Snap Caps

[redriverjake]

Hello all.

A quick question... where can I find a set or two of .577 Nitro snap caps ? If completely commercially unavailable, is there a good way to "make" some out of empty brass ?

 

[Mark A Ouellette]

Here are some .458 Win snap caps I made for my Heym double rifle.
To make it harder for me to reload, I loaded some TSX flat base bullets upside down.
-- If you try this, make sure the bullets are at least a few thousands of an inch of lands.
I filled the primer pockets with hot glue.

For my snap caps I use brass that the primer pockets have loosened up.
If the glue in the primer pockets gets beat up, I just get out my 30 year old Parker Hot Glue gun!

PS: I could make these a lot prettier by tumbling the brass and building a drill jig... It's next on my list of chores!

View attachment 514798
View attachment 514799

Here you go!
Old brass
Your least desirable bullets
A drill bit
Hot glue gun

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Make your own. Take two fired cases. Resize cases and seat fired primers Pour the case full of molten lead. Drill out center of fired primers and thread into holes small screw eyes. Pull out the primers. Buy a nylon bolt approx the width of primer pocket. Heat the case enough to melt the nylon bolt but not hot enough to melt the lead and then fit the nylon bolt into the primer pocket. Trim off excess. You may need to glue the nylon insert in place with epoxy. I made one of these years ago for my 30-06 Springfield. Dumb because I can easily uncock it on an empty chamber. Also made something similar for my shotgun, filling the case with wooden dowel instead of molten lead. Didn't work. The dowel collapsed and base of the shell simply caved in.

 

[Hunting Hitman]

Hello all.

A quick question... where can I find a set or two of .577 Nitro snap caps ? If completely commercially unavailable, is there a good way to "make" some out of empty brass ?

Kynoch still makes them. You can order from them direct.

Debbie Little
Sales Advisor


The Old Railway Station,
Station Road,
Mildenhall, Suffolk IP28 7DT,
England

Tel: +44 (0) 1638 711799
Fax: +44 (0) 1638 515251

email sales@kynamco.co.uk
web: www.kynochammunition.co.uk

HH

 

[Dewald]

Do you have access to a lathe? I made a set of .410 snapcaps out of a piece of stainless rod, drilled through the centre with a rimmed brass plug acting as the primer, a spring inside and a headless screw at the front to keep it together.

 

[redriverjake]

Thank you for all of the great information, gentlemen.

 

[Woodcarver]

Easiest method is to size a couple old cases, seat the least expensive bullet you have, then use a piece of pencil eraser (from a replaceable eraser pencil) cut just flush with the casehead when fully seated. If you want the weight and feel for loading practice, "charge" the case with an equivalent weight of sand.
I use red fingernail polish on the bullet and bottom of the casehead to clearly identify. If you ever wear out the eraser, just pick out the old piece and stick in a new one.

 

[Woodcarver]

Make your own. Take two fired cases. Resize cases and seat fired primers Pour the case full of molten lead. Drill out center of fired primers and thread into holes small screw eyes. Pull out the primers. Buy a nylon bolt approx the width of primer pocket. Heat the case enough to melt the nylon bolt but not hot enough to melt the lead and then fit the nylon bolt into the primer pocket. Trim off excess. You may need to glue the nylon insert in place with epoxy. I made one of these years ago for my 30-06 Springfield. Dumb because I can easily uncock it on an empty chamber. Also made something similar for my shotgun, filling the case with wooden dowel instead of molten lead. Didn't work. The dowel collapsed and base of the shell simply caved in.

I'd like to see how a wooden dowel "collapsed", and wonder how strong a firing pin spring would have to be to cave in the base of a case.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I'd like to see how a wooden dowel "collapsed", and wonder how strong a firing pin spring would have to be to cave in the base of a case.

I'm talking shotgun shell cases. The bases are actually quite thin and cheap. I only presume the softwood dowel collapsed. I haven't taken a failed snap cap apart to see. Hmmmm. It may be the plastic donut ahead of the primer pocket that collapsed. The bases were definitely concave. Broke a firing pin and gave up on the idea. I bought an all aluminum factory made one.

 

[SaintPanzer]

I agree wholeheartedly with the pencil eraser. Only change I would make is I drill small holes in the case so it's obvious it's a dummy round. If I'm feeling really spunky, I'll add some BBs to the case before I seat the bullet, so that a quick shake makes a rattle, also making it obvious it's a dummy round.

 

[Fabnosh]

Take a fired case and resize and decap. I also drill mine in the case wall so they are very obviously inert. Get a 17HMR fired case and a hard eraser. Bang the neck of the 17HMR case into the eraser and twist it out. Then, with a pin or similar, pick out the rubber plug in the neck of the 17HMR case. This is then a pretty tight fit into the primer pocket. If it's really hard eraser material it'll last a while if not, it's easy enough to replace.

FN

 

[Sideshow]

Here you go!
Old brass
Your least desirable bullets
A drill bit
Hot glue gun

View attachment 561242View attachment 561243

Thanks so much @Mark A Ouellette saved me from buying some. This should do the job and a fun little project to boot.

 

[JBRC]

Great idea! Next best thing to nylon. I don’t understand why a bullet needs to be seated though.

 

[Sideshow]

Help with dry fire reload Practice. Without the bullet it’s not going to feel the same. I’ll be filling mine with sand our some such and get the weight about that of a normal round.

 

[Sideshow]

Might fill mine with silicone though.

 

[channelkat]

I had a buddy 3d print the bullet based on one I intended to hunt with. Extend the shaft to the desired overall length add shot, sand etc. to get desired weight.

I have kids and other novices around. I don’t want my snap caps to look anything like the real thing.

 

[JoninCO]

I bought some .470 NE dummies from NECG and for whatever reason my Blaser S2 won’t close on them.

I wound up making my own with Delrin primers, some Hornady 500gr projos I wasn’t going to shoot, and couple pieces of Hornady brass. I used sand as a filler and painted the projos with air cure cerakote in blaze orange. Fun little project, I did 4 so I could practice reloads.

 

[rookhawk]

I disagree with the above advice for .577NE snap caps, respectfully.

A .577NE is an expensive gun, and as such I don't think you'll like the stock damage from the ejectors throwing heavy home-made snap caps with seated bullets in them onto the comb of your stock.

Get a pair of Berdan primed 577NE brass. Polish them. Roll back the neck so it is shorter than full length with no sharp edges, removing about 1/2" of brass. (to lighten the brass in relationship to the increased weight of the spring/fastener). Install a nylon headed machine screw and spring, fastened with a tiny lock nut on the inside. Alternatively, use a nylon nut and fasten with a brass screw and spring on the inside. Once working correctly, you can disassemble and use electrolysis to nickel plate them.

This is exactly what Trader Keith does (and Kynamco) for making proper weight snap caps.

A double rifle was not designed to endure the ejection of loaded rounds, so anything you fabricate needs to be equal or less than the weight of SPENT brass.

 

[Longwalker]

In my opinion, any rubber / silicone / soft material in the place of a primer does almost nothing to soften the blow of the firing pins after the first time or two. A rubber plug just gives you a false sense of security. To avoid damage to the firing pins, a proper spring loaded plunger in place of the primer is the only effective and long lasting solution. This advice comes from my personal experience. I had to replace damaged firing pins on two double barrel shotguns and a double rifle and a single shot rifle before I learned this lesson.