Thread: Homebrew Snap Caps

Hi,

New here and looking for opinions on homemade snap caps and the best materials/manufacturing method please.
I'm not new to the bush, but I am new to hunting. I am a volunteer track scout/cutter for a trust that owns a 12ha block of bush on the Rimutaka Range and they are looking for cullers to deal with the goat/pig problems in the block, so I bought myself a rifle (after much deliberation and advice, a Browning AB3 Stalker .308), as I keep running into the pesky critters on my travels and feel a sense of civic responsibility to do my part to preserve NZ native flora/fauna.

Haven't even hit the range yet, but I'm now comfortable with cycling live ammunition and am moving onto dry firing drills; hence the question regarding snap caps.
I know that pretty much all centrefire rifle manufacturers (including Browning) say it's completely safe to do dry firing drills without needing snap caps (most rimfire manufacturers these days claim the same), but I'm nervous about potential damage to the firing pin caused by over extension and considering what I've just shelled-out for the rifle, I'm taking the overly cautious road here.

I've found a few videos on YouTube that show different methods of making your own snap caps, and I have made a few of my own using once-fired brass from a mate.
The 'primer' in these snap caps is made from a leather belt, super-glued into the primer pocket on the cases. The shot of them after being fired, is after they have been through the rifle 20 times. The leather seems to be holding-up fairly well and the glue is still holding them in place. The largest hole punch I have is slightly smaller than the primer pocket diameter unfortunately. As I don't yet have a reloading press, there are no projectiles in the cases, which does cause feeding issues when the magazine is nearly empty, and also getting the casing nose into the rifle chamber cleanly. This was my first attempt, so some hiccups were only to be expected I guess.

Most of the videos I've seen use either hot glue, or silicone sealant (for 'primers', filling the case, and casting projectiles).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

TIA,

Dave

ultra high density polyethylene. has a bit of give but still firm enough to stop excess pin travel.

My advice, go and shoot live ammo at a target

Its not a big deal mate

As Gibo said use live ammo if you are not sure of things get your mate to come over and sort the do's and don'ts out nothing better than a ''Bang , Thump'' to keep the mind clear safety is the main issue and the rest is practice and if you want to hit those critters then its practice you need and at all times don't loose sight of safety and the more you shoot the better you become you will develop and learn things shooting live ammo that you won't with dry firing like recoil tolerances ,correct breathing and so on and being a new rifle you can find out what kind of factory ammo it likes if you aren't going to reload I've seen blokes spend hours dry firing and be no better at shooting but then there are those that swear by dry firing but I think its just a personal thing but if you are that way inclined then do so although I find there is no better training than the real thing with live ammo and exceptional safety awareness which becomes natural after awhile Cheers

Yeah don't sweat it too much. Brought one of those Brownings in .243 for the Missus and kids to learn with. Needless to say it's been dry fired a bit.

Side note, I love it so now it's pretty much mine.

Thanks gonetropo; following-up on some HDPE suppliers.
Thanks Gibo & rigga; I hear what you're saying (theory is all well and good in a classroom, but there is no substitute for real life experience). I feel that I have to get some range work under my belt before I take a shot at a living target. I mean, I figure I'm giving myself the best opportunity for a clean kill with a .308 SP inside 100 yards, but I'm more afraid of maiming an animal than I am of recoil to tell the truth.
Absolutely no problems with safety procedures; I worked in the forestry industry for a few years. A firearm is a new (dangerous and potentially fatal) tool, but a chainsaw makes a hella mess. I do things by the numbers.

Lol Preacher - got a loan of a Stevens .243 from a mate, which I'm going to be using for the first time this weekend at the range (zeroed at 150-300 yards. Way out of my league, but he said I could re-zero it and and gave me 4 ballistic tips. Bought a box of 'from Serbia with love' PPU SP rounds for all the good they will do me). Bloke in the gun store who sold me the Browning .308 said that it would have less kick than the .243 (considering the ladies 16" barrel and the suppressor/muzzle brake). Got some entry level Hornady Whitetail to zero it in with.

@ocium Is the heeler pix on your profile yours? Looks like mine when I'm winding her up

Good on ya getting out and taking "direct action" dont wait for The Government to save your bush. If its goats you're seeing , they do need some firm control in the rimutakas. My only advice is if you dont want epic shootouts dont fire at the small ones less than knee high leave them for another day.

The leather disc might not absorb a lot of firing pin strike. I've bought a few commercial snap capd but they are very expensive for what they are.

Try making wooden "bullets" to jam in the case mouth. It's pretty tough trying to feed empty cases from the mag !

Good on you doing the dry fire practice. You need a thousand or so dry fire shots to get muscle memory going. Also practice reloading the mag while watching the target and dont drop the rounds on the ground.

To some extent theres no substitute for actual shooting. Paper doesn't lie. However you'll only really get enough practice if you use a 22. If you're fortunate enough to be able to shoot two or three goats or rabbits a month your skills will develop quickly.

Whenever i get offered a shot with someone elses rifle, the first "shot" is on an empty chamber to avoid suprises regarding trigger pull.
In your situation where you intend practicing to develop a technique for stock hold, cheek weld, and trigger pull as a whole you could try closing the bolt just to the balance point before the knob closes under spring pressure, it should sit there at about 45 degrees. The trigger will engage normally but having the mass of the bolt to move will slow the striker resulting in less potential damage. One extra advantage is that you can just lift the lever to recock the action balance the bolt again and repeat no need to cycle the action or try to feed empty cases or dummy rounds.

snap caps are good for piece/peace of mind....Ive always just used a fired case in the centrefires...primer takes a fait few hits before its munted.
dry firing is good way to come to grips with triggers...plinking at simple targets is the best...balloons /clays/bit of wood its all good to begin with...if you can CONSISTANTLY hit a 3ltr plastic milk jug EVERYTIME at a certain range,well you can consistantly cleanly kill an animal at same range as the vital area id about the same...take out them front wheels and it aint going anywhere...the great creator fortunately placed the engine room between them there front wheels making our job so much easier.

Originally Posted by ocium

.....Any advice would be greatly appreciated.TA,Dave

Yes, would be a fickle rifle not standing up to dry firing. Still, I get it you want to look after it.

Leather is wrong material as it deforms after a few impacts and after that makes no difference. Instead use hard rubber punched out of a tyre. Just drive along a state highway to find a chunk. You can even leave it a bit proud of the face of the cartridge as it will compress on bolt close.

Originally Posted by Cordite

Yes, would be a fickle rifle not standing up to dry firing. Still, I get it you want to look after it.

Leather is wrong material as it deforms after a few impacts and after that makes no difference. Instead use hard rubber punched out of a tyre. Just drive along a state highway to find a chunk. You can even leave it a bit proud of the face of the cartridge as it will compress on bolt close.

Thanks Cordite.

Scoured the highway North and South but Murphy had his way again (every time I go out scavenging for street sweeper bristles for lock picks there isn't one in a six block radius. Plenty of them around when you're not looking for one though). Called into the local mechanic's shop and he was only too happy to throw a 4WD tyre my way, so now I have rubber for primers coming out my ears - lol.

Originally Posted by Mathias

@ocium Is the heeler pix on your profile yours? Looks like mine when I'm winding her up

Hi Mathias,

Yeah the little bugger is mine. Got two boys from the same litter, he is the runt. What he lacks in stature, he makes-up for with ferocity. Gotta be careful I don't turn my back on him after pissing him off, or I'll be missing a cheek - lol.
Here's a recent snap of him teasing his brother - they have just turned 2 years old (still got paint-on ears, but they're coming around).