Dry firing a percussion rifle

[FRJ]

I want to practice my "offhand" shooting by dry firing my percussion rifle. I am concerned about possible damage that may occur by doing this. Any comments or suggestions? FRJ

 

[junkman_01]

You will damage the nipple if you dry fire without putting a piece of rubber tubing over it.

 

[FRJ]

Junkman, thank you. I will handle that. Are there any concerns about damaging or breaking the hammer with the sudden stop on a dryfire? FRJ

 

[Prairieofthedog]

FRJ,Dry firing will not hurt the hammer any more than firing with a cap on.You just have to put something on the nipple to keep from beating the heck out of it.Some of the old style faucet repair washers work perfect for slipping over the nipple to protect it.

 

[ChrisHarris]

I dry fire my TC Hawken all the time, but I don't pull the hammer back. Just work the triggers. The hammer stays down on the nipple the entire time. I was told it wouldn't hurt the triggers to dry fire them. :idunno:

 

[Huntin_Dawg1215]

I heard the same, and I do the same.

 

[Adui]

:thumbsup: +1 here

 

[54ball]

:thumbsup: +2

 

[rdoggsilva]

Ok, lets make it +3 :thumbsup: :grin:

 

[paulvallandigham]

The problem with using "Set Triggers" to Dry Fire, is that you can damage the sear, one of the levers in the trigger set, and even the tumbler notches doing this. It depends on how well the parts are made, and w

 

[paulvallandigham]

Sorry about that. My computer hiccuped!
What kind of heat treatment the parts have been given is also a factor.

I recommend using some kind of soft rubber impact reducer on the nipple during dry firing. OR, hang onto an old nipple, and put that in the gun for dry firing. Then switch back to the new nipple for shooting. :hatsoff:

 

[Rifleman1776]

I have trouble accepting that as accurate.
Dry firing with the sett triggers is a long time method of practicing.
I've done it many thousands of times without a problem. But, I would like to see some gunsmiths sound in on this.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I have some experience tuning locks- both percussion and flintlocks. I have seen the damage.

It most often appears in cheap imported locks, where sears are made of God-knows-what! The nose is chipped or broken partially.

I have seen damage to the nose of the half cock notch, the next most likely place of damage. This occurs when the hammer is put in the half cock position and then the lock is dry fired by using the sett triggers. The blow of the trigger bar smacks the nose against the thin lip of the half cock notch, and either breaks it off, or takes off a chip on one side or another, depending on the fit of the sear nose to that notch.

Finally, I have seen chips out of the arm on some set triggers where they smack the sear bar.

Again, all this is more commonly seen in imported locks, but I have also seen it in a few American made lock parts. All have been dry fired hundreds, if not thousands of times. It may not ever happen to you or your locks. I merely note it as an issue in hopes of encouraging shooters to not subject the comparatively "delicate" lock parts of their guns to this kind of use( or abuse!)when there are very simple alternatives to use that won't cause damage.

BTW, most modern, stainless steel, and bronze nipples can take a lot of impact abuse before they begin to bulge. Its the questionable steel nipples that show up in imports that are notorious for cracking, or wearing down quickly. It doesn't help that the spring tension on the mainsprings in these locks are horribly, and unnecessarily, too strong.

A properly tuned percussion lock does not require a mainspring so tough that you bruise your thumb just cocking the hammer. :hmm: :shocked2: :shake:

If you don't know what a " Properly tuned" percussion lock should feel like, stop by the slug gun range, and talk to the slug gun rifle shooters. try out their percussion locks, either sidelocks or underhammers- it doesn't matter. It simply does not take as much force to ignite percussion caps as these commercial gun makers are selling. ( Pedersoli, T/C, Lyman, etc.)

 

[RedFeather]

I've found that those little rubber washers for gate valves fit pretty well onto a standard nipple. Just put the flat side down with the coned side up. They seem to cushion the hammer nicely and I use them for storage, too. You can find them at any hardware store, etc.

 

[Sinner]

I have a piece of leather that I place over my nipple when I dry fire.

 

[windwalker_au]

The problem with using "Set Triggers" to Dry Fire, is that you can damage the sear, one of the levers in the trigger set, and even the tumbler notches doing this. It depends on how well the parts are made, and w

i cant see how you could damage the tumbler notches as the sear would be forward of the full cock and half cock notches when the hamer is resting on the nipple and i cant see how it would damage the sear either in that position
Bernie :grin:

 

[paulvallandigham]

If the hammer is always- stress- always- down on the nipple, you are correct. However, some shooters put the hammer in the half cock notch, and when the trigger bar slams up into the sear bar, it can break the lip on the half cock notch. Damage to the full-cock notch occurs because the tumbler is made from soft steel and not hardened, in almost all cases.

Understand, gunsmiths and lock smiths see these guns only when they fail to fire, or won't hold in the half cock notch, and some range officer won't allow the gun to be used on his range in that condition. The owners rarely admit honestly what they have been doing with the gun, or how long they have done it.

It takes a bit of detective work- and giving the owner a scape goat for poor shooting practices, or lack of maintenance and cleaning of the lock to get any kind of semblance of the truth from them. Its " Never" their fault! :shake: :idunno: :nono: :grin:

I have yet to interview any gunsmith who doesn't tell me that 90% of his repair business is a direct result of people failing to clean their guns properly. I have been asking that question of every gunsmith I meet for the past 30 years, BTW. Among BP gunsmiths, they tell me that damage to lock parts are the result of: 1. defects in the metal; 2. failure to clean and resulting rust; and 3. improper ( ie abuse) use of the lock by the shooter, almost always out of ignorance. I find no agreement in the order of these three "causes" but those seem to be the top three mentioned most often.

To there credit, American gun makers have beefed up their parts, and are using better steels to make them, than we saw 50-60 years ago, and thereby reducing the damage to the extent that they can.

I am always amazed at how many shooters never have learned how to use screw-drivers and other basic tools properly. I probably should not be so surprised, as I took a lot of criticism in High School when IO took "Shop" classes while pursuing a college curriculum, and the " Heat" came from both the kids in my shop classes( ie. " what are you doing here?"), and from kids in my coll. prep. classes( ie. "Why are you taking Machine Shop?")

That was back in the early 60s. Now, my old high school has no shop classes at all. :shocked2: :hatsoff:

 

[windwalker_au]

paul i shot with a guy who had a made in the USA CVA big bore .58 mountain rifle that had one of the best curly maple stocks i have ever seen on one of those guns, he used to go home from the range and just not klean the gun for a week some times i said to him that he is killing his gun but he would not listen and in the end after about 18 months two two years the barrel was manure you just cant tell some people :shake: :slap:
Bernie :thumbsup:

 

[tom deinek]

Who cares? Dedicate one $7.50 nipple to dryfiring.

 

[junkman_01]

Apparently, everyone else but YOU who posted in this thread!