Pachmayr Snap Caps SUCK

[adamsredlines]

I dont know if they make them better now than they used to, but I will never spend money on Pachmayr snap caps. We had these in most of the shotguns I've been selling and damn near EVERY SET has cracked, shattered or just plain come apart when you open the gun using them. These have been stored in the guns for years, not like they're getting thousands (or even hundreds) of dry fires on them....they just SUCK.

Consider this a PSA, and if you have these, I hope you've had better luck with them than I have.

 

[adamsredlines]

Two more busted yesterday. Total garbage.

 

[TwoForFlinching]

Sucks man. I never thought Pachmayr was the great brand everyone said it was. probably just went downhill like every manufacturer eventually does.

 

[dennishoddy]

I'm not sure on shotguns, but with centerfire pistols, dry firing is a great way to train and will not have any damage on the pistol. Most all competition pistol shooters dry fire to get quicker from the draw and acquiring sight picture.
.22 rimfire in most pistols is a no-no to dry fire. I've posted pics in the past why. I do dry fire my Ruger Mark III when asked to clear at a match because I've installed the trigger and internals that allow it. Revolvers have the most issues because the ping the cylinder.

 

[adamsredlines]

I assume there's something with the mechanics of shotguns that makes it a no-no to dry fire. Shotgun guys seem to be all about snap caps, or at least the ones I know. Every one of these guns from the collection had snap caps, the majority of them being the Pachmayr ones, and the vast majority of those have broken from just sitting there. These didnt get dry fired but a few times and they just fall apart.

 

[Perplexed]

Are the Pachmayr snap caps made of plastic? If so, I’d wonder if the maker is using a type of plastic that becomes brittle over time. Engineered obsolescence??

 

[MacFromOK]

Any center-fire (handgun, rifle, shotgun) should be safe to dry-fire, because all that happens is the firing pin bottoms out against its return spring (unless it's designed to bottom out against the tunnel without squishing the return spring so much).

Either way... any center-fire that won't dry-fire without damage is poorly engineered IMO.

 

[whiskeysnoot]

I’ve always heard it is not prudent to dry fire O/Us or side by sides due to if the firing pin is damaged it can be a nightmare to replace. I guess that they are carrying that practice over to all shotguns. I’m not worried about any other shotgun, rifle or handgun except old .22s that can peen the chamber.

A-Zoom makes some great snap caps. I have a bunch of them in various chamberings for function checking.