Dry firing?

I've had mine for two years now and I always pull the trigger on it after it has been emptied prior to taking it into a vehicle or home. Have not had any problems yet and will continue to do same.

I would not just "dry fire" it over and over again for practice though....

If you are really worried about dry firing you can get "snap caps".

I believe SIG handguns are ok to do that per the manufacturer, but I don't know about the 556. I have done it though and I'm not real worried about it.

I have always been taught that it is the final step in functioning checking and clearing a weapon.

Thanks for the replies, folks! I appreciate it! The reason I inquired about dry-firing is as follows: The design of the firing pin is somewhat similar to the SKS series of rifles. For those who are into SKS' or milsurps in general, you will/might know what I mean. With an SKS, dry firing can essentially elongate the notch cut into the firing pin's body, as well as deform its tip. This in turn will cause added protrusion of the pin's tip which can, of course, result in pierced primers. Then again, an SKS' firing pin 'floats' in the bolt, while the SIG's pin is spring loaded. Just throwing this around a bit! Best!

The old caution of not dry firing a firearm originated with rim fire weapons. There was a time when even large caliber weapons fired rim-fire cartridges, like the .22 LR we are all familiar with. If there is no cartridge in the chamber of a rim-fire weapon, the hammer will strike against the breach (Instead of the soft, brass cartridge head). WIth a center-fire weapon, like the SIG 556, dry firing is perfectly safe. The hammer strikes the firing pin and the pin strikes the..... Well, nothing. Just a whole lotta empty chamber.

When I had a Ruger SR9 they said definately don't dry fire the gun due to damage. It's in the manual. That's the only gun I ever saw that said that officially.

Kind of funny when this question comes up. When I was in the army we constantly dry fired our weapons. It was tought and encouraged. Most rimfires these days have a notch machined where the fireing pin will strike and no damage will occur. This debate is like breaking in a barrel. Some guys believe in an elaborate process and some don't. To each their own.

Zeus the Beretta PX4 manual says the same thing.

Zeus said:

When I had a Ruger SR9 they said definately don't dry fire the gun due to damage. It's in the manual. That's the only gun I ever saw that said that officially.

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I want to say (i.e. I could be wrong) that my M9 manual also says it can't be dry fired.

:arrow:

The Px4 is a great gun, the 9mm recoils like a 22 magnum. Very mild recoil. And it feels amazing in the hand. Light even with a full loadup. One of my favorite Polymer guns. Unfortunately Beretta puts a disclaimer to dry firing AND +P loads.

The biggest issue I have with it is that first, it does not have night sights from Beretta, it has the stupid, flash it with a light first (cuz it's not tacticool unless you destroy your own night vision first). And that you can't buy it in DA/SA only. The Safety is awkwardly shaped and hard to reach sometimes and has a VERY odd shaped profile.

I train DA/SA. The safety threw me. After I needed the gun once and pulled it (thankfully ended up not needing to fire) cleaned up and an hour later realized I'd never even though to take the safety off. So I put it on the shelf till I could sell it and picked up my Sigs again.

Reblyell said:

Is this a big, "No, no!" for the 556 series of rifles? Thanks!

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...getting back on topic !

...NO ! ...it it's not a big " No, no!" to dry fire your 556...you're fine...

I believe the current best practice is to check with the mfg/owners manual before dry firing for trigger practice, and then to use Snap Caps if necessary. For handgun accuracy, trigger control practice can be very beneficial. There is a nice 'Trigger Control 101' thread on a Glock site that they 'published' as a sticky thread due to the quality and popularity of it.


http://www.glockfaq.com/content.aspx?ckey=glock_faq_trigger_technique_101

There is nothing in the wonderful manual Sig published for the 556 regarding dry firing.

I have read the thread on the glock trigger before and there is a lot of very good info there.

I called Sig CS about the manual and was told there would be a new one in the near future. The rep ask me to give him my address and he would send one out as soon as it was available.

rainman74 said:

There is nothing in the wonderful manual Sig published for the 556 regarding dry firing.

I have read the thread on the glock trigger before and there is a lot of very good info there.

I called Sig CS about the manual and was told there would be a new one in the near future. The rep ask me to give him my address and he would send one out as soon as it was available.

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The SIG manual clearly states that you should conduct the function check after reassembling the rifle, which means that you will be dry firing the rifle.

Page 47:

7.2. Function Check
The function check described below should be performed
whenever the rifle is disassembled and reassembled, or whenever
proper function of the rifle is suspect.
1. Unload weapon (see section 5.0) – visually and physically
check to ensure the rifle is clear of all ammunition;
2. Place the safety lever in the “Sâ€

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+1 for function checking..
for practicing your trigger pull I believe I have seen rimless snap caps. Or you could shave down your own plastic rims. Guns with plastic trigger components should avoid dry firing. I believe the 556 is solid enough to take limited dry firing

Dry firing a completely assembled SIG55X series rifle will not harm it. I would not, however, dry fire the "lower" without the upper assembly in place.

I think there will always be a debate on this subject, however this guy uses A-Zoom dummy rounds for dry fire, trigger control drills. They are CNC machines aluminum with a plug of rubber/silicon in the primer pocket and I can get a few thousand dry fires out of them. They are also great for function drills like FTF and mag changes. I've tried all the other snap caps and the A-Zoom product is superior in quality and reliability in my humble opinion.