I am devoting some time to getting better at this sport. I have bought a match grade air rifle and will set up my basement range over the weekend. I would also like to use my Anschutz 1712 for dry fire drills. I know there are other shooters here who dry fire their Anschutz rifles. What kinds of precautions do you take in order to protect the rifles when dry firing? Do you just use an empty case to take the impact from the firing pin? Do you buy one of the "dry fire" firing pins and swap firing pins in the bolt?

What is the prevailing thought regarding dry firing of Anschutz 54 actions?

SteveM.

I just use empty cases and change them after about 10 drops of the firing pin.

Congratulations on the 1712! I use snap caps - dunno if they're really necessary, but it seems like cheap insurance.

Like Bob259 we use fired cartridges but rotate the cartridge after 5 firing pin hits and discard the cartridge when it becomes really distorted. We clean the inside of the cartridge with Q-tips and the outsides with paper shop towels before dry-firing. We use the spent cartridges not to protect the mouth of the chamber but because the vibrations transmitted through the stock to the hands and cheek are quite different than just leaving the chamber empty. All of our rifles have fiberglass stocks which seem to transmit more vibrations than the wood stock rifles.

When we have been able to devote time to daily dry-firing in the weeks leading up to major matchs we have shot higher scores than using any other practice method we have tried. We dry-fire on air rifle chickens usually because we do not have enough distance in the backyard for anything else.

I would be interested in hearing any other dry-firing drills or methods other people use to practice as even good practice ammo now costs about four times what it did when we started this game. For instance, has anybody used "teeter boards" to practice balance?

Bobby R. Huddleston

On a hunter 64 action, I was advised to only lower the bolt handle part way.

When the trigger releases, the bolt handle jumps to the fully closed, or locked down, position. No need for empty brass or snap caps.

Wondering if anyone else does this...

2-50
It seems like you are doing something with your rifle it was not intended to do. It was made to not shoot with the bolt open and to shoot with the bolt closed. It seems as though a half closed bolt would cause abnormal wear and stress on all kinds of parts. Also the closing of the bolt is a downward movement which would not be like the forward and rearward movement of a normal shot fired. This would affect your follow through and probably the feel of the trigger is not the same. A fired case is about as close as you can get to the real thing and it protects the firing pin and rear face of the barrel.

It is very simple to remove the 64 firing pin and dry fire to your heart's content. Just remember to put it back in before going to the range!

Seamus O'Grady wrote:It is very simple to remove the 64 firing pin and dry fire to your heart's content. Just remember to put it back in before going to the range!

Ahah! There's your problem!

Good thought, but this would only work for me if I kept a spare firing pin in the truck...

My suggestion would be to use spent .22 casings. Removing the firing pin would sooner or later cause an "incident." I've managed to forget my ammo more than once. Thank goodness it was just a practice session. My father-in-law used to store his rifles with the bolts removed (I have no idea why). He went deer hunting one time and forgot to put the bolt back in. Needless to say, the deer were very safe that morning!

yankee wrote:2-50
It seems like you are doing something with your rifle it was not intended to do. It was made to not shoot with the bolt open and to shoot with the bolt closed. It seems as though a half closed bolt would cause abnormal wear and stress on all kinds of parts. Also the closing of the bolt is a downward movement which would not be like the forward and rearward movement of a normal shot fired. This would affect your follow through and probably the feel of the trigger is not the same. A fired case is about as close as you can get to the real thing and it protects the firing pin and rear face of the barrel.

What I'm doing is training so that when I hear the rifle go 'click', the crosshairs are where I intend them to be; the trigger feels exactly the same. As you mentioned, the effect on follow through is not 'natural' so I am missing out on that part of the drill. I will try the empty brass technique.

Checked my 64's breach (rear face of barrel) and found no damage whatsoever from firing pin impacts. When firing live rounds, the pin does an exemplary job of crushing the rim, so no apparent damage there.

This rifle, though maybe 35 years old, is new to me. It has won many matches in the previous owner's hands. I have shot maybe 1600 rounds through it myself, incl. 1 Nationals and 1 Provincials. But I have yet to take it apart...for fear of affecting the tension on the three action screws: it shoots vere well right now so why mess with it... Obviously, I also don't know how to take the firing pin out of the bolt.

Just ordered a bore guide from Brunos in Phoenix, but have no idea how to take the bolt out without separating the action from the stock.

Suggestions?

Open the bolt hold the release down (left side) and pull the bolt straight out. Insert your bore guide and clean. reverse the process for installation. You can do a search on the Anschutz site (downloads) and you can get a softcopy of the owners manual.

I'll look and update with the link if I get a chance today.

Update... got it
Here it is...
http://jga.anschuetz-sport.com/dateien/ ... glisch.pdf

Thanks for that link. Useful diagrams there, but unfortunately they do not apply to my CIL-Anschutz 64 hunter - there is no bolt release on either side of the action.

Reading the Anschutz owner's manual, I was surprised to read this unusual safety notice:

"It is especially not allowed to aim and shoot at people. The rifle or the stock must not be used to beat somebody."

Good thing there is no prohibition againsts shooting chickens!

twofifty wrote:- there is no bolt release on either side of the action.

Did you try opening the bolt, pull the trigger all the way to the rear, then sliding bolt out with trigger fully depressed? That's how my Savage Anschutz Mark 10 was disassembled.......

doh! Thanks for that.

I've got to start treating this rifle as my own, not someone elses!

I use TOX #5, its that little plastic filler you use when you drill a hole in concrete and fasten a screw in the hole. 20pcs pack costs about P16.00 = USD 0.39 you can use 1 for 10 trigger pulls just keep turning after 2-3 trigger pulls.

Nico