Dry Firing
Overview
Dry firing is the act of cycling a marker without a paintball loaded, used for testing, maintenance, and tuning procedures.
Key Points
- Used to test solenoids, cycling, and consistency.
- Allows tuning of dwell, debounce, and mechanical alignment.
- May increase wear on certain mechanical components.
- Safer when performed without a tank or when pressure is reduced.
- Important for verifying repairs before live firing.
Details
Dry firing involves activating the marker’s firing cycle while no paintball is present in the breech. Players and technicians use dry firing to confirm bolt movement, adjust board settings, check for air leaks, and verify that the marker cycles cleanly. Many electronic markers support dry firing as part of routine tuning or troubleshooting.
Certain systems experience increased wear when dry fired excessively particularly mechanical blowback markers and older bolt-spring designs. Spool-valve markers, which rely heavily on controlled air routing and soft cycling, tolerate dry firing more easily.
Technicians often dry fire with reduced pressure or without air entirely when performing solenoid cycling tests or board diagnostics. This lowers stress on seals and internal components while still allowing analysis of timing and motion.
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