Emptied out casing instead of snap caps

J

JD88

New member
I was told by a few people that if you are going to be doing alot of dry firing to get snap caps to protect the firing pin. Well if that is the case I was thinking about just pulling the bullet off the casings, emptying the powder, then strike the primers and re-attatch the bullet. Would these work just as good as snap caps?
 
The only way I could think of to make your own snap cap would be to pop out the primer and replace it with a chunk of hard rubber that fit in the primer pocket that would give the firing pin something to hit that would be soft enough to not damage the firing pin but not deform either.

Your best bet is to just spend the 20 bucks and buy a few snap caps.

The primer would deform enough, if the casing was rotated each time, after about 3 strikes to not be effective anymore, assuming the firing pin strikes were not dead center.
 
Primer is useless for a snap cap after it has been hit once and crushed. I tried the rubber bit in the primer hole a long time ago and it only lasted a couple of sessions, the work to trim it and fit it wasn't worth the effort compared to the cost of buying snap caps. I have had to replace my snap caps once since 1976 I'd say it was money well spent.
 
I have made some rounds without charges, and put a piece of pencil eraser in the primer area for some homemade snap caps. Even used them during shooing drills to simulate a bad round as well. I super glue them in place so that the rubber wont work itself out and possibly jam up the works.
 
Snap caps have several advantages. They are easily recognizeable as 'not-ammo". The primer area provides a good shock absorber for the firing pin that doesn't degrade. Good ones are made to spec and you can cycle them in the action to check feeding, extraction, etc.

Just buy a set of snap caps - they cost too much, but they're worth it.
 
Some time ago I acquired for another purpose several feet of round nylon rod, like that used for post binders. It happens to be the right size for a large primer pocket and can be trimmed for the small size. I just cut off a piece and put it in the primer pocket of a de-primed cartridge case to make a "snap cap". Works fine. The nylon is almost indestructible, but if it does show wear, I just cut off another piece. And, of course, I can use it for calibers that no one makes snap caps for.

Some hard rubber will work OK but a pencil eraser is too soft and has almost zero cushioning effect.

Jim
 
Eraser was my first experiment, rubber cement to put it in and it held fine but disintegrated. I admit I probably did more dry firing than most folks because I was shooting for a spot on the All Army Team and eventually the Olympics. Carter took care of the Olympic dream and my dry fire shooting went down considerably after that. It may explain why my snap caps last so long. The nylon sounds like a good idea, wish I had thought of it but still the money paid for the snap caps was a one time expense for a very long time and the only work needed is to use them.
 
primers dent then dont cushion the FP anymore.

Cost for a new firing bin.....5 bucks....

Cost for snap caps + the effort spent loading them every time you wana dry fire.... like 20 bucks plus a PITA....People are too anal about this just dry fire it your gun will be fine. Military does it....Unless its a rimfire or a old gun just shoot it....
 
Lavid2002 said:
Cost for a new firing bin.....5 bucks....

Cost for snap caps + the effort spent loading them every time you wana dry fire.... like 20 bucks plus a PITA....People are too anal about this just dry fire it your gun will be fine. Military does it....Unless its a rimfire or a old gun just shoot it....
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"Effort spent loading them"? Seriously? It takes just a few seconds. And if your handgun doesn't have a magazine disconnect safety it's even quicker. Pop out the magazine, lock the slide back (which will also eject the chambered round), insert snap cap into chamber, release slide.

The effort spent swapping out that firing pin (even if it is only $5, which in many cases it is not) is much more than clearing the gun whenever you want to dry fire.

And Ruger rimfires, even old Ruger rimfires, can be dry fired all day long -- there's a firing pin stop that protects the firing pin. ;)
 
"Effort spent loading them"? Seriously? It takes just a few seconds. And if your handgun doesn't have a magazine disconnect safety it's even quicker. Pop out the magazine, lock the slide back (which will also eject the chambered round), insert snap cap into chamber, release slide.
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OMG! Don't you know you will break the extractor that way!.... that's what they tell me, anyway.
 
I'd recommend AZooms. They have a hard poly like "primer" that will last quite a while.

Usually the rim of the "case" gets pushed forward after many firing pin strikes and the aluminum gets dinged up, making it hard to chamber. Just go around it with a file, or scrape it.

Don't recommend the brass primer type. Little filings get down in the gun.

As mentioned, just using spent brass doesn't work. The primer will be useless after a few dry fires.
 
Primer pockets filled with silicon sealer works well and lasts indefinitly.
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I've also filled the primer pockets with a hot glue gun with great results. My brother still has some I made for him years ago, they do last a long time.
 
Using a dummy round for dry firing is a bad thing, one day it will go BANG! when you grab a live round by mistake and pull the trigger. Use snap caps, they can't be confused with live rounds.
 
Fired cases, cases with: rubber, erasers, silicone will not perform as snap caps. The firing pin wil just penetrate the material. Unless you fully understand the mechanics of firing pins (apparently, most don't) just buy snap caps.
 
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