[Sleven]

Here the deal, I started playing paintball a while back and was always told to avoid dry firing and it was bad for the marker. So until recently I have always bought used guns and never needed to worry about breaking in a marker, therefore I have recently purchased a brand new in box Dye NT11 and I wanted to see if i can break it in with dry firing so that i can go through the breaking in process faster. In my mind i can't think of a reason other than wear on o rings from dry firing, but maybe somebody knows if dry firing is actually bad for a marker. So is dry firing really that bad for a marker and would this be a good way to break in a new marker. Thank you.

[WiscoBaller]

It is worse for poppits than for spoolies, but I would recommend against it. Go grab a cheap case from walmart and run it in your backyard to save the bolt. Think of it like a bow, you can dry fire them, and an arrow weighs almost nothing, but dry firing a bow can break the limbs because the bow is built to send a projectile towards a target, same as a paintball marker

[paintbrawler_tman]

na ur cool dude dry firing isnt bad for your marker. its so dramatically different from firing a bow that I wont even go there lol.

[Dak-Attack]

Not really. Just one less shot you get, but a gun will last you awhile if you take care of it.

[Troy]

Sleven, on 12 August 2012 - 10:26 PM, said:

Here the deal, I started playing paintball a while back and was always told to avoid dry firing and it was bad for the marker. So until recently I have always bought used guns and never needed to worry about breaking in a marker, therefore I have recently purchased a brand new in box Dye NT11 and I wanted to see if i can break it in with dry firing so that i can go through the breaking in process faster. In my mind i can't think of a reason other than wear on o rings from dry firing, but maybe somebody knows if dry firing is actually bad for a marker. So is dry firing really that bad for a marker and would this be a good way to break in a new marker. Thank you.

Jack Woods says "no," case closed!

Avoid it. Shooting once or twice to make sure your marker is working and gassed up is one thing, but trying to break in your marker without paint is a bad idea.

Everything moves faster when dry firing, your bolt slams harder against the stops, there's no back pressure aiding to close valves when they should, etc. I agree with the guy above that said to just buy a case or two of paint from wallmart, or a pod full of reballs and run it through your marker.

[cockerpunk]

we have a couple of tests on this, sadly punworkspaintball.com is down right now.

break in occurs in the first 500 shots
dry firing is not the same as normal shooting, i don't think its really dangerous, but it is different forces your putting on the internals.

[Sleven]

Thank you all for the advice and explanations. I guess i will have to shoot people with paint then. As for Walmart idea i wish i could but I think I live in the only city without a Walmart.

[picaboo8]

Sleven, on 13 August 2012 - 04:30 PM, said:

Thank you all for the advice and explanations. I guess i will have to shoot people with paint then. As for Walmart idea i wish i could but I think I live in the only city without a Walmart.

sports authority or dicks sportings good, gander mountain, cabealas, bass pro shops?

[Troy]

picaboo8, on 13 August 2012 - 05:38 PM, said:

Sleven, on 13 August 2012 - 04:30 PM, said:

Thank you all for the advice and explanations. I guess i will have to shoot people with paint then. As for Walmart idea i wish i could but I think I live in the only city without a Walmart.

sports authority or dicks sportings good, gander mountain, cabealas, bass pro shops?

Academy...

[WiscoBaller]

new york city doesnt have a walmart?

[REDCOBRA]

WiscoBaller, on 13 August 2012 - 08:28 PM, said:

new york city doesnt have a walmart?

i went to NYC this year and i never saw a walmart. i think its because walmarts need to have a big lot and that is hard to have there.

[Sleven]

A few years ago the CEO of Walmart felt that NYC is not worth opening a store in, I normally buy my paint from the paintball field or from Stingray OPS in Brooklyn and shoot in the back of that shop

[cabs72]

cockerpunk, on 13 August 2012 - 11:37 AM, said:

we have a couple of tests on this, sadly punworkspaintball.com is down right now.

break in occurs in the first 500 shots
dry firing is not the same as normal shooting, i don't think its really dangerous, but it is different forces your putting on the internals.

does this 500 shot count apply to all guns, spools and poppets? I saw you guys came up with this number testing on a G6R. Im curious about a Clone GT. And also how does this number apply *if at all* to different types of orings? (buna, polyurethane, viton)

thanks,
Al

This post has been edited by cabs72: 07 September 2012 - 07:28 AM

[Egomaniacal]

Well really when you "break a marker in" you're doing two things.

1.) You're slightly wearing down the o-rings
2.) You're slightly wearing down the surface the o-ring travels on

Spool vs. Poppet doesn't really matter, since each o-ring in the system is getting the same number of cycles.

As for it being not as bad on spool valved markers, the "backpressure" generated by the paintball actually cushions the motion of the bolt in most spool valved markers. Obviously this varies from marker to marker - for example the effect is significant for something like a Matrix, but not so much for something like a hollowpoint Ion which has a bumper built in.

Might as well make a list:

Significant:
PMR
Ion (stock and similar)
Matrix

Not significant:
Shocker/Luxe
Ion (hollowpoint)
DP spools

Regardless of all this, it's bad for your detents, almost no matter what you shoot.

[tyronejk]

Just learned this recently, but dry-firing a Marq can blow out the pillow bolt. Not sure about Intimidators, though, now that I think about it.

[madsnipes]

tyronejk, on 16 October 2012 - 07:59 PM, said:

Just learned this recently, but dry-firing a Marq can blow out the pillow bolt. Not sure about Intimidators, though, now that I think about it.

it is the same for intimidators. it is the reason why i have no pillow bolt

[cockerpunk]

cabs72, on 07 September 2012 - 07:25 AM, said:

cockerpunk, on 13 August 2012 - 11:37 AM, said:

we have a couple of tests on this, sadly punworkspaintball.com is down right now.

break in occurs in the first 500 shots
dry firing is not the same as normal shooting, i don't think its really dangerous, but it is different forces your putting on the internals.

does this 500 shot count apply to all guns, spools and poppets? I saw you guys came up with this number testing on a G6R. Im curious about a Clone GT. And also how does this number apply *if at all* to different types of orings? (buna, polyurethane, viton)

thanks,
Al

that was both with the g6 and the NT.

i wouldn't take that number has rock solid fact, i could be off by as much as much as 100% depending on gun design. but the point is, its not 10-100 cases to wear a gun in. its during the first day of play no doubt.

[cabs72]

Thanks for the reply, I always assumed that the "10 case rule" was a little out there, just never had the data to back me up.. Your work is appreciated!

[misterkyle]

cabs72, on 22 October 2012 - 03:27 PM, said:

Thanks for the reply, I always assumed that the "10 case rule" was a little out there, just never had the data to back me up.. Your work is appreciated!

don't even worry about breaking it in, the difference is soooooo marginal

[cabs72]

im not really worried about it, so to say, i was more curious than anything. i dont play as much as i used to so its not all that important to me.