If you're going to dry fire, get some snap caps first.

Wall anchors

The plastic wall anchors from the hardware store work perfectly for .22 snap caps.
I have dryfired thousands of times with my Taurus 94 using them. You can then reuse them as a wall anchors when you are done.

The polyethylene material does not become damaged for me. If it were being chewed through I would be concerned. It does not show any "wear" at all.
 
That's because the anchor plastic is "self-healing" and closes back up after being pierced.
Plastic can not offer the same resistance as a metal cartridge.
 
I have used Tiptons and A-Zooms both. The A-Zooms start getting chewed up and rough sooner than I expected, and the Tiptons qualify under the recommendation for a metal spring-loaded primer. Just wondered if there was another brand I didn't know about.
 
People don't understand the force it takes for a firing pin to crush a primer. That tip can easily penetrate hard plastic. Some people still won't understand.....
 
I do, Bill!

One time I pressed my thumb up against the inside of a S&W revolver at the firing pin window, and held back the cylinder release and pulled the trigger just to see what it felt like.

Felt like a dang bee sting and left a divot in my thumb!! A LOT of force concentrated on that little pin as it whacks the primer.

Stick a pencil in your Glock barrel, eraser side down, and dry fire it with the muzzle up. The pencil will go flying!!
 
That's because the anchor plastic is "self-healing" and closes back up after being pierced.
Plastic can not offer the same resistance as a metal cartridge.
Click to expand...

With a rimfire gun, there isn't much else you can do other than use plastic. There are no snap caps that I'm aware of that have a metal rim to cushion the blow of the firing pin.
 
Excluding Rim Fires I wont have a (serious use) pistol/revolver I cant dry fire. Without having to use snap caps.

I have a Series 70 Cold Gold Cup got in the middle 70s that I had dry fires for hours upon hours when I was heavy into Bulls eyes. Same with my Model 52 Smith.

Same with my Smith Revolvers. I cant imagine counting the hours I spent dry firing a Smith Revolver, to smooth out the action. In training I would dry fire them until couldn't pull the trigger, the switch hands and start again.
 
I am with kraigwy. All of my center fired handguns get dry fired regularly without snap caps. While I haven't spent as many hours dry firing as he has, I have spent many hours doing it without any negative consequences. I do not see the need but will support your right to use them if you choose. :)
 
If I knew someone dry fired a firearm for hours on end, I wouldn't buy it. Would you ?
Click to expand...

I would not buy a center fire firearm that excluded dry firing. The implication is that dry firing would damage the gun. Since it doesn't, it would not effect my decision. It probably would have a smoother trigger as a result...
 
Take a small hammer and a small anvil-or anything similar, and hit the anvil with the hammer enough times and you will see that banging two pieces of metal together eventually causes damage to one or both pieces. It can't be avoided. When shooting live ammunition or using snap caps, the hammer fall is cushioned by the primer.
Slam two pieces of metal together long enough, and one (or both) will distort. The pieces will also work-harden and become brittle. This is inescapable fact.
Gunmakers can design to minimize these effects, but they can not be eliminated.
Dry firing most guns a few times will not harm them, but excessive dry firing of ANY gun causes the above to happen.
 
I bought some Italian made snap caps with a spring under the "primer", found they really didn't hold up that well.
I find there is a safety advantage to using snap caps. Like using blaze orange training rounds in a speedloader.
 
I have a Series 70 Cold Gold Cup got in the middle 70s that I had dry fires for hours upon hours when I was heavy into Bulls eyes. Same with my Model 52 Smith.
Click to expand...

Of course, the Model 52 does have a dry fire feature not found in any other centerfire pistols that I'm aware of.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top