What are Snap Caps??

[kramden]

I'm new to the handgun world and I hear mention of Snap Caps. What are they, and what are they used for?

 

[NavyLCDR]

They are simulated ammunition cases inserted into the chamber that absorb the force of the firing pin when dry firing (to minimize/prevent any damage to some guns that might be damaged by dry firing with only an empty chamber). Dry firing is pulling the trigger for practice purposes with either an empty chamber or a snap cap in the chamber so the gun is not actually fired. Some snap caps can also be loaded into the middle of a magazine full of live rounds so that the shooter can practice clearing a malfunction during live firing.

 

[flyingron]

NavyLCDR does a pretty good job of describing. They're also handy for doing work on the guns to verify the movement of the cartridge (loading, extraction) and other fitting. You never, EVER, want live rounds around your cleaning/gunsmithing activities. On the range, when testing guns I've worked on, I put one live round and one snap cap in the magazine (in the reverse order so that they load in that order). This allows the normal fire of a single shot and cycling of the magazine (and introducing the snap cap into the chamber), but since the snap cap is totally inert, I don't have to worry about it firing in case that there was some malfunction (something happens in the bore or the gun "full autos").

 

[kramden]

Thanks!

 

[RJT CCW]

There are several types of snap caps. Some are spring loaded and others are inert pieces of aluminum (shaped like a live round with a piece of plastic for the primer).

Tipton Style Snap Caps

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A-Zoom Style

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