Good option to snap caps?

[YamaLink]

I was thinking of wedging a tight and not too thin nor too thick piece of rubber where the hammer would strike the firing pin. Allowing it to come far enough forward but not striking the pin.

Is this not a good idea for any reason? I plan to dry fire a lot!

Or should I just make up 6 dummy rounds and put some absorbing rubber in the primer cavity?

 

[Pisgah]

If it's a centerfire, forget the snapcaps -- not needed.

 

[YamaLink]

Thanks for the reply.
After posting I went and made 6 dummy rounds (colored them bright green) so I can practice my reloads with moon clips.

Have a nice weekend.

 

[Ceapea]

I was thinking of wedging a tight and not too thin nor too thick piece of rubber where the hammer would strike the firing pin. Allowing it to come far enough forward but not striking the pin.

Is this not a good idea for any reason? I plan to dry fire a lot!

Or should I just make up 6 dummy rounds and put some absorbing rubber in the primer cavity?

Here's what I do...

Synthetic "cork"

Ear plugs

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

I've snapped my centerfire Smiths a million/gazillion times on empty chambers with no ill effects.

 

[meh92]

I dry-fired my 642 and broke the firing pin after a few thousand pulls. I don't know if dry-firing was the culprit, but I decided not to take any more chances.

I use A-Zoom caps. They have a rubber primer and I haven't worn out any yet. I have also used the Pachmayr blue caps with the spring-loaded primers, but they weren't as useful for loading drills and they weren't as durable as the A-Zoom caps.

Maybe snap-caps aren't necessary in some guns, but they won't hurt anything.

 

[tazcollins]

I dry-fired my 642 and broke the firing pin after a few thousand pulls. I don't know if dry-firing was the culprit, but I decided not to take any more chances.

I use A-Zoom caps. They have a rubber primer and I haven't worn out any yet. I have also used the Pachmayr blue caps with the spring-loaded primers, but they weren't as useful for loading drills and they weren't as durable as the A-Zoom caps.

Maybe snap-caps aren't necessary in some guns, but they won't hurt anything.

Same use in my 642 and same opinion. TC

 

[PLINKING.40]

try this.

I went to the store and got a little tube of clear silicone and put a good dab to fill up the primer pockets, and let it dry, and now you can do practice load/unloading drills with the same weight bullets in moon clips, and dry fire at the same time.. You can act like Jerry Miculak.

 

[Nick B]

So after reading this is it safe to dry fire my N frames with the hammer mounted firing pins ?

 

[Green Frog]

+1 for A-Zoom snap caps. I use them for anything CF I plan to dry fire more than rarely. As has been stated, good snap caps are good for more than protecting the firing pin (which may not even be needed) and they keep the balance of the firearm similar to loaded condition, which is a plus when practicing. The best thing about A-Zoom is that they are made in about every caliber imaginable and some that you wouldn't expect!

Froggie

 

[YamaLink]

Awesome tip! I have just one moonclip full of 6 dummie rounds for reload practice (already confident/confirmed that dry firing will not hurt the 625). I shoved little pieces of rubber in the primer, and used 6 45acp bullets leftover from an order I don't plan to use again. The silicon would easy, too!

I went to the store and got a little tube of clear silicone and put a good dab to fill up the primer pockets, and let it dry, and now you can do practice load/unloading drills with the same weight bullets in moon clips, and dry fire at the same time.. You can act like Jerry Miculak.

 

[Loco Weed]

I use the A-Zoom (best) or Tipton snap caps in all my guns. Sure, MAYBE dry firing won't hurt them but why take the chance? I think that homemade caps using rubber, pencil erasers, silicone or fired primers is a bad idea as they are too soft to cushion the impact of the firing pin. Snap caps are quite cheap so why waste all the time trying to cobble up something home made that probably won't solve the problem. Midway USA has snap caps for just about every application.

 

[shotslow]

The 45 acp snap caps I had would not fit easily into a moon clip. The moon clip would not fit into my JM 625. The moon clip was destroyed. I'll make some dummy rounds. What is the material used in the pictures at the top of the thread by Ceapea.

 

[bennettfam]

dry fire caution

So after reading this is it safe to dry fire my N frames with the hammer mounted firing pins ?

Got if from an old school gunsmith that dry firing with hammer mounted firing pins will eventually "crystallize" the metal and it will crack. He said you may not know it is cracked until it fails totally.

Rule of thumb: don't dry fire hammer-mounted pin guns or rimfires. But I have heard differing opinions on this.

Good luck.

 

[David Sinko]

I have broken and disabled two handguns; each had been dry fired tens of thousands of times. First was an expensive custom Redhawk in which I broke two hammer links and wore out the transfer bar. On account of the year my Redhawk was made, finding a suitable replacement transfer bar proved very difficult. Second was a Sig P229 DAK. The pin which goes through the slide was broken in two places and the firing pin got stuck in the forward position. Now I simply use empty cases for all my dry fire and rotate them after every session, which would be a couple hundred trigger pulls. I also have an old .38 M&P with a defective action that will soon be a dedicated dry fire gun.

Dave Sinko

 

[PLINKING.40]

I use the A-Zoom (best) or Tipton snap caps in all my guns. Sure, MAYBE dry firing won't hurt them but why take the chance? I think that homemade caps using rubber, pencil erasers, silicone
A-Zoom are great snap caps, but look at the primer pocket, Yes that is Silicone they squirt in there..

 

[deanodog]

I've had a striker in a SW9VE break and a hammer nose on a model 10 break dry firing. Just saying.....

 

[Ceapea]

I use the A-Zoom (best) or Tipton snap caps in all my guns. Sure, MAYBE dry firing won't hurt them but why take the chance? I think that homemade caps using rubber, pencil erasers, silicone or fired primers is a bad idea as they are too soft to cushion the impact of the firing pin. Snap caps are quite cheap so why waste all the time trying to cobble up something home made that probably won't solve the problem. Midway USA has snap caps for just about every application.

That synthetic cork stuff that I use (see post #4) is pretty tough. I too have snap caps, but when I couldn't find 40 and 44 caps locally, I made them. The home-made earplug ones are softer than the cork caps though.