new owner

[bam'sPaw]

hey guys, a few 1st for me-s&w,1st auto,1st 9(sdve)and 1st forum.Looking forward to learning a few things i have looked around your forum and already picked up somethings.Had my sd9ve 3 weeks shot about 75 rds.love the gun no problems shoots great just need more practice can't hit center of targe, hitting low left,think it mayb my trigger pull.do i need snap caps to practice dry fires? ty

 

[sophie]

Welcome to the forum from Texas.

There is a wealth of information on this site.

 

[retired_diver]

It is ok to dry fire your 9. When you check the chamber for a live round and then field strip it the manual tells you to dry fire it.

You can go to this link for shot placement and corrective action. http://www.targetshooting.ca/docs/grp-analysis.pdf

 

[ADP3]

A couple of forum members have had broken strikers in their SD Series pistols. Snap caps are cheap and reduce the risk of a broken striker. S&W will fix it if it breaks but that still means days/weeks without your pistol. Twenty years ago I broke a Ruger Security Six firing pin dry-firing. They said that it was OK to dry-fire those w/o snap caps too.

Best Regards,
ADP3

 

[copterdrvr]

A zoom snap caps are cheap, work great and last a very long time.

I highly recommend them for all of your dry firing-why take a chance when they're so inexpensive .

 

[J Rich]

hey guys, a few 1st for me-s&w,1st auto,1st 9(sdve)and 1st forum.Looking forward to learning a few things i have looked around your forum and already picked up somethings.Had my sd9ve 3 weeks shot about 75 rds.love the gun no problems shoots great just need more practice can't hit center of targe, hitting low left,think it mayb my trigger pull.do i need snap caps to practice dry fires? ty

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your puchase.


Yes more practice is needed. The low & left shot is a result of pulling the muzzle down before the trigger breaks. A couple things to help fix this is. Proper grip the "thumbs forward" grip is always best, keep the front sight on target forget the rear sights for now, slow trigger squeeze no pulling or jerking, last practice by live fire or dry fire.

Dry firing
Typically dry firing does not hurt striker fired guns like the SDVE. There are lots of members here with hundreds to thousands of dry fires on there gun. Yes there have been a couple members with broken strikers, but those were broke in different areas of the striker. Hard to say that they were due to dry firing. Let's face it parts do break. If using snap caps helps ease your mind than so be it.

An alternative to snap caps is making a dummy round. This would require you finding someone with reloading equipment. You need a de-primed casing and a new bullet replacing the primer with a piece of rubber and replacing the bullet without any powder. Now the striker hits the rubber instead of nothing.


Remember front sight on target, proper grip, and practice. Some practice dry firing with a coin placed on top of the slide. Now keeping sight on target, dry fire without the coin falling off.

 

[copterdrvr]

Or, you can get 5 Azoom snap caps for 11 bucks-they are on sale at Midway right now for a 7 dollar savings.

They also work great for running rounds through your pistol to verify magazine function, cycling, etc.

Each snapcap has a 3000+ strike lifecycle. Overall cheap investment...

 

[snubbyfan]

Maybe this correction chart'll help. I agree with the others, lotsa dryfire practice.

 

[bam'sPaw]

thanks for welcome and advice guys

 

[boddah4]

I can send you a few snap caps in 9mm if you pm me your address.

 

[leejack]

Welcome and congrats!