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Dry fire M4?


Caligvla

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Just about any modern CENTERFIRE rifle or shotgun can be dry-fired with no ill effects. A rimfire is different, as the firing pin hits on the edge & may strike the rim of the chamber, though many do not. The only 'snap-caps' I have are for my 22's. Part of my belief comes from a talk I had with a tech rep with Browning at their Arnold, MO site. I may not want to dry fire just for the heck of it, but to release the pin on a shotgun or non-bolt rifle I do it all the time.

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I doubt you could dry fire it enough to cause any damage.

 

I dry fire my pistols (all models) thousands of times, and have yet to see any ill effect. With pistols, dry firing is the only way you can develop and maintain a precision trigger stroke without spending thousands of dollars on ammo.

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The hammer in an M4 doesn't know whether there's a round in the chamber or not. It hits the firing pin and stops against the rear face of the bolt. The firing pin is supported by a surrounding return spring, and if it doesn't strike a primer, it is buffered somewhat by the spring, which will reduce it's inertia at the end of its travel, plus when it stops, absent a primer to strike, it bears against a flange that will exert even stress on the pin, so the chance of firing pin breakage is very very low unless there's an inherent defect in the metal. This is a 1 cent engineering analysis, and it's worth every penny.

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I have an ar-15 and two sbe2s. It is safe to dry fire an ar-15, and the bolt of a benelli is like an extra large ar-15 bolt. The fire pins are even very similar. What I am I trying to get at? Both the bolts of a benelli and an a5-15 are similar and it is safe to dry fire and ar-15 so I would think it is safe to dry fire a benelli.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I called Benelli today, they said its not safe to dry fire any of their firearms. They said to use dummy rounds. I asked if she meant snap caps, she said no, dummy rounds are fine. I asked well the dummy rounds have a flat surface, the pin would slam against it. She said that is better than dry firing. Seems odd to me. what do you guys think?

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I called Benelli today, they said its not safe to dry fire any of their firearms. They said to use dummy rounds. I asked if she meant snap caps, she said no, dummy rounds are fine. I asked well the dummy rounds have a flat surface, the pin would slam against it. She said that is better than dry firing. Seems odd to me. what do you guys think?

 

They're giving you the corporate, risk free, no liability, easy answer.

 

"don't do anything even remotely potentially damaging, and nothing bad can possibly happen, and we won't get blamed for anything"

 

...complete bull.

 

Your M4 is not a delicate target rifle with glass parts. It is a combat shotgun made to withstand the elements. Nothing changes when you dry fire it. It's a spring loaded firing pin being hit by a hammer ... it doesn't matter whether there is a round in the chamber or not.

 

As all the other fine people in this thread have said before me, you will be fine.

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  • 2 years later...

Correct me if I am wrong but I dont think there is a decocking device or other method of decocking the M4/M2 other than pulling the trigger. (if there is, please let me know). And if pulling the trigger is the only way, I agree it doesnt matter if the pin strikes air or a dummy round or snap cap. Air may even be better.

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