Dry Firing A Hand-Gun - Question

Are Snap Caps safe for indoor use?
Click to expand...


YES


Are they safe to practice with in an open area outside or are they strictly for the range because someone was talking about aiming at your TV and firing snap caps, lol. [/QUOTE]


They do not have any kind of charge whatsoever...They are shaped like the respective cartridge, and have a semi-solid primer (that doesn't go "BANG") to absorb th efiring pin strike.

The only sound you hear is that "click" of the hammer falling.

.
 
Thank you very much...Dave Haven also said "In fact, Ruger recommends dry-firing to familiarize oneself with the firearm." Do you think that means with Snap caps or with out? Either way I will use the snap caps because I want to keep my gun in excellent shape.
 
oh, yeah....

And happy birthday and congratulations. A VERY big day. My middle son turns 21 in July. I think I'll plan to be on the other side of the world that day....

But seriously, congratulations, and as we Orthodox Christians say, "God grant you many years."

Springmom
 
Thank You. It sucks that snap caps are rather expensive. I mean $14 for 5 caps is rediculous. I can get a 1000 bullets for $120 and I can get like 40 snap caps for that, lol. Oooo wait....lol....Are snap caps re-usable? That would make a lot more sense, haha.
 
snap-caps are for wheel guns that have the fireing pin attached to the hammer. most modern handguns dont need snap-caps. they also dont hold up very well in semi-autos. like I said there made for wheel guns there not intended to be cycled through the action of a semi-auto pistol.
 
Thank you very much...Dave Haven also said "In fact, Ruger recommends dry-firing to familiarize oneself with the firearm." Do you think that means with Snap caps or with out?
Click to expand...
I read that in the Ruger manual for the "Old Army" revolver. In the case of the Ruger "Old Army" revolver, dry-firing definitely means without snap caps.:)
You could put caps on the nipples if you wanted to, but that wouldn't exactly be dry-firing.:)
 
Unless the gun has a design issue with dryfiring, such as a rimfire, CZ52, CZ75, Star model B, etc, snap caps serve no purpose.
Click to expand...

+ 1, most modern firearms especially semi-auto do not need snap-caps.
 
Dryfiring is a good thing to practice for shooters. It teaches you a lot about firing a gun. I agree with the benefits of snap caps. Also, if you have a bit of a budget, you can use your backup gun of like make/model for dryfiring, practicing draws, foot movement, etc.
 
My $2000 STI Edge has an estimated 5000 dry fires without snap caps.....and more live rounds through it than that. No visible wear and I don't intend on slowing down.
 
1911's and 1911 type pistols can be dry fired safely and dry firing is strongly recommended to learn trigger control.
 
Pax, one of the most outstanding pieces of shooting advice I have ever encountered and that includes military service I gleaned several good points or reminders from your piece. It is so well done that I think it should be promulgated in other places than just in this thread. My personal thanks and I think the shooting community can give you a standing ovation for it as well.
 
This thread was running parallel to the thread "Dry Shooting, Wear & Tear", with similar subject matter. I've merged the threads to keep everyone from getting dizzy while going back & forth :D .
 
dry firing

Thats another bottemless pit. The snaps I use are spring loaded to cushion the pin assembly, if you have nothing, we used to use a new pencil, eraser side of course but that was years ago, like 25 or so.Heres my personal take on it, a firing pin is made to hit something, thats that, and if someone wants to spend a grand on a gun and dry-fire it then they have my blessings, im not going to. I also have noticed that the people who say ''it dont hurt em'' will also tell you that cleaning hurts worse than firing. As for me, im using snaps. If your new to the gun world you might want to use the snaps for overcomming your natural desire to flinch.
 
If anyone doubts that there is a difference in the hammer impact when a gun is fired with a live round versus an empty chamber, only needs to dry fire on a fired case a few times. Listen to the sound of the impact on the fresh fired case then as you fire on it more times. the primer quickly dents in and the sound then changes. Firing a live round is less stressfull to the firing pin than dry firing.

As far as the "modern" designs with transfer bars being better for dry firing, I've dry fired tens of thousands of times with Smith & Wesson's with hammer mounted firing pins, and have had absolutly no breakage or problems in 30 some years of such use. I have broken 2 Ruger transfer bars in different guns when dry firing. Read the above pargraph if this does not make sense. The transfer bar is a skinny, angled piece of metal that takes all of the impact of the hammer dropping. Without the fresh primer or snap cap to cushion it, the bars CAN and sometimes DO break.
 
And 16oz hammers hit nails all the time and are prone to failure.....um....maybe.

I've had rear sights shear off and series II plungers shear under normal use on Kimbers...My guns usually see 10,000+ rounds a year. Things break, but I don't think snap caps keep my firing pins safe. Of course, I have several guns with 25,000+ dry fires without problem.

If you do..then use 'em. If you want to change recoil springs every 500 rounds and use 2 shok buffs and zero +P ammo....then do so. Guns are for YOU and not for anything anyone on a forum tell you about them....particularly a defensive weapon.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top