Read about some P365 firing pin breaks. I've been dry firing mine at my desk a lot during the day. How may trigger pulls can I go with a SnapCap before it gets worn out? I can see wear on the "primer", I want to make sure I'm not overusing a SnapCap...

42,368.

Seriously, you can use a snap cap till it breaks. Replace it every so often if it gives you peace of mind.

If you're concerned about firing pin breakage, stop dry firing the gun.

No answer to that question. They work until they don't. I wouldn't worry about it. Been using various types for over forty years. Varies.

Either until the center-primer-firingpin-cushion wears out or the rim gets chewed up by an extractor

I'm a bit obsessive with my snap caps and have dozens in different calibers in drawers and range bags.

I use A-Zoom snap caps for my 9mm SIG X5. I cycle through the set of 5, and buy a new set about once per year. As a rough estimate, about 300 snaps per snap cap.

I bought a set of Pachmayr snap caps for my .22 LR Beretta 87 Target, but found that a single strike shattered the Pachmayr to pieces. Worthless. Now I pick up some of the ejected cases of my Anguilla Pistol Match rounds. At home, I insert a trimmed yellow drywall anchor into a case, which serves as a “bullet”, enabling me to load that “cartridge” from a mag. After each strike, I eject the “cartridge”, then put it back into the mag, slightly rotated, such that the firing pin hits a fresh part of the rim. I get ~10 strikes per case. The drywall “bullet” lasts forever.

I use the Tipton snap caps with the red plastic bullet. They seem very durable to withstand thousands of dry fires. I always do a visual check on the center where the firing pin hits to make sure it is not damaged as in the firing pin has punched all the way through and also check that the spring works on the center impact area by working it up and down with a pen, Tootsie Roll stick, or such.

The tipton/a-zoom, formerly the pachamyer snap-caps are good; I prefer them over the all-plastic versions, as the rims get ripped off the plastic versions in very short order. I have no idea how many dry fires it takes to wear one out, but I'm certain it's more than I'll ever subject one to.

During a Jerry Jones course a couple of years ago, I bought a hundred dummy rounds from a company in Casa Grande, AZ. I don't recall the name. Theirs were brass and aluminum, with a rubber or polymer insert in the primer pocket area. The brass ones in a magazine have all the weight of loaded magazine. We were doing a lot of "Bill Drills," firing six rounds at a time, and we were asked to lace our magazines with dummy rounds, which we did. I used a lot of the brass and aluminum; all fed perfectly and all held up to a week of shooting without any damage to the cartridges. They were considerably less expensive than a-zoom or other similar snap-caps.

--Just looked up the company. kptactical, and they have a website. Ten bucks for six of the brass 9mm, and the aluminum are eight bucks.

quote:

Originally posted by jjkroll32:
Either until the center-primer-firingpin-cushion wears out or the rim gets chewed up by an extractor

The latter being much more likely to occur first, in my experience.

Ear plug.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Ear plug.

Ear plugs work fine if all you're doing is strictly dry-fire trigger pulls.

But actual snap caps/dummy rounds that feed and eject normally also allow you to do things like ball-and-dummy drills, immediate action/malfunction clearance practice, and reload practice, in addition to plain old dry fire.

So they're worth the investment, IMO.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by jjkroll32:
Either until the center-primer-firingpin-cushion wears out or the rim gets chewed up by an extractor

The latter being much more likely to occur first, in my experience.

If I load my snap caps from a mag, the aluminum rims don’t get buggered. Long ago, when I put the snap cap directly into the chamber, and let the extractor ride over the rim, that did bugger the rim – pretty quickly.

quote:

Originally posted by 2Adefender:
42,368.

Seriously, you can use a snap cap till it breaks. Replace it every so often if it gives you peace of mind.

If you're concerned about firing pin breakage, stop dry firing the gun.

You are off by six.

I haven't worn out mine, I have been very lazy with dry fire exercises. Need to practice more.

About as many licks as it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie pop.

I've never broken a centerfire snap cap. The rimfire caps don't get much past 20 to 30 uses before the rims start breaking.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Ear plug.

This is what I do with hammer fired pistols. How would you use them with a striker fired gun?

For the most part it's Tiptons for me. Glock extractors are wicked nasty on the rims of A-Zooms. After a torn up A-Zoom locked up my G17 but good; solved only after wiggling the slide back and forth micromillimeters at a time for about 15-20 minutes did the A-Zoom rotate enough so that the extractor could get a hold on an intact part of the rim. SIGs however haven't been as mean to A-Zooms, so I do still use my leftovers in them and a few other makes.

So I originally posted this for fear or breaking the firing pin on my P365. It just broke during dry fire. Born on date 3/10/2018 350 live rounds and about 200 dry clicks always w snapcaps. Damn this sucks.

Sorry to hear of your troubles. Still under warranty though, so SIG ought to provide free shipping and repair. Did you register the purchase with SIG?

I don’t use them on centerfire and have never broken a firing pin. Too old to start now.

I don’t dry fire rimfire. Also too old to start now.

So my answer would be use them till the fall out in pieces. You are over thinking this one imo.

I use a-zoom but in a revolver! Multiply the life a an a-Zoom by SIX! :

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
As a rough estimate, about 300 snaps per snap cap.

Way, way more than that.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by jjkroll32:
Either until the center-primer-firingpin-cushion wears out or the rim gets chewed up by an extractor

The latter being much more likely to occur first, in my experience.

If I load my snap caps from a mag, the aluminum rims don’t get buggered. Long ago, when I put the snap cap directly into the chamber, and let the extractor ride over the rim, that did bugger the rim – pretty quickly.

The case rim will get chewed up in time, loading from a mag. Depending on the firearm, you don't want the extractor snapping over a chambered case regardless.

quote:

Originally posted by timrh23:
So I originally posted this for fear or breaking the firing pin on my P365. It just broke during dry fire. Born on date 3/10/2018 350 live rounds and about 200 dry clicks always w snapcaps. Damn this sucks.

This is a good thing.

A failure occurred during a practice session. No better time.

The good thing, is that you practice, and you'll continue to practice.

The failure of the firing pins will be addressed and overcome.