Dry fire

Dry firing is the practice of "firing" a firearm without ammunition. That is, to pull the trigger and allow the hammer or striker to drop on an empty chamber.^[1]

This technique is often used to simulate actual firing when there is not a suitable place to practice with live ammunition. The primary benefit of this practice is refined trigger control. For most common cartridges, there are snap caps available to reduce the risk of damaging the firing pin. It is generally acceptable to dry fire more modern centerfire firearms without a cartridge or snap cap. However, dry firing a shotgun or rimfire firearm can damage the firing pin.^{[citation needed]} Furthermore, damage can occur to the chamber mouth of a rimfire firearm.

Dry firing may also refer to the firing of a bow or other weapon without ammunition, which should never be done. Without the arrow to absorb the energy, the energy is instead dissipated through vibration of the string, limbs, etc. Compound bows are particularly susceptible to damage due to high tension and numerous moving parts. Dry firing a modern high-poundage compound bow even once may cause a combination of cracked limbs, bent axles, string derailment, cam warpage, string/cable failure, cable slide failure, and etc. While some bows can survive an occasional dry fire with no damage, no manufacturers warranty their bows for dry fire, and any bow that has been dry fired needs to be thoroughly inspected for damage before shooting again. In particular, the limbs need to be inspected for cracking around cam axles and the opening of the slot where the cams or pulleys fit in (since they tend to tilt sideways during dry fire).

Etymology

The term dry fire, is most likely derived from the similar phrase Dry Run (testing), which is a rehearsal or testing process and in the case of the firearm, one is "testing" the trigger action and observing the hammer or striker drop, without using live ammunition. Sources indicate that "dry" originates from exhibitions by late 19th century fire departments in the USA, where drills (runs) were conducted for public viewing, without the use of water (dry).^[2]

References

1. ^ Rush, Robert S (2006). "Training in operational assignments". NCO Guide (8th revised ed.). Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. p. 107. ISBN 978-0811732734. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=UB5i40J-AK4C&pg=PA107&dq=%22Dry+firing%22&hl=en&ei=0qDkS8D8MYHl-QbbkcjDBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=%22Dry%20firing%22&f=false. 
2. ^ http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-dry1.htm

See also

• Hang fire