[Jim]

I've seen enough photos of Glocks with cracked breech faces that I prefer to use snap caps for dry fire practice on my G19 and G42. So far I've been using the Tipton ones; red plastic with a brass "head" and spring-loaded "primer" to cushion the firing pin fall.

But I've noticed that when the cap is new, I can definitely feel and hear the difference between snapping on an empty chamber and snapping on the cap. But after a hundred snaps or so, both methods sound/feel the same, it seems like the spring loaded "primer" may be getting dimpled enough that it's not doing any good.

Has anyone figured out how to tell when the cap has lost it's usefulness and should be discarded? At the current prices, using a new cap every 100 snaps would be so expensive that I'd be better off to skip the cap and just buy a new slide when needed.
Of course, some people say the firing pin is also at risk. And I prefer not to damage my carry gun.

 

[AzItLies]

I use those same caps and consider them pretty valuable for training. I'm guessing, but hope that the 'primer' is still absorbing the force of the firing pin even though the brass is dimpled.

It seems that, if once the brass is dimpled, it's no good... then what's the point of the spring? and the expense of them?

Will be interested to hear other perspectives. I too have no desire to damage anything.

 

[sciolist]

Snap caps aren't viable for serious dry practice. For that, you need a properly adjusted reset trigger. I trigger my dry gun 3 or 400,000 times a year.

What snap caps are good for is evaluating triggers in live guns. I use them for trigger testing and development, and they last a long, long time for that. For my purposes, the spring-loaded ones work much better than the resilient buffer types.

 

[Jim]

Sciolist-
When you said the spring loaded caps work better than the resilient buffer types, were you referring to durability or was there some other characteristic you noticed?

I've owned two different reset trigger systems that both claimed to duplicate my stock G19, the reset was reasonably good but the actual pull was nothing like a stock gun. In fact, I'd say the pull was so much lighter and mushier that I'd consider it to be negative training. Perhaps they can be modified properly but they were claimed to be a good duplicate right out of the box. Or if you have a modified trigger pull in the gun, they might match it.
AFAIK, nobody makes one for the G42.

The "business card in the breech" trick seems similar.

The dry fire magazine also claims to mimic a stock Glock, some people say it's very good and others say not. I'd be interested in comments.
Either way, also not available for my G42.

Further ideas?

 

[sciolist]

Sciolist-
When you said the spring loaded caps work better than the resilient buffer types, were you referring to durability or was there some other characteristic you noticed?

I've owned two different reset trigger systems that both claimed to duplicate my stock G19, the reset was reasonably good but the actual pull was nothing like a stock gun. In fact, I'd say the pull was so much lighter and mushier that I'd consider it to be negative training. Perhaps they can be modified properly but they were claimed to be a good duplicate right out of the box. Or if you have a modified trigger pull in the gun, they might match it.
AFAIK, nobody makes one for the G42.

The "business card in the breech" trick seems similar.

The dry fire magazine also claims to mimic a stock Glock, some people say it's very good and others say not. I'd be interested in comments.
Either way, also not available for my G42.

Further ideas?

You need to be able to tune the reset trigger break and pull to suit your specific purpose. Mine is set up to mimic #2 match triggers. I don't think that is available anywhere off the shelf. Triggering splits is an important skill.

It took me a few years at about 1,000 hours/year of dry fire to get to the point where I could mimic triggering just pressing on the rearward trigger of a live gun. I still train with a dedicated dry gun, though. That is hugely important.

I do think the spring loaded snap caps have a more realistic feel, so that is another characteristic. But the main thing is durability. I guess using very light FP springs also helps. Most of my development is on match triggers, not carry triggers.

Sorry, I can't help with the G42 aspect. Don't know anything about that.

 

[Jim]

Thanks.

 

[BillG174]

I have been using B's snap caps from Amazon and I really like them

https://www.amazon.com/Bs-Dry-Fire-...-Caps/dp/B0116829BM/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1488943311&sr=8-9&keywords=snap+caps

They are very durable. I used to use A-Zoom and their aluminum casing would get pretty chewed up but the B's are made of brass.

I called the company (very small) to inquire about .45 cal and they are working on them now soon to be available on Amazon too. Very impressed with the man I talked to.

 

[Jim]

Thanks for the info, I'd never heard of them but will look further.

 

[BillG174]

Jim, you're welcome.

Bill

 

[ken grant]

Best snap cap I have ever used and serves a dual purpose.
I make them in 9m/m , .40 S&W , .45 ACP , 7.62X51 and 5.56.
Size an empty case , seat bullet , fill primer pocket with Silicone , wipe level with case base and let set up.
Last for very many dry fires and works for ball and dummy drills.

