Dry-Firing Marlin 444 and 39A Leverguns

[flabbydan]

Will dry-firing either of these rifles with the safety on cause damage to any parts of the gun?  I know that centerfire bolt-actions aren't harmed by dry-fire practice on an empty chamber, but is the firing pin on my 444S strong enough to withstand it?  I normally use a spent 22 case to dry-fire my 22's, but they only are good for a few "shots" before extraction problems arise, unless you want to manually rotate the shell in the chamber so that the firing pin hits a different spot each time.  I'd appreciate your input.
Dan

[Mikey]

flabbydan:  I don't think it will cause any sort of a problem.  I regularly practice dry firing my Winchester 444s with the safety on and have seen neither damage or failures in any regard.  HTH.  Mikey.

[John Traveler]

The Marlin (and Winchester) lever actions have large, robust firing pins and are not prone to firing pin breakage.  It is actually RARE to see a Marlin lever action in the shop needing a replacement firing pin.


HTH
John

[ScoutMan]

On exposed hammer rifles, you can cut a cushion from a rubber washer or a piece of gas line hose and insert it between the hammer and the striker plate. This will prevent a lot of wear and tear on both, but as has been mentioned above, these are strong parts and seldom break.

[Malamute]

With the crossbolt safety on I doubt you will have a problem.  The rubber cushion will reduce the impact on your safety as well. I HAVE broken a firing pin in a Marlin 39M, and not from dry firing, just from use, and the occasional click on an empty chamber.

 I disagree regarding the likelyhood of breaking a Marlin or Winchester firing pin. I have broken a Winchester 94 firing pin that was dry fired, and with an empty shell in the chamber. When I took it in to be replaced, the gunsmith said "been dry firing it, haven't you, I've fixed a lot of these that have been dry fired". I think the issue is the heavy hammer fall. With high quality snap caps you will greatly reduce the risk of problems.

[Winter Hawk]

Decap a spent case, and fill the primer pocket with silicon bathtub sealer.  After it has cured you might have to trim it flush with the back of the case, but now you have a snap cap to protect your firing pin.  You can seat and crimp a bullet so this feeds easier, but that is not really necessary with the Marlin.

-WH-

[marlinman93]

Can anyone tell me why people want to dry fire guns? The practice has always baffled me?

[leverfan]

marlinman93-

The basic idea behind dry-firing is mastering the trigger pull and sight picture, without the distraction of blast, recoil, noise, and the flinch that many shooters form as a result.  Most competitive shooters that I've talked to dry fire about three or four times as much as they live fire their guns.  In theory, and perhaps in practice, this builds a muscle memory for proper shooting basics, improving live-fire scores.  You also have a chance to become very familiar with every detail of a gun's trigger pull sequence, again without distraction.  The key to making it valuable practice is to do it often, do it right, and concentrate just as much as you would when actually shooting.

When I first posted this, I forgot to include the best reason of all for dry firing:  you can't get in any live fire practice.  If economics, location, or time prevent you from shooting as much as you'd like, dry fire is better than no fire.

[Lawdog]

I don't know about today's Marlins but the Model 336 .30-30 that belonged to my grandfather I used to dry fire when I was about 12 and the firing pin on it broke, twice.  Ever since then I use dummy cartridges for all dry firing.  They are easy to make for all firearms and no more broken firing pins either.  Lawdog