing because they dry fired too much.

A friend broke two or three Glock slides dry firing. He is known to dry fire up to two hours a day. M level shooter in USPSA Limited division, shooting a minor power factor from his every day concealment gear; meaning he should've been a GM if he wasn't stubborn and shot a few classifiers with a major power factor. Here's his website Gabe White Training ? High Performance Concealed Carry, send him an email, he'll tell you more about breaking guns with dry fire.
I have dedicated df guns and still use them caps.

 

[Slytiger]

Rack the hell out of it. Dry fire the hell out of it. If Glock can HK can

 

[WellWellWell]

A friend broke two or three Glock slides dry firing. He is known to dry fire up to two hours a day. M level shooter in USPSA Limited division, shooting a minor power factor from his every day concealment gear; meaning he should've been a GM if he wasn't stubborn and shot a few classifiers with a major power factor. Here's his website Gabe White Training ? High Performance Concealed Carry, send him an email, he'll tell you more about breaking guns with dry fire.
I have dedicated df guns and still use them caps.

This is the correct answer here, of course you can do it and you may get away with it for quite a while... eventually something will give way as they are designed to fire live rounds ultimately.

 

[sleepersilverado]

Why not trim the case where the extractor can't grab it. Then you could rack it and dry fire all you want

 

[Renz]

A friend broke two or three Glock slides dry firing. He is known to dry fire up to two hours a day. M level shooter in USPSA Limited division, shooting a minor power factor from his every day concealment gear; meaning he should've been a GM if he wasn't stubborn and shot a few classifiers with a major power factor. Here's his website Gabe White Training ? High Performance Concealed Carry, send him an email, he'll tell you more about breaking guns with dry fire.
I have dedicated df guns and still use them caps.

2 to 3 glocks broken off of just dry firing? That to me is incredible. You would think he'd learn after his first brakeage haha. Well that's interesting for sure to say the least, definitely something I'll be look further into. Guy must have been dry firing about hundreds of times a day.

 

[ARCTICDETH]

Hogwash

Bro in law, Phoenix police sgt, glock 22 I think. .40. Had it 25 years, dryfires all the time, never failed. Well over 20.000 rds through it.
Never any issues with it, only 1 recall about 15 years ago for a trigger bar,

Dry fire all u want. Good warranty

 

[Klaustrophobia]

No one has ever been able to explain to me the mechanism of dry firing causing damage. "It's designed to shoot live rounds" is the only answer I've ever gotten. A live round results in a HELL of a lot more stress on the firearm that the firing pin striking nothing and being cycled by hand. The only thing I can come up with myself is wear on the firing pin could be relocated from the tip to whatever part of the firing pin makes contact and arrests forward motion with nothing in the chamber. Just because something's not being used exactly 'as designed' doesn't mean it's being damaged. My chair is designed to have my fat ass sitting in it, doesn't mean it's going to fail sooner if I set my bag on it.

 

[YVK]

A live round results in a HELL of a lot more stress on the firearm that the firing pin striking nothing and being cycled by hand.

Top technical shooters shoot anywhere from 15 to 50K rounds annually, and dry fire up to 8 times that amount. Firing pin hitting that slide is a lot less violent event but if that happens a hundred thou to a quarter mil times a year, I don't know why anyone would be surprised.

 

[WellWellWell]

Top technical shooters shoot anywhere from 15 to 50K rounds annually, and dry fire up to 8 times that amount. Firing pin hitting that slide is a lot less violent event but if that happens a hundred thou to a quarter mil times a year, I don't know why anyone would be surprised.

Bingo, the effects of stress (specifically impacts) on steel over long term are known and well documented... it can only take so many impacts before a crack begins to propogate. Don't believe us, take a framing hammer and pound on the spine of a knife to split some wood... won't be long before your knife is in two pieces... even the toughest steels out there can't handle repeated impacts long term.

 

[Sombra]

I'll be darned. I didn't know you could reset the trigger without yanking the slide all the way back. I'll do some experimenting; until then, how far back does the trick?

Just be careful not to develop short stroke muscle memory.