 

[Jim]

I'm a reloader and have made my own dummies, but other folks have reported that silicone "primers" have a short life, what are you using?

 

[ken grant]

I'm a reloader and have made my own dummies, but other folks have reported that silicone "primers" have a short life, what are you using?

Just black silicone adhesive / sealer . It has lasted a long time for me in my M1A . Even longer in my pistols . Just be sure to seat the bullet before filling the primer pocket so the sealer won't be pushed out.
I over fill a small amount , press it in so it will go into the flash hole and then wipe level with the base and let it set up well before using.
P.S. I do make sure the primer pocket and flash hole are clean .

 

[Jim]

When you snap the gun on one of those new with the silicone primer, does it sound/feel any different from an empty chamber? Does that change after a few hundred snaps like my "real" snap caps with the spring loaded "primer"?

It just sounds too good to be true, but a tube of black silicone won't cost me very much.

 

[AzItLies]

Decided to try the B's ones and ordered them today. These are kind of pricey so hope they last a bit.

On the positive side of things, I'm using 'snap caps' less and less now. I'll listen carefully to see if there's a change in sound over time with them.

 

[ken grant]

Just black silicone adhesive / sealer . It has lasted a long time for me in my M1A . Even longer in my pistols . Just be sure to seat the bullet before filling the primer pocket so the sealer won't be pushed out.
I over fill a small amount , press it in so it will go into the flash hole and then wipe level with the base and let it set up well before using.
P.S. I do make sure the primer pocket and flash hole are clean .

About half asleep when I made this post.
One thing I do different now is I leave the pocket overfilled and let the Silicone set up and then trim flush with a knife as I have found that some Silicone may shrink a little below flush with the head of the case.
I have few that did that but they still work great but I wanted to try a different way and it worked and looks better to me.

 

[Jim]

Thanks, I do it that way.

 

[Mike-M]

Silicone-filled primer pockets provide no useful effective deceleration of the firing pin of a Glock. The thin blade-like Glock firing pin tip is not significantly affected upon impact with the silicone or any other similar material. The only value of such faux "snap caps" is the relief that comes from the delusion that they accomplish something beneficial.

 

[Jim]

Silicone-filled primer pockets provide no useful effective deceleration of the firing pin of a Glock. The thin blade-like Glock firing pin tip is not significantly affected upon impact with the silicone or any other similar material. The only value of such faux "snap caps" is the relief that comes from the delusion that they accomplish something beneficial.

That may be true, but how can you know?
It's just like my question about the spring-loaded primers getting dimpled and perhaps losing their cushioning effect.

We want the firing pin to be stopped by the dummy primer, not by impacting the rear of the breech face. If the silicone "primers" (or any other snap cap "Primer") get so mushy that a firing pin can be pushed into them with little effort, that would be a clue. But the only real proof would be to know if the firing pin is hitting the rear of the breech face, do you have a way for us to detect that?

 

[AzItLies]

Well I've been using the "B" ones (mentioned above) and can say for sure, at least with (minimal) use so far, there is no doubt they have a much different sound than the spring loaded ones I've been using (much softer).

Wish I would have gotten them sooner. Upon inspection, after multiple strikes, you don't notice any wear...

Will update if things change, but I'd say they are certainly worth a try.

 

[Jim]

It looks like there may be a way to tell when a snap cap needs to be discarded:

I took the two Glocks I dry fire with, a third Gen G19 and a G42.
Removed the slide/barrel, and set aside the recoil spring.
With the slide sitting upside down on my bench and barrel in place, I depressed the firing pin safety with a thumb and used a cleaning rod to push the firing pin forward until it stopped.
On the G19, it stopped about with about 1/16" clearance between the plastic FP sleeve and the FP tail. On the G42, the tail was closer to the plastic sleeve, may have actually touched.
Then I put a snap cap (new) in the barrel and slipped it under the extractor as I put the barrel in place.
On the G19, the FP tail stopped about 1/8" before the sleeve, on the G42 it stopped about 3/32" short.
This comparison allowed me to feel how much cushioning effect the cap had, by noting the extra effort needed to push the FP fully forward.

Looking at Tipton caps that had been used 100-200 times, the 9mm (G19) ones had a pretty big dimple but still stopped the FP before full travel. The .380 (G42) versions did not do as well, after 100-200 snaps they did not seem to cushion the FP much, if at all.

Time to put the silicone rubber in some of my dummy ammo and test. It may be a while before I get that part done...