dry firing

[jsl]

Just another anoying newbie question.  My local gunsmith checked out my P-01 and said it would not harm this pistol to dry fire without a snap cap.  What do you think?

[dusty10]

excessive dry firing without snap caps is not really good for any weapon.  Some guys put a small "o" ring in back of slide where hammer hits firing pin to soften the blow instead of using snap caps.

[ShuRugal]

i would worry about the firing-pin return-spring fry-firing without caps, as you'll be forcing it to compress fully, since there is not round to stop the pin.  This will eventually damage the spring the same way coil-spring suspension in a car or truck can get damaged by excessive bottoming out.

[jsl]

THANKS FOR THE INFO, I'LL GET A SNAP CAP.

[Mr. Sasquatch]

If you do it once in a while you'll probably be  OK. I dry-fire around 50x every day (this number will go down after I get more experience) so I use snap caps AND put an O-ring or a soft foam ear plug under the hammer just to be safe. Buy more then one snap cap and rotate them. If you practice a lot they will take some serious beating.

[Stuart]

snap cap or the O ring thing are good ideas..

truthfully I dryfire the bejezzus out of my guns without anything.
no problems with parts at all. but that's me.

[Mountain Walker]

A small O-ring (1/4" internal diameter) fits perfectly behind the firing pin and is held there by the sides of the slide. When the hammer falls, the O-ring completely absorbs the shock. Use of the o-ring will allow you the freedom of dry firing to your hearts content.

Without the o-ring or snap cap, the firing pin will slam against the firing pin retaining pin which is a roll pin. The newer CZ's use a double roll pin to hold up longer.  It is not a big deal to replace the roll pin, but might be beyond the repair skills of some.  Why bother when an O-ring is so cheap and easy.   

I took my pistol to the range one day and discovered that it is necessary to remove the o-ring if  a person expects the gun to fire!

[Mr. Sasquatch]

...
I took my pistol to the range one day and discovered that it is necessary to remove the o-ring if a person expects the gun to fire!

Tell me about it! I had it happen to me (or did I do it to myself?) on my second trip to the range with my brand new P-01.  I started freaking out thinking that I'd inadvertently messed up my brand new pistol by dry firing it too much. With the dim lights in my lane it took me a good few seconds to notice this small black O-ring sitting in the black recess of the black slide. Good it was happening at the range and not while my home was being invaded by zombies.

BTW, somewhere on the net, I've read a good advice about dry-fire drills. I do not remember where, so I cannot acknowledge the author, sorry.  You should start your dry fire drills by saying out loud “I’m going to start my dry-fire drill" and end your practice with, again, saying out loud “I’m finished/done with my dry fire practice". At first I thought it was silly to talk to yourself, like Harry Potter saying some magic words. Like this was going to make any difference? But the more I think about it, the more I see the wisdom of it. By saying these words you are forced to focus on your actions, kind of put a boundary around your practice, so 15 minutes later you do not pick up the gun (which, BTW, you've already loaded with live ammo) to do just one more dry-fire practice at your TV.
This spoken statement about finishing the practice would be a good time to make sure that your gun has snap caps, O-rings, foam ear plugs, etc, removed! It is for me now!