Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

For those of you who don't have easy access to a range, but want to practice dry-firing with your 10/22....

I read Ruger's manual for this model of rifle. On (I believe) Page 19, it says explicitly that dry-firing is safe for the rifle and can be done without harm to it...AFTER you make sure it is unloaded, of course, and pointed in a safe direction! So, go ahead and practice in your house.

A 10/22 is a target gun, the consequences of a failure are minimal. Combined with the small probability of an actual failure occurring, it makes sense they say it is ok.

I still would not do it, even if the manufacturer said it was ok, for a self defense gun without a buffered firing pin. Just my 2 cents.

I don't yet know the mechanics of 10/22's or other rimfire firearms. What is it about them that makes them not good generally to dry-fire without this buffered firing pin? I dry-fire my Super Redhawk all the time.

CowboyT wrote:I don't yet know the mechanics of 10/22's or other rimfire firearms. What is it about them that makes them not good generally to dry-fire without this buffered firing pin? I dry-fire my Super Redhawk all the time.

It isn't limited to .22s. If there is no buffer, commonly a spring, to absorb the hammers energy, then the firing pin is slammed against its retainer. Repeated abuse makes it brittle and eventually it can break. Irrelevant in a target gun, but for a self-defense firearm Murphy's law says is breaks at the worst possible time. Look at hammer fired pistol like a SIG/1911/etc. and you will see the firing pin is very long and there is a spring in front of it that pulls the firing pin back into its retainer. Striker fired pistols have the spring on the other side and it wants to push the firing pin out, not pull it back.

.22s have the additional concern of all rimfires. Namely, that the firing pin can go far enough forward to dent the chamber. If it does this, it weakens the force of hitting the primer significantly and may cause hangfires or misfires.

The design of the 10/22 firing pin/bolt stops the firing pin prior to the tip hitting the edge of the chamber. The firing pin has a little dog leg in it that bottoms out inside the bolt to stop the firing pin. Anyway, if you don't count rounds the darn thing drops the hammer on an empty chamber after the 10th round anyway. Since the bolt doesn't lock back it goes click when you pull the trigger after 10 rounds.

Some .22's, especially older ones, can damage the firing pin or chamber edge when dry fired and I wouldn't take a chance with one. I dry fire with my 10/22 (and with my M1A, M1, AR15, etc.) as part of practicing.

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Yep he is right. Try it, push the firing pin with your hand it stops flush with the bolt. I have some older .22s and they don't have it. That firing pin just slams against the chamber face.

Yep it's pretty much been covered, but if it wasn't a good thing to do, I don't think Ruger would put it in their manual.