I’m asking cause I dry fired 500 times to break a new guns trigger in. Note: manufacturer said it’s good for the gun and using snap caps would’ve damaged the striker.
Most of striker fired pistols need a break-in period.
Dry fire makes this period shorter and less expensive.
To be honest, snap caps are not needed for modern non fancy handguns.
It’s good idea to use them when you drop the slide on competition and custom made handguns.
Answering your question - “who else…” - the answer is - me. I usually do this watching a movie. 90 - 120 minutes of trigger press and racking the slide makes almost every handgun fully operational and free of any imperfections on sliding parts.
Depends on manufacturer and model lol I just added the note to help new and old shooters who don’t know or are stuck on old ideas that aren’t relevant unless it’s a rimfire .
Yeah, probably wouldn’t want to do this with a rimfire😏
Check manufacturer.
I was told the same about rimfire… but some time ago I bought Marvel’s 1911 22 conversion kit, and they said it’s dry fire safe. And yes… it is. I still don’t want to take a risk, it’s not a cheap stuff… but sometimes when I practice with it and have to press the trigger, I do this… but like I said… sometimes…
I do…
Yes, I dry fire alot. I use laser cartridges to do dual training. Work the trigger/trigger control and target acquisition.
The question to me would be, how many replacement caps have I gone through, I’ve really lost count.
The laser cartridges have hard rubber primmer, not metal so no damage to firearm.
I understand today’s firearms can be put through its actions without damage but why not get more out of those actions.
I’m in total agreement with practice, practice & practice.
Recommend doing this before anything else…
New handguns come with slight imperfections in their milling.
These steps will “hand burnish” your firearm and noticeably smooth its operation…
- Drop magazine, check and clear firearm. Check it again! Make sure
there is no ammunition in the room where you are performing
these actions. Keep your handgun pointed in a safe direction at all
times. - Operate slide back-and-forth around 100 to 200 times (in groups
of 20 “actions” to avoid fatigue). - Next, operate the slide back-and-forth 4-5 times, then dry-fire and
hold the trigger fully back. While holding the trigger back operate
the slide back-and-forth 4-5 times. Repeat this sequence 20 times. - Insert an unloaded magazine. While holding down the slide release
latch, cycle the slide 10 to 20 times. Repeat this process using each
of your mags. This step is more critical if you are using steel mags. - Check and clear your handgun, then field strip it. Next, use a
coarse non-metallic brush to thoroughly clean all friction bearing
surfaces (rails, locking lugs, etc.) of your handgun and each
magazine. - Wipe your handgun and mags with a soft cloth and lubricate to the
manufacturer’s specifications. Re-assemble.
I love dry fire. I’ve bought the full Mantis system for use at home and since I just started shooting 2 1/2 months ago I’ve gone through there Marksmanship, Advanced Marksmanship & the Elite Marksmanship courses. I’v also done over 7,000 dry firing between all my guns with the Mantis system and I can see really see the difference on my S&W M&P Shield Plus 9mm trigger & racking. It was really still when I first purchased the gun and was hard to slowly pull the trigger. The Mantis x elite system kept saying I was slapping the trigger with it so hard to pull. Now I can feel the trigger slowly pull very smoothly. This maybe breaking in the trigger or it maybe me just training and building on my strength and sensations for all the dry fire rounds. If you love shooting I can not recommend enough the value you can get out of the Mantis training systems. The Mantis X elite is a great start to help you learn everything about how you are handling your handgun, rifle, shotgun & even Bow. I got the Laser system and that has become my favorite thing to do all day long when I get a break. Running both the laser & the X elite at the same time really show how you need to improve your skills when you are shooting under a time constraint and still having accuracy. Then the Blackbeard X is the best of both worlds with an AR-15 platform. It even resets the trigger for better dry fire practice. I can’t wait to get the coolfire system for my pistols next to have the same benefits. I wish I was a sponsor for Mantis, I would love for them to give me discount codes for all the people I’ve introduced the system.
None of the handgun I’ve owned required a break in. The two I own now for EDC I’ve had for 30 +/- years and fired thousands of rounds through them and the triggers have smoothed out over time, but none required a breaking in.
I’ will function check any new to me gun, using a mix of cartridges and magazines (if semi-auto) Maybe 200 rds fired at the get go—that’s as close as I get.
Just to be clear for others reading this topic. I have never heard of any gun manufacture suggesting or requiring that people need to break in their triggers. Though as you experienced most triggers will get at least a little smoother with repeated use, dry or live fire.
Some gun manufacturers do recommend live fire break in periods for some pistols. I’ve also read of some other pistols that don’t run reliably until a few hundred rounds have been run through them even though their manufacturers didn’t recommended it in the manual.
But with the pistols I’ve owned no break in was required to run reliably. Except for one lemon I got that just got worse the more I fired it.
I do a fair amount of dry fire with my SD pistols though and have noticed the triggers getting a little smoother with more use.