That sums it up pretty well!Ark03 wrote:Someone else can give a better answer, but until then ...Good Stuff. I think I'll go through that month long drill. Just curious, what are the snap caps for? I know what they are but what is their purpose?
Snap caps cushion the firing pin (as a live round would) when the gun is fired. The firing pin is made to meet resistance when it hits the primer. When the chamber is empty, the firing pin can over travel into the breach face or into the end of the firing pin channel (things the firing pin is not necessarily designed to hit) - do that a dozen times with a CZ and you'll have a broken firing pin - other guns may not sustain damage at all.
A general rule of thumb is that modern centerfire firearms can probably be dry-fired without major damage, with a few exceptions (like the CZ). Do not dry fire older revolvers or rimfires.
However, even if your firearm won't sustain damage from dry firing, I think it's still a good practice to use a snap cap. With me, it promotes safety because I'm consciously switching from "practice mode" by removing live ammo from the vicinity and using a snap cap, then when done, I consciously remove the snap cap and reload live ammo. The transition helps my mind go from practice back to "live round" mode.
SnapCaps also give you a little extra weight for dropping your mag if you are practicing speed reloads. They also give you tactile feedback when you are practicing your administrative functions as mentioned above.
I use SnapCaps anytime I do dry fire practice, draw from holster practice, or speed reloading practice. (Ring's makes some blue practice magazines for certain guns that are great for practicing reloading mags.)