How to dry fire a revolver?

[trent/OH]

Dry fire practice is helping my rifle shooting, so I hope it can help me become a tolerable pistol shooter. But I figure if I dry fire a revolver, it will peen the nipples in short order. How can I dry fire without damaging the revolver?

 

[bubba.50]

maybe one of those guards to protect capped extra cylinders would work?

 

[nhmoose]

Take out the nipples? Replace with derlin ones?
Originals were made for the hammer to not contact the nipple itself supposedly but I would not chance it with replicas.

 

[hawkeye2]

Take the cylinder to you local auto parts store and get some vacuum tubing that will fit snugly on the nipple and still fit in the nipple recess. Buy a foot as it's cheap and cut pieces as long as possible so that they are almost touching the recoil shield but won't interfere with rotation.

 

[TFoley]

You can dry fire a ROA forever because it is designed that way, but anything else you are going to have to come up some arrangement like those detailed here.

tac

 

[robinsroost]

Take the cylinder to you local auto parts store and get some vacuum tubing that will fit snugly on the nipple and still fit in the nipple recess.

Or the rubber cups sold to cover unused vacuum ports on a carburetor........robin

 

[Zonie]

Dry fire practice is helping my rifle shooting, so I hope it can help me become a tolerable pistol shooter. But I figure if I dry fire a revolver, it will peen the nipples in short order. How can I dry fire without damaging the revolver?

Your revolver might peen the nipples without resorting to the fix mentioned above but, all of the original cap & ball revolvers made by Colt and Remington were designed to never allow the hammer to hit the end of the nipple even if the cylinder was pushed to the rear until it stops on the recoil shield ring. (The hand spring will often push the cylinder forward when the hammer is down.)

The original guns hammers stop on the frame before the end of it comes close to touching the end of the nipple.**

My suggestion is for you to try to determine if the hammer will hit the end of the nipple when it is resting in the fired position.

The best way to do that is to put a tiny piece of clay or wax on the end of the nipple.
Then, while the hammer is at the half cock position, rotate the cylinder until the nipple with the wax or clay on it will be the next chamber to rotate into the firing position when the hammer is cocked.

Cock the hammer to full cock and then, with your thumb on the hammer spur, pull the trigger and allow the hammer to fall slowly until it stops on the frame. Then, put the hammer back at half cock.

Examine the wax/clay closely.

If you can see metal thru the wax/clay your gun will need the fixes mentioned above.

If there is about .010 thickness of wax/clay covering the end of the nipple, your gun can be safely dry fired as it is.

Don't forget to clean the wax/clay out of the nipple. :grin:

** The thickness of the cap shell plus the priming compound is considerably greater than the hammer/nipple clearance so with a fresh cap installed, the compound is always impacted by the end of the nipple.

 

[Col. Batguano]

Take the cylinder to you local auto parts store and get some vacuum tubing that will fit snugly on the nipple and still fit in the nipple recess.

It would be a good idea to have the cylinder out of the gun when you whip it out at the counter too. :wink:

 

[Tom Compton]

The Moose wins! Remove the nipples.

 

[Squatch84]

Toy caps at Walmart. They should last for a good number of firings. Just remember the pop when first used lol.

 

[roadgrader]

Just stick an earplug in the frame. Stacey

 

[hawkeye2]

Yup, that's why I said take the cylinder. :grin:

 

[smoothshooter]

Everyone here is making this WAY too complicated, while overlooking the EASY solution:

Take a foam earplug.
Cut in half crossways.
Cock the hammer.
Stick earplug in the upper part of the hammer recess.
Point at target, pull trigger.
Repeat as necessary.

NOTHING out there works better than this.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Send to Mike at Goon's Gun Works. He will slick up the gun and make it to where it can be dry fired safely. He can also install a cap's rake to prevent cap's jams.

 

[Kansas Jake]

I like simple. This works.