Okay to dry fire my weapon?

Question

Okay, I know a little about guns, I've grown up around them and know the basics. One thing I was always taught was to never dry fire a firearm no matter what, it can break the hammer.

Now I just got my first handgun, Springfield XD40.To field strip it requires that the hammer be disengaged to remove the slide and the only way to do that is to fire the thing, dry fire the thing because the hammer is not exposed. Am I risking breaking the hammer every time I field strip my gun or has technology changed this?

Answer 1

Well first off it is not the hammer you really are worried about, it is the firing pin. Dry firing a lot of guns risk breaking the pin.

Answer 2

Yes you are correct,  you know a little about guns.  The XD40 does not have a hammer.  There is however an internal firing mechanism that moves the firing pin to the shell casing primer.  If there is nothing there to strike, then there is no firing action.  It is safe to dry fire as long as you ensure the weapon is unloaded.  Check 3 times.  Never assume a weapon is unloaded.  ALWAYS check.  Be safe, have fun and happy shooting

Answer 3

First of all it's not the hammer that you will risk damage to it's the firing pin. You can get away with dry firing it once in a while just don't make a habit out of it. If you still worry about damaging your weapon then place an empty fired case into the chamber of your Springfield XD40 and drop the hammer. You can also purchase snap caps which are used for dry firing here is a link for it: http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0003671223...

Answer 4

just to be safe, you can buy things called snap caps, which are plastic bullets with a spring on the inside. Using these keps you from damaging your gun

Answer 5

dry firing wont hurt your xd, its a striker system so there is no hammer, a simple description would be that you just have a striker (a firing pin, but built to catch what is basically a cam connected to the trigger) and a spring that drives it, very simple. the forward motion of the slide draws the striker back as it catches that cam (sear) and is charged and ready to fire again.  in fact most user manuals will tell you that dry firing won't hurt your weapon and can help break it in (a certain amount of wear provides better accuracy and more reliable function as all parts fall back into exactly the same position and increased tolerance makes them less sensitive to dirt/fouling).  the only firearms you should never dry fire are rim fires, older shot guns and some rifles with hammers, and old revolvers, the reason being that the firing pin is part of the hammer (or they have a free floating firing pin meaning no spring holding it inside the breach block) so they have the full weight of the hammer driving them into the breach block (or no spring cushioning forward travel) causeing a lot of stress and shock which eventually can cause metal fatigue and failure.  with modern firearms, even those with a hammer (sig sauer, h&k, modern 1911s, and even revolvers) you don't have that problem (unless equipped with an aftermarket titanium firing pin, titanium tends to be brittle and quality can vary greatly from batch to batch) in fact you'll cause more damage by allowing the slide to fall forward unrestricted without chambering a round as that round cushions the slides traval.  if your more comfortable you can use snap caps but they really are not nessacary.

technically your not releasing the hammer, your releasing the sear, basicly your dropping that cam that is catching the striker and holding it in a charged position, it sticks up into the slide so it has to be dropped in order to remove the slide.