My kid sees me dry firing all the time and wants to practice as well.  I think using 22s like an M&P 15-22 for him will be more effective because my ARs are pretty heavy for him.

Do you all have any favorite methods for making 22s deyfire safe so I'm not destroying firing pins or breach faces?

Thanks!

Amazon, search 22LR dummy rounds.  Lots to choose from.

Yeah, in my experience 22 snap caps or dummy rounds get deformed really quick and stop working.  

I'm wondering if there's something else that can be stuck in there for dry firing.

If snap caps are really the best option, that's fine, just wondering if the brain trust has any other ideas.

I saw a picture a while back that showed the plastic part of a dry-wall anchor being used as a .22 snap-cap. I don't remember what size was recommended, but it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out.

Found this thread on Rimfirecentral:

https://www.rimfirecentral.com/threads/which-size-drywall-anchors-for-dry-firing.1061194/


@Switchback_Arms

Let’s take a step back and talk about possible, and distinctly different failure modes.

1) On the one hand you have the potential for damage to the lip of the chamber caused by the firing pin striking it.

This is an often cited concern but in a properly designed firearm that has been properly assembled it’s a total non problem.  Shooters routinely pull the trigger on an empty chamber all the time.  Ever pulled the trigger and discovered the magazine was empty.  Of course you have.  The designer has to take that naturally occurring event into account.

By design, the firing pin protrusion is not enough to actually contact the barrel face.

How that firing pin protrusion is limit can vary and some designs are better than others.  

For example with the Ruger Mk 1-4 series pistols use a pin that is inserted sideways through the bolt to limit its forward movement.  However, if the pin falls out before you insert the bolt in the receiver the pistol will still function. But just one dry fire will cause the firing pin to dent the barrel face and potentially prevent the next round from chambering due to metal intruding into the chamber.   They make an “iron” to press this intruding metal back into place, but it won’t take much dry firing of this type to render the barrel non repairable.

Consequently it’s important for owners of these Ruger pistols to fully understand the importance of that pin.


2) On the other hand, you have concerns about the damage that can occur when the energy from the hammer or striker spring is transferred to the firing pin and is then not further transferred to the rim of the cartridge.  That energy has to go somewhere.  It’s normally absorbed by whatever mechanism is being used to stop the foreword motion of the firing pin as discussed above.

In the Ruger Mk 1-4 pistols, it’s absorbed by the firing pin and the cross pin. Both are cheap parts.  As long as you are 100% certain the pin is in place and you have spares on hand, dry fire the bejeezus out of it.

Other designs are as or more robust, while others are not nearly as robust.  

Consequently whether you need some form of snap cap, whether it’s a dry wall anchor or something else, really depends on the specific design.



3) Finally, there are concerns about face  hardened parts, and the potential for embrittlement as they absorb impacts over time.  The issue is that the hard crystalline structure on the outer surface starts migrating deeper into the softer but tougher metal inside the part. Over time and a very high number of impacts the part can become brittle and break.

That’s a known issue with the Walther PP series pistols including the PP, PPK and PPK/S.  The impact of the hammer when its decocks will over thousands and thousands of uses over decades and decades of use, will eventually cause embrittlement and parts breakage.   That’s why you will see knowledgeable PP series pistol owners manually lowering the hammer as they operate the decocking lever, or just manually lower the handle without using the decocking lever.

That’s also the reason why the US Army was experiencing fire control parts breakage in relatively low round count M9s.  An armorer friend of mine was tasked with looking into these failures and he quickly concluded they were literally function checking these pistols to failure in units where training or daily use and multiple function checks per day with multiple hammer falls and decocks were embrittling the parts entirely independent of actual firing and round count.

In other words, using a snap cap in a .22 LR is, in the vast majority of cases, no more or less important than in a center fire pistol.  It’s just harder to design a rimfire snap cap that actually works to absorb the energy without quickly deforming.

Maybe you don't consider S&W, Colt and Ruger revolvers to be properly designed as most of them will dent the cylinder around the chamber lip when dry fired. Most rimfire firearms with rebounding firing pins will put a dent next to the chamber when dry fired as they are simply more reliable igniting a rimfire cartridge with a firing pin long enough to hit next to the chamber than with a firing pin short enough to prevent the dent from happening.

Go to home Depot
Buy dry wall anchors
#4-6 x 7/8"

I can’t speak to your S&W, Colt, and Ruger .22LR revolvers.

However, none of my rimfire revolvers, including;
- a S&W 3rd generation Outdoorsman;
- a S&W Model 17-3;
- both of the Ruger SP101s in .22LR I have owned;
- the three Ruger Single Six revolvers; as well as
- the Taurus 922 I own;

put a dent in the chamber face when dry fired.

I also don’t have that problem with semi auto .22 LR pistols either, including:

- A pair of S&W 41s;
- a pair of High Standard 107 Victors;
- a Ruger Mk I, a Mk II and a Mk II Govt Model (when properly assembled with the cross pin in place);
- a Walther PP, and a PPk/S .22 LR;
- a Bersa Thunder in .22 LR;
- a Beretta 71, a Tomcat, a 951 and a 951S;
- a S&W Model 61;
- a CZ75 Kadet; and
- a Kimber 1911 in .22 LR.


I also have a number of rimfire rifles including:
- Winchester 1890, 1906, and Model 62;
- Winchester 9422;
- Winchester Model 52 pre A and 52B;
- Remington Model 540X, 541, 541S, Model 513T, Model 66, Model 121, and Model 5;
- CZ 513, 453, and 455;
- Kimber 82, and Kimber 82G;
- Ruger 10/22, and 77/22;
- Springfield M2;
- Mossberg M44
- Anschutz Match 64;
- Savage 187C;
- Browning BL-22;
- Marlin 39A;
- Umarex Colt M4; and
- a CMMG AR-15 upper half in .22 LR as well as a couple Ceiner conversions.

None of them dent the chamber face when dry fired either.

The best simple and short reply in this thread. Cheapest too.

If you like using spent shells you can add some tuff glue like shoe goo to the inside and spin it in a drill to get it into the rim
These plastic anchors look like a much better way to get the same protection

I don't dry fire.  I believe dry firing fails to give the proper feedback and so results in poor actual shooting technique.  From what I understand, a number of law enforcement agencies agree, and they use a simulator that provides the "feel" of firing without ammo being used.

MHO, YMMV, etc.