The Unofficial P64 Resource Forum

I did not put the firing pin and spring back in during reassembly.

that's just crazy enough to work!

What would be the advantage of removing the firing pin just to dry fire it? The worry with dryfiring these pistols in the safety itself. The sharp cuts without rounded edges and brittleness can cause them to crack and break with repeated blows. I do believe some folks reported the safety breaking when they were firing the gun and they had never even dryfired it once.

I agree. Do not recommend any dry fire of P64. DRY FIRE AT YOUR OWN RISK. The safety is small and possibly more of a concern than the firing pin. Removing the pin does nothing to protect the safety and MAY make dry firing harder on the poor little safety barrel. An above member mentioned an inertia firing pin. Then there could be two pin lengths. How about now two different type firing pin forces by way of the hammer—inertia and driven. The longer pin being driven and the shorter one being inertia? This is what these two P64’s have—I guess? All I know for sure is that when you hold the shorter protruding pin flush with the safety barrel it is barely protruding into the chamber. Not so on the other one. Flush equals firm primer strike. On left is round hammer 71, right is triangular 76. Thanks for all the help.

so, snap caps are the best bet then?
can someone explain why dry-firing is worse than hitting a live round, or a snap cap?

Because the firing pin meets some resistance as it pierces the primer where as without a round the pin is traveling it's full length and hitting the inside of the slide at the end of it's travel.

At least that is what I think it is doing.

Most modern guns it is said can be dry fired.

I use snap caps regardless of what age the gun is as they are cheap insurance.

Curly hit the nail on the head. Even though most modern firearms this can safely be done, however, it's best to use the snap caps or similar device. Most arms manufacturers will say their firearm can be safely dry-fired, but do recommend snap caps, especially if it will be repeated blows.

and that, is excellent information. I will be ordering some snap caps shortly.
These look good?
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/96768 ... ckage-of-5

Thanks for answering my question. it is appreciated.

A-ZOOM is a well-known brand and are good snap caps/dummy rounds. I have one for my .243. Those are the correct ones.

Those are the ones I got from Midway also.