Dry fireing a Ruger single six?

[Chris B.]

I know it is bad to dry fire a rim fire but is the Ruger single six any different with it's transfre bar? Also I usually loose track of how many shots I fired and some times shoot that 7th shot on an already spent round, does this hurt the gun or considered dry firing? Thank you!

[Steve P]

Neither will hurt a single six.  Why dry fire a .22?  Just go out and shoot it!!  it's cheap.   :-D

Steve  

[macbullet]

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[John Traveler]

I was trained to avoid dryfiing .22 guns also.

However, the Rugers are particularly well-designed.  I remember reading about an automated fixture set up at the Ruger factory where they had production single-six revolvers repeatedly dryfired, and at last count, there had been several MILLION cycles snapped without any firing pin damage!  These were the transfer bar actions.

On the other hand, I can think of several pistol designs (the Star Model B and BS semi autos come to mind) where the firing pin stop is also the retainer and firing pins routinely break from dryfiring.

[Chris B.]

Thanks you guys! So I have conflicting opinions???

John, where did you hear about those Rugers and dry firing??? Thank you!

[Graybeard]

It isn't the firing pin you damage when you dry fire a rimfire. It is the chamber area where the pin damages the chamber area and right under the rim where it fires. Not a good idea to do it very often. Yeah I've done it before and will do it again but NOT a lot. VERY seldom is best with all rimfire guns.

GB

[Chris B.]

What about an auto .22 pistol like the mkII Ruger? YOu can not de-cock it so you have to pull the trigger or leave it cocked. What do you do in this situation?

[PDM1]

Per Ruger both the Single Six and the MkII can be dry fired without any problem.  The Single Six firing pin will not hit the cylinder face since the firing pin is not long enough and the MkII has a stop that keeps the firing pin from hiting the chamber face.  I own both and have dry fired hundreds of times.  Now my S&W's are another story.........can't do it on them.

[wpeeler]

The instruction manual that came with my Single Six says dry firing is OK.

[gregdemars]

take a look at your cylinder. You'll probably see a small ding or dent on the lip of the counterbore where the firing pin is just barely hitting the edge. I know mine has it. Easy to see with a magnifying glass.

[West Creek Charlie]

I would not dry fire your single six with spent casings in the cylinder. It WILL cause the dents on the cylinder. Dry firing with empty chambers is OK and should not cause a problem as mentioned above. The occasional dry fire due to miss counting your rounds isnt going to hurt anything either.

When I was young I took my new to me then Single Six Bicentennial model and placed empty casings in the chambers thinking this was proper to prevent damage during dry firing and proceded to dry fire it many times. The casings transfered the energy from the firing pin and dented the face of the cylinder at each chamber. You must rotate the casings every time to get a clean rim to hit or you will cause damage.

My Advise is to dry fire it with empty chambers or not at all. The occasional mis count being an exception and I have found does not cause any problem.

[macbullet]

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