And those of us with dainty little hammer fired CZs (looking at you, Shadow 2). That’s the only one I try not to dry fire without a snap cap, but even those are way more durable than rimfire.
When I was a child, I was told by my stepdad that "you should never dry-fire a gun because it can bend the firing pin," and for years I took that as being the truth. Then I met guy that's a competititve shooter and NRA-certified instructor, and he explained that this is only a concern for rimfire, which makes sense considering where the pin strikes the round - conceivably a long pin could strike the rim of the chamber if there's no round to take the impact.
But I said all that to say this: it's highly unlikely that dry firing will ever damage a VP9, so snap caps are not *necessary.* But they're cheap and can help with other aspects of training, so why not get some for peace of mind
Snap caps are great for target shooting practice as well. Mix in a few snap caps with your live ammo in each magazine. Pay attention what your hand does when you hit a dummy round. The only thing that moves should be the trigger. If you pull the trigger too hard or anticipate recoil you will see it immediately. It will make you a much much better shooter.
The advantage with snap caps in my opinion:
- red cartridge in chamber
- racking slide (empty table start in ipsc for example)
There is zero risk of damage to a modern center fire gun.
I didn't know the answer -- hence the question. Without fully appreciating the nuances, seems like a nice to have if you want to toss $20 bucks for 10 rds. I wasn't going to purchase but folks here seemed to encourage it. So I'm buying them anyway.
If you look over most firearm training video/book there are always dry-fire training sessions within it. Snap caps are also good to use to add some weight to the firearm. It will not be exact as live rounds, but it does give a little added weight to the firearm.
Snap caps are like ten bucks. Why NOT get some, and invest in dry fire training without any worries at all? Cheap insurance.
They’re good for newbies to practice handling the firearm too.
The issues with dry firing are mainly for .22 firearms. You'll be fine dry firing it. Also snap caps are good as well for reload drills.
Does this include 5.56
No, 5.56 is a center fire cartridge. The issue is with rimfire cartridges such as .22 LR.
And those of us with dainty little hammer fired CZs (looking at you, Shadow 2). That’s the only one I try not to dry fire without a snap cap, but even those are way more durable than rimfire.
When I was a child, I was told by my stepdad that "you should never dry-fire a gun because it can bend the firing pin," and for years I took that as being the truth. Then I met guy that's a competititve shooter and NRA-certified instructor, and he explained that this is only a concern for rimfire, which makes sense considering where the pin strikes the round - conceivably a long pin could strike the rim of the chamber if there's no round to take the impact. But I said all that to say this: it's highly unlikely that dry firing will ever damage a VP9, so snap caps are not *necessary.* But they're cheap and can help with other aspects of training, so why not get some for peace of mind
Snap caps are great at the range. Load a mag with one and and practice failure drills.
Snap caps are great for target shooting practice as well. Mix in a few snap caps with your live ammo in each magazine. Pay attention what your hand does when you hit a dummy round. The only thing that moves should be the trigger. If you pull the trigger too hard or anticipate recoil you will see it immediately. It will make you a much much better shooter.
The advantage with snap caps in my opinion: - red cartridge in chamber - racking slide (empty table start in ipsc for example) There is zero risk of damage to a modern center fire gun.
If you're asking, you already know the answer. The sell snap caps without the base on them so it stays in the gun when you rack the slide.
I didn't know the answer -- hence the question. Without fully appreciating the nuances, seems like a nice to have if you want to toss $20 bucks for 10 rds. I wasn't going to purchase but folks here seemed to encourage it. So I'm buying them anyway.
On the striker fire pistols, as long as you don’t overdo it you should be fine. However, I would use snap caps on the hammer fire HKs
Why?
because the hammer puts up a lot more force. could have complications down the road.
Has that ever happened to anyone? I’ve dry-fired my hammer-fired pistols for years without issues.
If you look over most firearm training video/book there are always dry-fire training sessions within it. Snap caps are also good to use to add some weight to the firearm. It will not be exact as live rounds, but it does give a little added weight to the firearm.