Hello,
I'm new here, and as such I've been voraciously going through the threads. Very knowledgeable bunch of folks.
As the title indicates, one topic that caught my attention is dropping the hammer on a separated lower. Some say it's bad, some say it doesn't matter, but the threads I have read didn't seem to have "proof" other than the usual "that's not good, ask me how I know" and then fail to follow through when asked.
So I ask it here. Is it really that bad? What are your real world experiences? The reason I'm skeptical is because on an empty magazine, at least in my mind, you have the force of the action spring and the inertia of the BCG + buffer (H2 in my case) slamming against the bolt catch all the time. I haven't been in school in a while, but I'm thinking there's more force and inertia behind a BCG and buffer in full return than a hammer with a fraction of the weight. Do I have this wrong?
As far as my own experience goes, I did it regularly on a third-world-manufactured M16 lower. I didn't dry fire on it, but I certainly did it once or twice every time I cleaned it. It's an A1, and between my Dad and me it's been "dry fired" on a separated lower quite a few times.
Thanks for the input guys. If this has been discussed before please point me to the existing thread and Mods please close. I searched for a while but my Google-fu could be off.
Paolo
My rifles. A1 not pictured, obviously :
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