Snap caps???

[Scottcba1 8]

Here is another noobie question for you guys.....hope your not sick of my questions yet.

 

Whats the point of these snap caps I keep seeing? Do you have to put one in the chamber whenever you put your gun away or is it only when stored for monthes at a time?

 

If you dry fire with one in the chamber does it get damaged? Any info is greatly appreciated.

 

-Scott

[67gtonut 847]

Here is another noobie question for you guys.....hope your not sick of my questions yet.

 

Whats the point of these snap caps I keep seeing? Do you have to put one in the chamber whenever you put your gun away or is it only when stored for monthes at a time?

 

If you dry fire with one in the chamber does it get damaged? Any info is greatly appreciated.

 

-Scott

 

Snap Caps are made to dry fire to practice trigger control.....

[Scottcba1 8]

Oh ok so it has nothing to do with storage or anything along those lines...thanks for the insight.

 

-Scott

[Chad 3]

Nope....it just solves the age old debate that dry firing (shooting a gun with no round in the chamber) a firearm is bad for the firing pin. Snap caps "cushon" the fall, if you will. Some people say they are not necessary, some people say they are.

 

Not at all necessary to have a snap cap in the chamber for storage purposes.

[mikelets456 78]

Nope....it just solves the age old debate that dry firing (shooting a gun with no round in the chamber) a firearm is bad for the firing pin. Snap caps "cushon" the fall, if you will. Some people say they are not necessary, some people say they are.

 

Not at all necessary to have a snap cap in the chamber for storage purposes.

 

I know in my 92FS' manual it says to "dry fire" with snap caps only....My XD9 does not.

[Chad 3]

Yeah, same with me....my beretta manuals say they are necessary. I think the mossberg plinkster mannual says it also, but thats a .22lr. I will have to check my other manuals when I get home just out of curiosity.

[Scottcba1 8]

Thanks guys! I know the SR9 is safe to dry fire as long as the mag is in it. Doesnt specify if a snap cap is needed.

 

Thanks again!

 

-Scott

[Malsua 1,422]

Some firearms don't have a problem dry firing. For some it causes wear on the firing pin retainer since there's no resistance. Also, on rimfire weapons, the firing pin impacts the edge of the chamber and it can peen a divit there if dry fired excessively. In general only dry fire a rimfire if you must. Some guns require that you dry fire for a takedown.

 

I would say that if you plan on dry firing your weapon beyond a take down procedure, get a snap cap and eliminate all doubt.

[rscalzo 3]

Helpfull for centerfine, mandatory for rimefire.

 

they are also a safe way to function check and practice the handgun operation.

 

they also are helpfull in a failure drill...

 

Teaches:

flinch control and followthrough during live fire.

Requires:

best with shooting partner, can be done alone.

 

Principle:

If the hammer falls on an empty chamber during slow-fire shooting, your gun shouldn't budge--sights should stay aligned and on target, eye still clearly focused on the front sight. If the gun does dip (or jump), you're anticipating the recoil.

 

Drill:

Have someone else load a magazine for you, mixing live rounds with snap caps, or for a revolver, leave one or more chambers empty. When you fire the gun, concentrate on keeping the gun steady, sights on target, no matter what happens. When the snap cap comes up you'll be able to check your flinch. If you're doing well, the gun won't budge. If you're not doing well, keep up with the drill until you are. Keep your sights aligned and on target while you release the trigger just enough to re-engage the sear (proper followthrough).

 

You can do this yourself by loading several magazines and mixing them up, or loading a magazine with your eyes closed, or rotating the cylinder with your eyes shut before closing it.

 

Variations:

if you have a laser or optical sight, it's even more difficult to keep the dot perfectly on the target when the snap cap comes up, and easier to diagnose the direction your flinch is taking you.

 

The drill was obtained from:

 

http://www.waynefrazee.com/personal.php/hg_d_dummyround

 

A source of some great information.

[Scottcba1 8]

Good idea....Thanks.

 

Always informative site with great members. This is why NJgunforums is the only gun forum I belong too. Thanks for all the help guys. I hope to meet up with some of you and get to put faces with names soon.

 

-Scott

[Chad 3]

Great Idea! I always anticipate recoil and try "fighting" it, thus causing my muzzle to go down.

[coldsolderjoint 84]

Great Idea! I always anticipate recoil and try "fighting" it, thus causing my muzzle to go down.

 

I find myself doing this, if I haven't shot a certain pistol in awhile, otherwise, after a mag or two, I'm back to where I was.

[Chad 3]

Its almost like a natural reaction for me. Kind of fits my personality, someone or something pushes me, I push back lol. It's probably all in my head, anticipating the recoil, its something I really need to work on.

[Blackfox 1]

Its almost like a natural reaction for me. Kind of fits my personality, someone or something pushes me, I push back lol. It's probably all in my head, anticipating the recoil, its something I really need to work on.

 

To fight the anticipate recoil, after you aim close your eyes, squeeze the trigger, very very slowly, the shot must surprise you. Also have some body load your mag with live and dummy, that way you learn how to operate in case of a misfired in a real situation. It may be stupid but a lot of shooter freeze when the gun misfires. If you have a Glock, with the gun empty fire the pistol, with your finger in the trigger pressed pull the slide back, as it goes back release the pressure on the trigger until you feel that it load the trigger again, after a few tries you will get a better control of you finger, specially good for rapid firing.

[tbtrout 141]

Scott, we will not tire of your questions, that is why we are here.

[ChrisJM981 924]

Its almost like a natural reaction for me. Kind of fits my personality, someone or something pushes me, I push back lol. It's probably all in my head, anticipating the recoil, its something I really need to work on.

I did that when my dad had me shooting his .40 cal H&K USP with hot loads the first time I shot pistol... Needless to say I blew half the leg off the wooden stand trying to fight the recoil.

[mikelets456 78]

Its almost like a natural reaction for me. Kind of fits my personality, someone or something pushes me, I push back lol. It's probably all in my head, anticipating the recoil, its something I really need to work on.

 

Dry fire like crazy and use snap caps. This creates a more positive "muscle memory" and reaction when the trigger is pulled. I was like this for the first 200 rounds of getting a hand gun. I started to dry fire and concentrated on keeping the sites on small random objects at varying distances. I would dry fire 5-10 minutes every night until there was NO movement at all when dry firing.....the sight would not move from the object no matter how many times I would dry fire.

 

Also, to make sure you have the correct grip, aim at an object with one eye on the sights (and object) then close both eyes (without moving) and open the aiming eye again. If your aim is on the same spot then that's a grip and stance that will probably work well for you.

 

Now when you get to the range concentrate on a very small target about 5-7 yards away...think of NOTHING else. If you see "muzzle flash" at the end of your shot, chances are you are not flinching. If not you probably are. At that point keep focusing on nothing but the target and sites until the flinching is gone. I had to go through this with my wife and the only way to get her to stop thinking about the "recoil" was to draw a small circle on the target and told her she must hit it. By the third mag she saw the muzzle flash and was very close to hitting her target.

 

keep dry firing and simply keep practicing...the recoil thing won't even enter into your mind if you keep at it.