You have heard that dry firing can be bad for you gun because it may break it inside or you have probably already shot your gun dry and are asking whether it is going to wear it down or is it just a myth. So, is it really that bad?
Dry firing will not immediately break your gun but, the excessive dry firing can lead to certain damage on inner parts of the gun. In long term it does hurt it but, you shall not be worried about this and it is completely normal to dry fire in order to make it sure that there are no BBs left inside the gun after a match.
Therefore, you should sometimes dry fire but, only when necessary and shall avoid doing it otherwise.
If you have other concerns regarding what may damage your airsoft gun, feel free to check my explanation in my other post where I also share tips on how to prolong an airsoft gun’s life and protect it.
These guns are most affected by dry firing
Not all guns are affected by this equally, some are sensitive to dry firing and some are almost resistant to it completely. I have created a list of such guns, so if you find your gun to be on the list you know what to do.
AEGs
They are pretty much okey when it comes to dealing with dry firing. They are not sensitive like some other guns on the list, however it is still not suggested to dry fire them often if you want to preserve them.
I have only heard it once that someone has complained that their AEG started to malfunction after dry firing and that person also said that they dry fired for two days in a row, I guess that this explains some things.
Gas blowback guns (CO2 gas blowbacks are especially vulnerable)
Blowback guns are known to be sensitive because they are manufactured out of many moving parts, this also makes them harder to maintain. Blowback pistols are most affected by this, especially the CO2 powered ones. I have barely heard of any other gun being so sensitive to the dry firing than Blowback pistols.
Whenever I would check the reviews on some blowback pistols I would find at least one comment where someone complained about their pistol breaking after dry firing them after only a couple of days.
So, overall gas blowbacks are the most affected guns and the amount of dry firing should be reduced to minimum.
Gas Non-blowback guns
They are less sensitive than blowbacks and are more likely to survive some dry firing, however the excessive dry firing will still damage them.
Spring guns
They are sensitive to dry firing and you should be careful, it is not easy to dry fire them accidentally though. Some spring guns like the ones with leather seals are usually more tolerant.
HPA guns
These guys are known to be almost bulletproof to everything, so they are probably the least affected by the dry firing.
Bear in mind that all guns can be and shall be occasionally dry fired when it comes naturally, because it can not be skipped. It is not going to hurt your gun but do not overdo it.
What does dry firing mean?
Shooting a gun that is not loaded with BBs is considered dry firing. When shooting guns on empty you interfere with its system and how it is meant to be used. This can lead to certain damage but, it does not mean that dry firing has to be bad, sometimes when testing or checking whether there are BBs left inside the gun is considered a good practice.
This is what can go wrong if you keep doing it
As mentioned before, doing it in small amounts and only when necessary can hardly destroy your gun no matters how sensitive it may be but, if you keep doing it for fun ( shooting dry for hours just as you would if you used it correctly in a match or at a target practice, especially on automatic), it is going to affect the inner mechanism and break the gun.
Simply the inner parts like the cylinder and piston heads will get damaged.
How fast will it happen and how serious it is, is very difficult to answer. We can only conclude that it will happen to some degree, sometimes it may completely break the gun and make it unusable and sometimes it will only add to the worn-out condition.
Why is it bad for your Airsoft gun, how does it work?
When a gun is loaded with BBs, it naturally produces resistance and when the piston causes the pressure inside the cylinder, it creates the force that needs to push the BB out, however if the BB is missing then there is also less resistance and the generated force must still be expelled, the result is that the piston head slams against the cylinder head with that enhanced force.
This is the short and general answer, however what happens inside of the guns depend on type of the gun, blowback guns behave differently than AEGs but the concept remains the same, inner colliding is not welcomed because it contributes to the wear down of the gun.
The guns are created for one purpose only and that is to propel a bullet or a bb out of it. Such ammo is a part of the design, creates resistance and interacts with the inner parts, thus causing the system to work as intended.
Every single inner part of the gun has its purpose and if removed the gun will start to malfunction, so the ammo (in this case the airsoft BBs) are just another part of the system of how the gun works.
The human anatomy – gun anatomy example
Another example would be the physics of your own body. If you kick the ball with your foot multiple times, with the correct technique it will not hurt, however if you kick the ball with the same intentional power and someone removes the ball just a moment before you land your foot on it, you will miss the ball and there will be no resistance that will counter the force that your leg generates. If you were not prepared for it you may break some ligaments.
Guns are resistant and will not break immediately but it does not mean that they will work forever and self-regenerate themselves.
Everything has its lifespan so do the airsoft guns, dry firing can shorten it just like the cigarettes may shorten yours.
Do not dry fire in the safe zone
Most players know this and treat their airsoft replicas as they would treat the real guns.
I always say that you should treat is as a real gun no matters what you hear, this leads to the best practices and eliminates the odds of something terrible happening.
However, some people forget this and dry fire their guns in the safe zone anyways. I can not stress this enough, but do not dry fire in the safe zones! People relax and wear off their protective glasses and masks because they do not expect that something may hit them.
It may happen rarely, but it does happen from time to time, some players have lost a tooth or an eye because they or someone else did not treat their airsoft replicas accordingly.
I know that people like to relax and stop using their brains when thinking that they are in the safe zone so nothing bad can happen, but airsoft guns come with great responsibility just like the real ones, the only difference is that the airsoft gun will not kill you, but surely may hurt you permanently.
Lock your gun, put it down and do not aim towards people. If you spot some new and inexperienced players tell them what the rules are and why they are there. Some people hear the rules, but do not comprehend their significance because no one explained them why such rules exist and what the consequences may be.
Conclusion
You should not be worried about dry firing and should not be thinking about it, it should be a good practice to dry fire only when testing the gun. Simply do not fire your gun unless it is loaded with BBs and you do not have any reason to do otherwise anyways.
There are other more important factors like the gun maintenance and buying a quality gun that wont break in the first place. Those are the things that you should consider more important, so if you have already dry shot your gun, see does it still work? I bet it did not do any damage to it so just enjoy the game for the sake of fun and worry less about what could go wrong!