Snap Caps

[Steelman]

Hi All,

Sorry for bringing up a subject that may have been beaten to death but I need recommendations on good snap caps that can be loaded in conjunction with live ammo. I have heard reports of Azoom and Tipton fouling the chamber with brass bits and jamming.
Got an IDPA match coming up and I have developed a case of the jerks!

 

[Rastoff]

I have not had any trouble with the AZoom snap caps. That's what I use and recommend.

 

[CatSnipah]

I have not had any trouble with the AZoom snap caps. That's what I use and recommend.

Me too. Made by pachmayr.

 

[UncaGrunny]

Can't see how the Azooms could leave brass debris in a barrel; they are made of aluminum except for the firing pin cushion, which seems to be some kind of urethane.

 

[Saudade]

I have AZooms in 9mm for all my 9mm pistols. I leave one in the chamber for dry fire drills and storage. They look pretty nasty but still function with no issues. I'm still on the same 5 pack I bought almost a year ago.

Here in CA, we need to do a safe handgun demo before taking possesion. Everyone uses AZoom.

This is not a plug, just sayin'.

 

[Rastoff]

Here in CA, we need to do a safe handgun demo before taking possession.

Not if you have a CCW.

 

[Saudade]

Not if you have a CCW.

Correct. There are other "exceptions". I'm not one of them.

 

[D Binx]

I've used the A-Zoom ones in the past but now I only use them in my revolvers. I've switched over to these: Amazon.com: Tipton Snap Caps 9mm Luger (Per 5): Sports & Outdoors@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41HCnVRXbiL.@@AMEPARAM@@41HCnVRXbiL

The A-Zoom ones would start to chip from the extractor catching the rear of the snap cap and would get debris in the gun so after hearing about these ones, I made the switch. They don't chip at all and dry firing leaves a light firing impression on the area where the primer would be which is a plus. The impact is cushioned by a spring within the snap cap too.

 

[9mil]

Tip of the day…

Go to Home Depot, Lowe's, Menard's or any other hardware store and buy a box of 100 plastic drywall anchors, size #4-6. The ones I got from HD are yellow and about $4 a box—and should last you quite a while. They fit in .22 barrels perfectly and do the exact same thing that the $15 pack of "snap caps" will do.

 

[SW1122]

I personally prefer the Tipton brand since it is bright red and not easily mistaken for real ammo. Some other brands (especially A-Zoom) are too close to real ammo in color and appearance, IMO. I also like the spring cushioning the Tipton design includes.

With the Tipton brand, I see a moderate amount of microscopic brass debris after dry firing 100 or more times. It is so fine it almost looks like paint but it wipes off easily. The debris is within a 3/8 inch area adjacent to the firing pin hole. The Tipton snap cap round still looks fine to me after many hundreds of firings. It has ordinary-looking firing pin indentation in the center of what would be the primer if it were a real round.

It's no trouble to clean off the area surrounding the firing pin hole from time to time - I just use a Q-tip or cloth to wipe off the area. The brass-colored debris doesn't get into the striker assembly at all (which would require going through the firing pin's hole).

I hope this helps. YMMV as usual with such things.

 

[Rastoff]

Tip of the day…

Go to Home Depot, Lowe's, Menard's or any other hardware store and buy a box of 100 plastic drywall anchors, size #4-6. The ones I got from HD are yellow and about $4 a box—and should last you quite a while. They fit in .22 barrels perfectly and do the exact same thing that the $15 pack of "snap caps" will do.

That's great but only for a .22.

 

[9mil]

True, my apologies… I have been in rimfire mode lately—.22LRs on the brain. Not sure how, but I have 6 firearms and 5 of them wound up as .22s. LOL. So much for my screen name, eh?

 

[gnystrom]

I have had the Tiptons separate brass from plastic. I now only use Azoom's for class training. Never had any problems, thousands of loading/unloading demos.

 

[OpsMgr]

I personally prefer the Tipton brand since it is bright red and not easily mistaken for real ammo. Some other brands (especially A-Zoom) are too close to real ammo in color and appearance................

Click [URL="http://www.amazon.com/A-Zoom-...sim_sg_14"][COLOR=darkred][B]HERE[/B][/COLOR] for a pic of the A-Zoom snap caps - Doesn't look like "Real Ammo" to me...

 

[Rastoff]

I personally prefer the Tipton brand since it is bright red and not easily mistaken for real ammo. Some other brands (especially A-Zoom) are too close to real ammo in color and appearance, IMO.

Your logic is flawed. In fact, the Tipton is more easily mistaken for real ammo.

Here is what Tipton looks like:

Here are the AZoom snap caps:

Neither is easily mistaken for a real cartridge. But, if one were easier, it would be the Tipton. When in the chamber, it looks very close to a regular cartridge.

Also, the AZoom caps are one piece. Less likely to come apart as you use them for malfunction drills.

Even so, I'm not suggesting that the Tiptons are useless. I'm sure they're fine for a while. All of them will need to be replaced after a while. They will get chewed up by being dropped, from the extractor, etc. and will need to be replaced. That's the nature of any tool.

 

[Mr. Satchmo]

I've been using the same Tipton snap caps since I bought my 40, they work, but it leaves fine filings all over the internals. A local gun store associate recommended the azoom ones because they don't leave the filings, but I haven't bothered switching yet haha.

 

[BennyS]

I use both a zoom and Tipton. Both work fine but I like the tiptons better

 

[71velle]

I am new to handguns so can some one explain to me what the purpose of these things are.

 

[Rastoff]

I am new to handguns so can some one explain to me what the purpose of these things are.

They serve two purposes; First, they protect the firing pin for dry practice. Second, they allow you to function check and practice malfunctions.

All modern handguns are safe to dry fire. So, the first reason I gave above is really moot. You can dry fire your gun as much as you want without damage to the gun.

The greatest benefit to the snap caps is for malfunction drills. You can set up a malfunction and then practice clearing it. You can do all that without the snap caps, but it's more practical to have an actual dummy round to work with. (Never practice malfunctions with live ammo.)

 

[BennyS]

Also if you disassemble your pistol for a good cleaning they are great to make sure it feeds, ejects and fires