General question on "dry firing" S&W revolvers.

[Buzzdraw]

Isn't it recommended that you not dry fire one with the firing pin set in the hammer?

Actually more likely to break one of the aftermarket ones in the more recent frame mount style. Some of those makers specifically recommend snap caps with dry fire.

If you're going to dryfire a centerfire a lot, by this I mean ten's of thousands of times a year, I do recommend snap caps. That's for both the hammer mount and frame mount firing pins.

GTG's comment about the effects of fast double action on heavy cylinders is to be heeded. Back in the days of bowling pin match popularity, it was common to see problems with the big N-frame revolvers, due to exactly that effect.

 

[_CY_]

correct answer is .... it depends on the revolver
S&W has made soooo many different revolvers over the years.
all but impossible to make blanket statements and still be 100% accurate.

IMHO...exception of course is for liability reasons by S&W.

a perfect example is official statement below that it's not OK to dryfire ALL .22 rimfire revolvers. well that's categorically not true.

the correct answer is still ... it depends on the revolver.
folks have been dryfiring S&W .22 revolvers thousand of times for years on end with zero problems.

some models' firing pins have natural stops built-in. meaning firing pin cannot touch cylinder cartridge rim stop. note that if you continuously dryfire, at some point you will wear through firing pin stop and damage revolver.

here's a picture of my S&W .22 revolver with clear indents caused by cylinder out of time before I acquired revolver. note there is NO damage to cartridge rim stop. only to face above where .22 rimfire cartridge will sit. this .22 revolver has been dry fired thousands of times by me and no telling how many times before I got it.

here's a link to a total disassembly of this revolver
http://www.okshooters.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98175

[Broken External Image]

Ok, a confession to make. The first thing I should have done was go to the smith-wesson.com website to see if I could find the answer. The post by z06, above, triggered this thought and so I did that. Below is their answer. I post it as it might be of interest to others. The lesson here is to look for the answer before you ask a question on the board.

The 3rd question on their FAQs is "can I dry fire my S&W?"

Q: Can I dry fire my Smith & Wesson?

A: Yes, except for the .22 caliber pistols which includes models 22A, 22S, 422, 2206, 2214, 2213 and 41.

.22 caliber revolvers such as models 17, 43, 63, 317 and 617 also should not be dry fired.

Q: Why can't I dry fire my .22 pistol or revolver?

A: Dry firing a S&W .22 pistol or revolver will cause damage to the firing pin.

Now that I have done this, I remember back a few months ago when I was researching the 460 model I went to this site and read the FAQs looking for information that might influence my decision.

Just for the record and information for other S&W owners the site is linked below.

https://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp...4_750001_750051_757815_-1_757814_757812_image

There is some useful information here.

 

[z06man]

First, thanks to all who have responded.

Second, z06, I have read the manual three times since I got it and it doesn't address any issues related to dry firing etc. Each reading I pick up something new about the gun. But, there is now a word in regards to warnings on dry firing or anything even remotely related.

I doubt this question would apply to your revolver as it is a new production and therefore not be in the manual. Older Smith's had hammer mounted firing pins, bit I don't think any of them do anymore. They all use frame mounts with a transfer bar.