How do snap caps work?

With the exception of 22, the old archaic thinking that dry firing is bad for your gun still hangs on somehow. With today's modern steel, dryfiring is ok and it's 90% of your SD preparedness training, as any good instructor will tell you. The old revolvers that have the firing pin on the hammer are the only ones I know of that can't be dry fired. Modern revolver hammers drop onto a pin, and are safe to dry fire. But the specific question here pertains to a Shield...not a .22, not a bolt action rifle.
Modern striker fired pistols are good to go.
The only 22 that I've heard of that is good to fire is a Ruger SR22 pistol. It states such right in the manual.
As for snap caps, for those of you that don't reload, there's a guy on eBay that makes snap caps out of a bullet/casing/silicone. He sells them in different calibers and group sizes. If you search snap caps on eBay, there should be many sellers who have them. I have a training partner slip one/some into an otherwise live mag, and they simulate malfunctions wonderfully. Just make sure your training partner watches for them when you eject the "malfunction."

Tyrod said:

That's hardly the truth.

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Just learning here... if SW says yes, what's the harm or why do some disagree?

SportScout said:

Just learning here... if SW says yes, what's the harm or why do some disagree?

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Because there are a lot of older shooters here that had that mindset drilled into them many years ago with equipment that no longer exists.


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gideon2086 said:

Because there are a lot of older shooters here that had that mindset drilled into them many years ago with equipment that no longer exists.


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^^^^^^This times ten.....older mindset.
For the same reason that people now understand that smoking doesn't "aid in digestion" anymore, like they told us back in the 60s. New technology has brought about better steel components, and various new alloys for that matter. Take for instance my S&W Governor.....it's a giant chunk of "scandium" that's pretty damn light. It dry fires nicely.
And since S&W says go ahead, dry fire away, then they can fix or replace it if it breaks.

As one who has had a failure by dry firing without snap caps, I use them. I use the Tipton as it has a spring beneath the "primer". The spring loaded snap cap was recommended by Ruger. I will continue using them.

oldiegoldie said:

As one who has had a failure by dry firing without snap caps, I use them. I use the Tipton as it has a spring beneath the "primer". The spring loaded snap cap was recommended by Ruger. I will continue using them.

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Was it with the so called "equipment that no longer exists?"

the firing pin retaining pin broke. sent gun back to Ruger and they fixed, sent back with note to use spring loaded snap caps. nothing complicated.

gideon2086 said:

Because there are a lot of older shooters here that had that mindset drilled into them many years ago with equipment that no longer exists.


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Yeah, you gotta love those "when I was growing up we did it like this" relics.
How about the ones that are determined to change their oil every 3K miles? My 75 year old dad still does this. I stopped buying oil for him a long time ago when I found out he was wasting oil like this. SMH!

FYI. Dry Firing a rim-fire firearm lets the firing pin/striker impact directly on the breech face resulting to damage to the firing pin over time. Nothing to absorb the impact but the breech face metal.

oldiegoldie said:

As one who has had a failure by dry firing without snap caps, I use them. I use the Tipton as it has a spring beneath the "primer". The spring loaded snap cap was recommended by Ruger. I will continue using them.

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What kind of firearm were you dry firing when it broke? rimfire? centerfire?

SportScout said:

Just learning here... if SW says yes, what's the harm or why do some disagree?

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S&W provides lots of guidance, including the following from the Shield manual:

NEVER KEEP AMMUNITION IN THE SAME LOCATION AS THE FIREARM. Store each in a separate and secure place.

ALWAYS WEAR EYE PROTECTION THAT IS SPECIFIED FOR USE WITH FIREARMS every time you handle your firearm for cleaning and maintenance.

Never load your pistol until you are sure of your target, what is beyond it and are fully prepared to fire.

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Do you follow each of the above to the letter? If not, you hopefully understand what S&W was trying to convey and appreciate the circumstances in which the guidance should be followed or other circumstances in which the guidance may not need to be applied.

Regarding dry firing, consider what is different about dry firing compared to live firing. In live firing, a cartridge in the chamber limits the firing pin's forward movement. If there is no cartridge in the chamber, something else stops the firing pin's forward movement, whether that may be the firing pin crashing into the front of the firing pin channel or possibly the firing pin stopping when the firing pin spring is compressed to its minimum. Cartridge substitutes allow the firing pin to operate as it is designed to regularly do during live firing.

As to advice on dry-firing, S&W is undoubtedly correct that dry-firing a modern pistol is not going to quickly cause its failure. But dry-firing without a cartridge substitute does place unusual stresses on some of a pistol's parts, that could or would eventually lead to failure.

Since I do not know how much dry-firing would be excessive, spending a few cents to make a dummy cartridge or a couple of dollars for snap caps is a cheap form of insurance against the possibility of eventually damaging my guns.

They have a little spring under the primer area. You can shoot them thousands of times. It absorbs the impact of the firing pin. Otherwise, the firing pin can slam forward further than usual causing damage. You want to use them for mainly hammered guns.

greeenteeee said:

What kind of firearm were you dry firing when it broke? rimfire? centerfire?

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Ruger LC9. 9mm.

gc70 said:

Since I do not know how much dry-firing would be excessive, spending a few cents to make a dummy cartridge or a couple of dollars for snap caps is a cheap form of insurance against the possibility of eventually damaging my guns.

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Tried to make my own with black RTV, til I realized I need a way to have the shape of a bullet. I have some poly snap caps that could be replaced, they wore out too quickly to buy. A-zooms seem okay, but the casing started to wear-- had to grind it smooth time to time.

I use snap caps in my model 19-4 just to be on the safe side. I also use them for speed loader practice. I put 6 expended cartridges in the chambers and put my speed loader in the single pouch that I carry CCW. So, I "fire' the six expended rounds in the chambers, and then go through my reloading technique with the snap caps. I practice this with my eyes shut about 60% of the time. The remaining 40% of the time, I practice whilst never looking down at my revolver. I keep my eyes forward into the target zone.

Disabled1 said:

Yeah, you gotta love those "when I was growing up we did it like this" relics.
How about the ones that are determined to change their oil every 3K miles? My 75 year old dad still does this. I stopped buying oil for him a long time ago when I found out he was wasting oil like this. SMH!

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Lol. I love the 3 month time limit also. I used to work for valvoline and they drill this into the customer for obvious reasons ($). I still remember a guy coming in at 4 months with only doing 1k miles SMH.