Thanks for all the help as I get my first semi- M&P shield M2.0-should be here tomorrow-trying to learn all I can before taking it to range.

Can you use snap caps to dry fire? If so, do you load a magazine with the snap caps? If so, are the snap caps ejected when you fire as are the cartridges when firing live ammo?
Thanks, Creekman

I use them to dry fire. They eject when you manually cycle the slide to reset the trigger on striker fired guns. I usually buy two packs so I don't have to reload them as much.

They are also good for:

Reload and fire practice using multiple magazines

Dummy rounds randomly placed in live magazines when at the range to practice failure to fire drills ( tap, rack, bang)

Just make sure ALL live ammo is out of the room.

I have a couple mags with red on floorplates I use exclusively for this.

Congratulations on the new Shield. You can use snap caps, as stated above, but it will not hurt your gun to dry fire it. I make it a practice to never dry fire in the house. I like to always aim at something that is a safe target.

I use 'em in all my guns...pistols and revolvers any time I dry fire. (Except .22s which I never dry fire.)

As far as filling a mag with them...I just put one in and then cycle the slide just enough to reset the striker on striker-fired pistols (and not enough to eject the snap cap)....and simply cock the hammer on real pistols. (Okay, that was a cheap shot.)

And yes, the common wisdom is you don't really need them for centerfire cartridges...but they are cheap enough so why not use 'em. And I do use them indoors...but am real, real, real careful.

Yellow wall anchors work perfectly for .22lr snap caps - I use them in my Model 17 K-22 Masterpiece.

Could I use them to practice loading the magazine?

then, if they eject-chamber a round and dry fire the rounds I have loaded in the magazine?
Creekman

Yes, you can load snap caps into a magazine, just like "real" ammo, and practice loading the gun. However, the gun won't cycle on its own like with live ammo - but you can yank the slide back yourself to eject the cap and load the next one. (Or just pull it back far enough to reset the striker without ejecting the snap cap.)

FYI, I like the A-Zoom brand of snap caps.

The B's dry fire caps work well too.

HOWTO: Using snap caps in guns - YouTube
How to dry fire with snap caps - YouTube

The only semis that I've dry fired extensively were my SDVE pistols...and I didn't use snap caps with them. Never had a problem from doing so, and it helped the triggers wear in.

I do use snap caps to check cycling and practice loading drills...makes me too nervous to do that with live ammo. Another good use for snap caps is to load a magazine with live rounds, but with one snap cap in the middle of the stack. (This obviously should only be done at the range.) When the round before the snap cap is loaded and then fired, the snap cap will load, but of course the pistol won't fire. Then you can practice a malfunction drill...usually tap-rack-bang. This works best if you have someone else load the magazine for you, so you really don't know where in the mag the snap cap is.

I recently incorporated snap caps into my function checks. I cleaned, lubed, and function checked my AR-15. Two days later, I found the extractor and pin laying on the floor. That would have ruined a range trip. Now, I cycle a few snap caps through my semi autos to make sure they eject.

As I noted in another message chain on a similar topic: with most striker-fired guns, you don't have to move the slide far enough to unchamber the snap cap. Moving it maybe less than 1/2" will generally reset the striker.

That makes multiple trigger pulls quicker and easier with most striker-fired guns than with hammer-fired guns.

Yes, you can do that, but it certainly gets old quickly, chasing the ejected snap caps, retrieving them, and reloading the mags. I usually load the mag with 5 snap caps, chamber one, dry fire, then retract the slide just enough to reset the trigger. Doesn't take much, just about 3/4" to the rear.

That leaves the same snap cap in the chamber and saves wear and tear on the snap caps.

Place a snap cap in the middle of your live stack at the range. If you load 3 or 4 mags, you can mix them up so you don't know for sure which round will be the snap cap.

When you pull the trigger on the dummy round, you will see any flinch you might need to cure. You'll be surprised how quickly you can reduce flinching and improve your accuracy with this drill.

For me, that was the best use of snap caps.

I have a rather nice older 9MM Luger which I shoot on occasion and as I do not want leave a strain on the firing spring I put a snap in a magazine and let the gun chamber it, then pulling the trigger.

That actually covers two objectives, the afore mentioned keeping a lot of tension off the spring and not subjecting that old firing pin to the stress of not hitting a cartridge when gun is fired.

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

Be aware that if you do this very much, you will be training yourself to rack the slide every time you pull the trigger.

I guess that also means that practicing presentations (drawing from the holster and bringing the gun on target but NOT pulling the trigger), if you do it a lot, you'll also NOT pull the trigger when you need to?

Better suited for use in revolvers. YES they are OK for testing basic function, so would a dummy brass round (no powder or primer). Prolonged use chews them up ,(IMO) & is just a pain in the keister. Not to mention the old penny on the barrel trick is harder to do as well.

Yes, actually. Whatever you practice is likely what you'll do when under stress. Refer to the Newhall Incident.

You don't need snap caps in any auto (unless it's rim-fire), it won't hurt it to dry fire it. Never let the slide slam forward on an empty chamber tough, especially if you have a really nice trigger.

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Dave Ramsey Cultist

It's important to be aware of (and avoid) possible training scars. However, I think that click and BANG are different enough experiences that you're unlikely to confuse them, if you regularly practice both.

Maybe instead of pulling the slide back just enough to reset the striker, we should practice a full tap/rack when dry firing, to train one's response to a failure-to-fire. What do you think?

May be different with certain guns but overall it's fine. Many people only ever practice without snap caps and rack slides without harm

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The only place that letting the slide slam shut on an empty chamber seems to be a concern is with some finely-tuned 1911s. And there's not complete agreement on this point among 1911s enthusiasts.

It's not an issue with most other guns, or with guns that are striker fired.

And you do need snap caps in SOME center-fire semi-autos and MOST (but not all) rim-fire semi-autos; the owner's manual will tell you what's required. (The Ruger line of .22s -- both handguns and long guns) use a firing pin stop or limiter that keeps the firing pin for striking the chamber face.)

I broke a firing pin in a (center-fire) Beretta Tomcat USING SNAP CAPS some years back, because that little hammer struck so forcefully it destroyed the snap cap faster than I knew to check it for damage.

Older CZ 75Bs needed snap caps, too, but that problem was remedied with more recent models. Dry firing the CZ without a snap cap damaged the firing pin retention roll pin; they've since reinforced that roll pin.

With some milsurp guns, dry-firing may damage the firing pin.