Why do they call it "Dry Fire"??
Do you call it "Wet Fire" when you are actually shooting?
Can fire be wet?
Can fire be dry?
Oh, yes the good ole days.... snapping in, at USMC rifle range, and those 55 gal drums painted white, with little targets.... what fun ...I can't even imagine how many times we dry fired our weapons during grass week (the week before rifle range) in bootcamp. And I don't remember a failure/breakage of any kind during that or any of the range time I was on during my service. I wasn't in a combat MOS though so I essentially shot once a year, and that was just the AR platform, so take it for what it's worth.
Just depends on what type of gun. I dry fire my Glocks all the time.
+1
I don't dry fire rimfire guns as eventually you will wear a mark into the barrel.
It really depends on the gun.
1911's, Glocks, Beretta 92's and the more modern handguns will dry fire forever.
However, I have a CZ 75 (preB) that will break the firing pin if it is dry fired.
So, I got some snap caps. My problem was solved.
If you are worried about your particular gun or just don't know, get some snap caps.
Another "all depends on the gun" here. Some, such as Rugers, are recomended by the manufactureer to dry fire and some are recomended by the manufacturer to NOT dry fire. All depends on the design, no matter if it is a centerfire or a rimfire. A lot of rimfire revolvers have a recessed chamber so the fire pin will not peen it. I also had a NAA Guardian .32 ACP where the manual stated the firing pin will be damaged from dry fire.