Hammerli 215

What do you do for dry firing with a Hammerli 215 or 208 pistol?

Any suggestion?

Get a chamber plug from Redfeather. 
Jon

Wouldn't it depend on whether the firing pin was actually doing damage to the breech face? Some 215's show no sign of damage without a snapcap.

jwax wrote:Wouldn't it depend on whether the firing pin was actually doing damage to the breech face? Some 215's show no sign of damage without a snapcap.

A snap cap or dryfire plug is cheap insurance. Firing pins will not get cheaper over time and the barrel is integral to the frame. Use a dryfire plug.

jwax wrote:Wouldn't it depend on whether the firing pin was actually doing damage to the breech face? Some 215's show no sign of damage without a snapcap.

Not necessarily. I shoot a 208S and was told that it was safe to dry fire the gun with, or without a plug. But here's the thing.. The firing pin stops on a cross pin that keeps the firing pin from hitting the breach face when the chamber is not loaded. So it's safe to dry fire in a sense.. But if you dry fire the gun excessively, all that battering the firing pin does on that cross pin .. well the energy has to go somewhere. What you end up with is a broken firing pin right there at that cross section. I know this because I've broken two firing pins already. Once when I first got the gun and someone told me it was fine to dry fire without a plug. The second time I think it was just a fluke because after the first time I religiously started using a plug.

So regardless of wether or not your gun's firing pin touches the breach face, when it doesn't have something in the chamber, something else is taking the energy that's being released form the internal parts working. The gun is designed to have a cartridge in it. When there isn't, other things are happening. So it's best, especially with an expensive, discontinued gun where parts are pricey, to use a chamber plug. Cheaper than a repair. 

Now, I don't know if all 208 variants have this cross pin firing pin stop that I mentioned, or if it's something the gunsmiths that built my gun installed. I know very little about factory 208 guns. I only know about my 208 guns. So again, when in doubt, use a chamber plug. Cheaper than a repair.

I've broken lots of firing pins in my 208s and I've always used the Hammerli chamber flag/plug.  You can dry fire without it, but if the firing pin does break, it can then reach the chamber rim.  I consider such things as broken firing pins to be a demonstration of dedication to training.  I expect to replace them, but I also use a plug.

And, yes the firing pin in the 208s is retained by a cross pin that keeps it short of the chamber, but my pins broke at the stress point where the thin front section meets the larger section in front of the cross pin.

I can confirm as well, once you break the firing pin, you may not realize it is broken and keep dry firing away all week.

Then end up wondering why your chamber will not load or eject properly when you show up for your weekly match.  Probably because you have peened the edge of the chamber from dry firing with the broken firing pin.

Been there, done that!

Use a plug!