home made snap caps

[dryfly]

I'm buying a S&W 642 and would like to do some dry firing. It looks as if snap caps are not required but probably would be good insurance.

Would decapping and resizing .38 brass and then putting leather, hard rubber or epoxy in the primer pocket be as effective as a commercial snap cap? Any other ideas on building your own?

 

[odsixer]

I've read some people use a piece of eraser epoxied in the primer pocket.

 

[LawofThirds]

I know someone who used silicone (from a cast your own....well er...let's say the end result would reside in drawer beside the bed) to cast replicas of the inside of the chambers and barrel on one of his L frames and used the silicone plugs as snap caps.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Some silicone sealant (aka RTV) of the type used to seal automotive gaskets, in the primer pocket of a fired and deprimed case, seems like it should work.

 

[Virginian]

I've done it using a small piece of round polyurethane, polyethylene, and who knows what else. I could never get the little plastic part to stay in the case.
Buy some A-Zoom caps. They will outlive you. I have had SEVERAL of the red and clear plastic brand break, in everything from 357 thru 10 gauge. If you can find some of the nickel plated ones like Dunn's and Cape Outfitters used to sell, they are first rate too.

 

[rcmodel]

Silicone, pencil erasers, and any of many other DYI ideas are all too soft to do much good.

Plus, they quickly beat out where the firing pin hits them, and then do nothing at all.

Same with using fired cases.

Unless you change them out every two or three snaps, the old primers get beat out so deep, they aren't really doing anything at all to protect the gun.

+1 On A-Zoom snap-caps!
Just buy some and be done with it!

rcmodel

 

[jwr_747]

I've had good luck with putting a gob of hot glue in the primer pocket and cutting it off flush when hardened. jwr

 

[20nickels]

Yeah, A-Zooms are great, but it would cost me $80 to get all the caps I need for reloading drills! That's just in one caliber. There's got to be a better way, and one that's properly weighted too. Until somebody pulls apart an A-Zoom to see what makes it tick I'm going to try a Jacketed RN, silicone filled case and hard rubber for the primer. Properly marked of course.
BTW, A-Zooms are only rated to 3000 shots per mfg. instructions and I have seen them shot to pieces by a revolver.