Is it OK to Dry Fire an AR15?

[bigger hammer]

I know of MANY guns that won't be harmed in slightest by decades of dry firing.

I know of many guns that WILL be harmed by being dry fired, some in a surprisingly small number of trigger pulls.

I know of ABSOLUTELY NO GUNS that will be harmed by dry firing with a snap cap in place.

For me; snap caps are a cheap investment AND they make completely sure that a live round is not in the chamber when the trigger is pulled. This forum and the Net are full of "aw *****s" from people who have made that mistake.

[Greg-Dawg]

even then, don't you still get some unnecessary wear with snap caps?

That's why you get more than one snap cap.

But I still have some snap caps that have been cycled and dry fired for 90K times; they're still good to go.

[jmlivingston]

In the military we dry-fired our M16's all the time, frequently for hours a day. Never had a problem with it.

[Milsurp Collector]

There must be a lot of wives out there...but have seen no compelling evidence to prove springs whilst remaining compressed. At least other than the fact that every vehicle on the road is supported by springs and precious few of them have sacked out after holding up a ton or two (or three) for a decade or more. - Phil

Good article about magazine spring myths http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...7/ai_99130369/

[russ69]

Springs will only "weaken" if the wire is compressed to the yield point of the metal. No modern design will do that. Temper can be lost due to heat cycling (annealing) but temps would have to be higher than what a human would be able to survive in. Cocked is OK.

Thanx, Russ

[HK Dave]

you will crack your lower

What he said.

If the rifle is complete... dry fire until your fingers turn blue.

If your pin magically breaks... order a new one at $7

http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/Firing-Pin-AR15-p/firing%20pin%20ar15.htm

[ddimick]

You can dry fire just about any centerfire firearm all day long. The same cannot be said for rimfire. You're safe to dry fire your assembled AR15 in most of the common calibers, but consult the manufacturer before doing same with a .22 upper or conversion kit.

[damndave]

yes it is fine to dry fire a AR15

[TurnersGunslinger]

you will do no harm. the Marine Corps dry fires their 16's hundered's of thousands of times during drill, snapping in before rifle qual and nothing happens except it goes click.