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Dry fire

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jeff b

32 Cal
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Jun 15, 2017
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Can I dryfire my 1851 ,1858 and1860 revolvers without damage to them .
 
No!

Doing so will mushroom the nipples, causing all sorts of cap problems. It will also make a divot in the hammer.

Same say to take the nipples out but I’m still not sure if it’d be a good idea. You might fashion some rubber or plastic guards for the nipples but I’m not sure?
 
Can I dryfire my 1851 ,1858 and1860 revolvers without damage to them .
Others have said take the nipples out, that is one way. On my percussion guns if I want to dry fire I make a rubber bumper and let the hammer fall against that. I dig into my stock of plumbing faucet washers for material. Just make sure to replace the bumper if it starts to breakdown so the hammer never hits the nipple.
Flintlocklar 🇲🇾
 
They can be dry fired without harm if you make a neoprene impact pad and place it against the frame web in the hammer slot just under the nose. It needs to be made thin enough so the hammer can come forward far enough to complete it's cycle but not hit the nipples or the hammer stops on either side of the slot (solid frame guns). It works effectively on open frame or solid frame guns without nipple removal. I make mine of 1/8th inch neoprene pads used for setting blocks in thermo window work. I seat them with surgical forceps .
I put caps on the nipples and they will not fire with the pads in place an yet the actions can be cycled normally. The pads have been raised up off the web so they can be seen.
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RB Powell is correct, the short (and long) answer is no. I get dozens of percussion revolvers in my shop every year from people dry firing them. Many of them have used some "trick" to prevent mushrooming the nipples, but I always end up selling them a new set of nipples or the shop charge for chucking them each into my drill press and removing the mushrooming.
 
I just showed you pictures of a method to safely dry fire any percussion revolver as much as you want with ZERO damage to nipple, hammer , main spring or frame. You do have to change the pad periodically when they begin to fray out but that takes all of five minutes to make and replace one and it cost almost nothing. I've never ruined a nipple yet in dry firing with this method. The hammer will not even contact a fresh cap seated on the nipple let alone fire it.
So the truth is that there are safe methods to dry fire percussion revolvers that work but some folks don't want to hear it because it contradicts what they think they know about the subject.
 
I can't believe no one has made a set of nipple bumpers for cap and ball revolvers commercially!
I'd buy a set today.Two sets.
I am going to save you some money. Go to Home Depot and buy some vinyl tubing 1/4 inch OD and .170 ID it cost 4.00 for 20 feet. For Remington revolvers, you will need to cut the tubing .215 inches those will work as bumpers they will also work for small pistol primers instead of using caps. Colt revolvers don't have as much clearance they will have to be cut shorter experiment I am sure you can get it to work. UDP 0.170 in. I.D. x 1/4 in. O.D. x 20 ft. Clear Vinyl Tubing-T10007003 - The Home Depot I almost forgot if you cut this tubing in 3/4 inch pieces you can put a percussion cap on each end and use it for a field caper carry as many as you need in a small tin.
 
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