S&W 41 Dry Firing

Is is safe to dryfire my S&W 41 without a snap cap?

I wouldn't.

Several threads on ways to hack the hammer / firing pin with a buffer. I’ve used a piece of foam ear plugs torn off to fit. Remarkable how many times that foam will stay put through cycles of the slide.

As one person noted, don’t forget to remove it before starting an important match!

Hvacguy76 wrote:Is is safe to dryfire my S&W 41 without a snap cap?

Only 22 I know of that is safe is most Rugers, who have a special mechanism to keep the firing pin off the
face of the chamber, according to the woman I spoke to at Ruger.  41's you can use drywall plastic screw insert,
or snap caps.

L. Boscoe wrote:

Hvacguy76 wrote:Is is safe to dryfire my S&W 41 without a snap cap?

Only 22 I know of that is safe is most Rugers, who have a special mechanism to keep the firing pin off the
face of the chamber, according to the woman I spoke to at Ruger.  41's you can use drywall plastic screw insert,
or snap caps.

However, I've seen two troubles with Ruger's firing pin setup over the years:

1. The cross pin is so loose, it will fall out when putting the bolt back into the receiver if tipped at all. If unnoticed the firing pin WILL damage the chamber mouth.

2.  The hole for the pin can allow for cracks and eventually break the pin allowing the front portion to reach the chamber mouth.

Ed Hall wrote:

L. Boscoe wrote:

Hvacguy76 wrote:Is is safe to dryfire my S&W 41 without a snap cap?

Only 22 I know of that is safe is most Rugers, who have a special mechanism to keep the firing pin off the
face of the chamber, according to the woman I spoke to at Ruger.  41's you can use drywall plastic screw insert,
or snap caps.

However, I've seen two troubles with Ruger's firing pin setup over the years:

1. The cross pin is so loose, it will fall out when putting the bolt back into the receiver if tipped at all. If unnoticed the firing pin WILL damage the chamber mouth.

2.  The hole for the pin can allow for cracks and eventually break the pin allowing the front portion to reach the chamber mouth.

Ok, I bow to Ed-plastic screw thingys or snap caps-its not that difficult anyway.  Still interested in the block of
gel for the 41.

Ok, I bow to Ed-plastic screw thingys or snap caps-its not that difficult anyway.  Still interested in the block of
gel for the 41.

The woman at Ruger is probably correct for the larger crowd that doesn't take the gun apart or dry fire, but for this crowd, that dry fires several times a day and cleans our guns after every live session, we might want to keep track of the state of the pins.  (everyone here meets that, right?)

Of note, I peened a small bit of one end of my cross pin just a touch, so it wouldn't fall out easily.  I broke at least one firing pin.  (I'm kind of thinking two.)  I was doing a lot of dry firing!

A local indoor range has a firearms collection that is being auctioned off. One pistol is a Hamden Hi-Standard Supermatic Standard Citation in great shape with four Hamden magazines in a factory box. One of the range members was showing it to me and I explained the history and features, and what to look for as far as frame cracking and firing pin strikes. The pistol looked like it had less than a brick through it. 

I got to use a variation of Ed's magnetic card trick by showing that a thick business card between the slide and chamber could allow for safe dry firing or de-cocking of the hammer.

I’ve had no troubles dry firing my M41 or my 208 but I don’t do a lot of it so YMMV.

See if you can get the old Hammerli chamber plug or the Walther copy to be sure