NO, Dry-Firing an airgun is not recommended, especially if you have a Spring Piston variety! If you don't have a pellet in the breech then there won't be a cushion of air protecting the piston from slamming hard into the internals of your gun.
Dry firing PCP or CO2 air rifles will usually be completely safe, as there isn't a piston to worry about. You're simply releasing a short spurt of air/CO2 to force the pellet up the barrel.
Modern centerfire guns are totally fine, but the one class of firearm you should never dry fire is any rimfire gun, be it a rifle or pistol. Due to rimfire firearm design, dry firing can easily damage the gun.
Like any new mechanical device, air rifles need to be broken in before the shooter can expect optimal performance. Yes, it will work right out of the box, but the results will likely be a little inconsistent until the break-in process is completed.
Do you need to charge air to dry fire an air rifle?
Once an air rifle is unloaded and checked by a Range Officer, it is ok to point it in any direction. To dry fire my air rifle, I do not need to charge air in my air rifle.
Dry fire does not pose any real risk of damage to most modern centerfire firearms; however, it can for rimfire weapons, where the firing pin in most designs will impact the breech face if the weapon is dry-fired.
Always check the barrel prior to loading, to ensure that it is free from obstructions. After every thousand shots, apply a drop of gun lubricant inside the compression chamber. Use only airgun-rated oils. Many other oils can damage the seals.
If you've just bought your first air rifle, or you're looking to get one and you're wondering whether you can shoot in your back garden, the short answer is yes, you can.
It is critically important that your air gun is not loaded or cocked when transporting in public. Even a cleaning pellet left in the gun can be classified as “a loaded weapon”, so don't take this one (or any of these) lightly!
Cardiac injuries may be rapidly fatal. Penetrating abdominal injuries involving hollow viscera or major blood vessels need prompt exploration and repair. Intracranial air weapon pellets should be removed if possible. A pellet in lung parenchyma or muscle may be safely left in situ but there is a risk of infection.
Best Overall: Mantis X10 Elite and the Mantis Laser Academy. Best for AR-15s: Mantis Blackbeard X. Best for Beginners: SIRT Pistol and Dummy Rounds. Best for Simulating Recoil: Laser Ammo's Recoiled Enabled Pistols (if you want to use a training gun) and Coolfire Trainer (for your own gun)
If it's drier than about 20% humidity inside your safe, the moisture inside your expensive wood gun stocks can dry out, causing shrinkage, cracking, and damage to the finish. Humidity below about 20% also can cause desiccation and brittleness in photographs and paper records as well.
Answer: It depends. A muzzle loading shotgun will incur damage to the nipples by dry firing. For a cartridge gun, a modern side by side hammer gun or any hammerless standing breech side by side should not be dry fired except with snap caps.
Additionally, some oils are not suitable for air rifles – make sure you use a product specifically designed for the maintenance of air rifles. Avoiding the use of WD-40 is the most obvious example.
The longer the air rifle is left cocked, the more damage the spring will undergo. For instance after 12 weeks there can be up to a 27% loss of velocity, which is a quarter of the original power of your air rifle!
You can leave a springer cocked for several days without ill effect. This means you can spend the day hunting and If you don't get a shot, no harm to the gun. Some guns can be decocked, but its more fun to take a practice shot.
Can you shoot airsoft in my garden? Legally, you can shoot an airsoft gun on your own property. You must not allow the pellets or BBs to travel outside the boundary of your garden unless you have permission from other surrounding landowners and never onto public areas.
In Scotland only you can shoot greylag geese, in England, you can shoot ringnecked parakeets but not monk parakeets, and in Northern Ireland only you can shoot starlings. Can you shoot a duck, pheasant, partridge or grouse in your back garden? Yes you can.
It is an offence to have an air weapon in a public place without a reasonable excuse. It is ultimately for the courts to decide what a reasonable excuse is. However, it might include carrying a weapon to and from a shooting club, or taking a new weapon home from a dealer.
Is it illegal to shoot an air rifle in your back garden UK?
Airguns may be used only on land where the user has full permission to shoot. This may be your garden, or private land owned or leased by an individual or club. Remember, wherever you shoot, you must ensure that all of your pellets remain within the boundary of the land to which your shooting permission applies.
The lethal control (killing) of pigeons, seagulls and other wild birds in the UK is legislated by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), courtesy of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (Chapter 69), which effectively reports that it is illegal to kill or injure any wild bird, including pigeons ...
Modern air rifles are also extremely accurate; with the right pellet and a bit of practice you should be able to humanely dispatch small pests such as rats, rabbits, grey squirrels and magpies out to 35m and beyond.
Most air gun dealers will recommend that a well-used air gun be brought in annually for servicing, but a less-used air gun may require servicing only once every two years. During servicing, most shops will replace the air seals, clean, lubricate and test the air gun for accuracy.
For these, it's a good idea to schedule a service once a year. Although with that being said, if something's amiss, you'll notice your rifle losing air overnight or the point of impact shifting slightly. These telltale signs are your cue to go get it serviced.
