Plastic rounds for dry fire practice?

[spamassassian]

Sorry if this is a silly question - I'm still pretty new to bolt guns. I mentioned to my dad (who used to shoot a lot in the '60s & '70s) that I was dry fire practicing when I got the chance and how it seems to be improving my trigger control (groups are shrinking). He said that I might want to use "plastic practice rounds to avoid causing a problem with the firing pin or mechanism getting deformed" or something like that. My understanding is that this is not an issue with modern centerfire rifles. Any thoughts?

 

[Mike]

Re: Plastic rounds for dry fire practice?

You do not need plastic "snap caps" as they're commonly referred to.
Older rifles in the 60s and 70s did have that issue but modern centerfire rifles do not.

 

[spamassassian]

Re: Plastic rounds for dry fire practice?

Thanks! That's kind of what I thought but wanted a more expert opinion.

 

[Early Cuyler]

Re: Plastic rounds for dry fire practice?

When I first started getting a little more serious in this I was like you and bought two 308 snap caps. After realizing they aren't needed for dry firing, I got an idea.

I took them to the range and gave them to my buddy. Then I turned my back and let him load 4rds into the rifle and told him he could put one, two, or no snap caps in any order. I'd then proceed to shoot. Let me tell you, it was an eye opener as to how bad I was expecting recoil. My groups have since shrunk significantly!

 

[VJJPunisher]

Re: Plastic rounds for dry fire practice?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: halcyon575</div><div class="ubbcode-body">When I first started getting a little more serious in this I was like you and bought two 308 snap caps. After realizing they aren't needed for dry firing, I got an idea.

I took them to the range and gave them to my buddy. Then I turned my back and let him load 4rds into the rifle and told him he could put one, two, or no snap caps in any order. I'd then proceed to shoot. Let me tell you, it was an eye opener as to how bad I was expecting recoil. My groups have since shrunk significantly!</div></div>

do this with a pistol to feel really retarded

 

[The Zebra]

Re: Plastic rounds for dry fire practice?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: VJJPunisher</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: halcyon575</div><div class="ubbcode-body">When I first started getting a little more serious in this I was like you and bought two 308 snap caps. After realizing they aren't needed for dry firing, I got an idea.

I took them to the range and gave them to my buddy. Then I turned my back and let him load 4rds into the rifle and told him he could put one, two, or no snap caps in any order. I'd then proceed to shoot. Let me tell you, it was an eye opener as to how bad I was expecting recoil. My groups have since shrunk significantly!</div></div>

do this with a pistol to feel really retarded</div></div>

What they said!

 

[Izot]

Re: Plastic rounds for dry fire practice?

^ Great training aide. Not needed to save the firing pin on any modern quality rifle.

 

[RotARy15]

Re: Plastic rounds for dry fire practice?

What's bad is when you are shooting 2 inch groups at 10 yards and you're thinking, "pretty damn good".

Then you do the snap cap thing just to see and you find that you have worlds of improvement to do and the only thing you can think is, HOW?!

 

[19Scout77]

Re: Plastic rounds for dry fire practice?

If you are using an aftermarket aluminum firing pin assembly with the two piece firing pin, then you need something to slow the firing pin other than the inside of the bolt. After a lot of dry firing these have a tendancy to break right where the steel and aluminum are pinned/pressed together.

 

[spamassassian]

Re: Plastic rounds for dry fire practice?

Interesting thought about mixing in the snap caps with real ammo to check for anticipation. Maybe I'll get a couple of them. Got 940 primers... gonna take a while to shoot them in hand loads!

 

[dogman]

Re: Plastic rounds for dry fire practice?

Ha...my friend had a dummy 45 round and it was pretty embarrassing to watch my pistol dive bomb down and right (lefty) with I hit the dud round.