Dry firing - what real damage?

[jarmuschfan]

Okay, new gun, less that 300 pellets fired through it, but in getting to know it I have had three evenly-spaced dry-fires, resulting in some minor smoke from pellet cartridge aperture. Subsequent shots seem to be fine on target, so I am not overly worried.

But, it is better for me if I know the real risk of such incidents, and the best way to 'repair' if it happens again.

 

I am a newbie, too, so be patient please.

 

Many thanks in advance for any information supplied.

[pin]

What kind of rifle is it?

 

Do you mean you fired, nothing came out and some "smoke" came out from where the pellets go?

 

PCP's can be dry fired with no real issues, springers shouldn't be as most designs can be damaged if you do it frequently.

 

If you have dry fired it, ie no pellet loaded, only 3 times I wouldn't worry about it mate it's nothing.

[jarmuschfan]

Hey pin, thanks for getting back

 

Um, the issue is the magazine (it's a Theoben .22 SLR 7-shot mag), and while zero-ing the scope I've got carried away and lost count of the shots I've fired. I know there's a colour guage to tell me 2nd-last and last pellet in chamber, but we all make mistakes.

Anyway, the sound of the dry-fire is an uneasy crack, different from usual normal fire sound, and the smoke comes out when I removed the magazine. (Is this the 'dieselling' I've heard of?).

 

Like I said, and your agreement has eased my worries already, it was only three times, with more recent shots still getting on target. It is not something I'll be making a habit of, but to look after the gun properly I'd like to know what remedial work can be done (if required) to limit damage and ensure optimum performance for the future.

 

Thanks again

 

M

[njc110381]

Isn't the SLR a gas ram gun? If it is, don't do it too often! The piston in the action flys forwards with no air pressure to slow it down. It then slams into the end at far greater speed than it's supposed to. Think of it as headbutting a steering wheel in a car crash with or without an air bag. Eventually you'll break something, and Theobens are hardly cheap guns to fix!

[Chard]

My son dry-fired his air rifle a few years ago, (can't remember what it was, but it was a decent one) and it split the stock :wacko:

[jarmuschfan]

njc,

 

yes, it is gas-ram. Uh-oh.

 

A mistake I hope not to make again, but just wanted to know if making the mistake once was enough to cause some damage, never mind three times!

 

Thanks for analogy though; it helps keep things in perspective.

[shotgun harry]

Its probably the dry firing that has caused the dieselling , when you fire dry it brings grease off the piston head and back end of the cylinder forward which makes its way in small amounts through the port and gets into the barrel then when you next fire the gun the pellet rips past the grease igniting it and thus causing dieselling

one things for certain it aint gonna do your gun any good!!!!!!!!

[njc110381]

I'm pretty certain that if there was any damage done you would know. It would feel rough to load and the power could be lower. Theobens are well made so you should be ok, but try not to do it again if you can help it! I'd suggest reloading when you see the two shots left indicator. If you make it a habit then even if you overlook it once you'll still have a spare pellet to save you from a dry fire :wacko:

[jarmuschfan]

Good idea, and good advice njc, which I will do well to heed.

 

Thanks for your help, one and all.