Snap caps and dry firing

For the price of snap-caps as a %age of the price of your gun just buy a set for each caliber gun you have so it can be dry fired without damage.

Where's the logic in paying from $300 to $3000 for a gun and worrying about paying $30 for a set of snap-caps?
Same mind-set as paying $1000's for your car and running it on cheap oil to save money.

As a matter of interest, I bought 2 pairs of 12g a-zoom caps for my pump gun so as my son could practice with it and they will not eject for some reason, the ejector doesn't take hold of the rim so they have to be removed by hand, easy to do as they are a loose fit.
Works fine with 12g rounds, never had a problem with it not ejecting.

Cheers
Gaz
 
Depends.
My Glocks / CZ75* / Sigs? Never saw the need, & I do draw & dry fire practice all the time with my Glocks.
Ruger 22, I use a snap cap. Even though the manual says its safe, I grew up learning to use a 22 in that manner, and its ingrained... It just feels wrong not to.
*noted model on CZ75 because the CZ52 I had should not be dry fired w/o a snap cap due to firing pin breakage. So I used a snap cap in that as well.
Never have with the 870, manual says its safe. That one doesn't get it much, though, mostly just to relax the springs before storage. I don't worry about it.

I'm curious if there is more data on those broken breech Glocks, that is intriguing.
 
I slowed or stopped dryfire without snap caps after having some problems from an unexpected source. Ruger manuals ay its fine to dryfire their revolvers, but I've broken 3 transfer bars in two different guns. When I asked a local gunsmith, he said he'd replaced a number of them. The cowboy action shooters are familiar with transfer bar breakage also.

Lever actions are hard on firing pins when dry fired. As mentioned, an empty shell works for a time, but they don't last long until the primer is dented in enough they don't do anything. In a Winchester 94, I think that can be a half dozen hits tops.

Some make snap caps fro empty shells. They decap them and either fill the primer hole with silicone caulk, or a properly fitting section of O ring sliced off flush with the case head. Neither are long term, but cheap and much better than nothing.

Even if "so-and-so" has done it for years without incident, I prefer to err on the side of caution rather than hear a click when I really expected to hear a bang.

Ruger transfer bars,

IMG_0453.jpg
 
I use snapcaps not only with revolvers and semiauto handguns, but rifles and shotguns, too. It's inexpensive insurance against possible damage.
 
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