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How to Dry Fire Practice With Competition Weight Mags?


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I've read a few times here to practice with mags that weigh the same as they do in a match -- read: loaded-weight mags.

 

How do I accomplish this, safely? Are people loading up dummy rounds with already spent primers? They'd look like real ammo, weigh close to real ammo, but no powder/primer. Maybe this is the way to go?

 

I could also easily load up say 8 live rounds in a mag and put a couple snap caps on top. Don't cycle the slide, etc, etc. Still, this feels riskier.

 

Is this common practice? Other ways to accomplish my goal? A mag full of snap caps wouldn't feel the same...

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1 hour ago, SCTaylor said:

No powder, no primer.  Empty case and bullet only.  I'm using a different bullet type (jacketed bullets) for dummies to further differentiate; jacketed for dummies - coated lead are live rounds.

Just make sure you're  not using extended firing pin without primers. I hear they can get stuck in the flash hole.

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I have two dedicated mags that I have painted the bases pads red. Then I load them up with bullets that have no powder, primers and bullets from a different manufacturer (sometimes bullets fall out when you drop your mags and you want to easily identify the dummy rounds).

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58 minutes ago, Preeber said:

I have two dedicated mags that I have painted the bases pads red. Then I load them up with bullets that have no powder, primers and bullets from a different manufacturer (sometimes bullets fall out when you drop your mags and you want to easily identify the dummy rounds).

I use nickel cases with blue bullets I pulled from range pickups over the course of a year. Very distinctive inert rounds since I never reload nickel cases or use blue bullets.

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I have some that look just like my competition ammo from two years ago...

 

...With a 3/16" hole drilled completely through both sides of the case and deburred before they were loaded up as dummy rounds.

 

Do something that makes your inert ammo visually distinctive.

Edited by MemphisMechanic
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My dummy rounds are in six dryfire mags and I sharpied the cases black.  There is never ammo in my dryfire room but I am still looking to make them more distinctive.  I like the silver case idea or mayb getting some other colored bullets like orange that I don't shoot.

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While we are on this topic, does anyone have Blue Bullets or red/green any color but jacketed that I could buy 50 of for my dryfire rounds?  I want them to be entirely different than what I shoot.  I'm going to do the brass black as well since I'm shooting 38super.  

 

I currently run snap caps only for two rounds in each mag. 

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3 minutes ago, ScottieShootz said:

While we are on this topic, does anyone have Blue Bullets or red/green any color but jacketed that I could buy 50 of for my dryfire rounds?  I want them to be entirely different than what I shoot.  I'm going to do the brass black as well since I'm shooting 38super.  

 

I currently run snap caps only for two rounds in each mag. 

 

You may be able to find someone willing to sell you some samples, but a lot of the manufacturers also make 100ct sample packs.

 

http://www.egglestonmunitions.com/shop.html#!/Samples/c/12401203/offset=0&sort=normal

 

http://www.snscasting.com/sample-packs/

 

http://www.cheycastbullets.com/HI-TEK-SUPERCOAT--Sample-Packs_c_70.html

 

http://www.bayoubullets.net/categories/hi-tek-supercoat-bullets/38-super.html

 

http://www.falconbullets.com/category_s/1907.htm

 

 

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25 minutes ago, TennJeep1618 said:

 

You may be able to find someone willing to sell you some samples, but a lot of the manufacturers also make 100ct sample packs.

 

 

 

 

Appreciate it.  I saw most did 250 sample packs, including blue bullets and had no need for that much.  I don't reload, so the extra I'd have to pawn off to someone.  100ct I could have the shop load that up and fill out all my mags for dryfire. 

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I did go ahead and load up a bunch for this purpose. I only have one kind of projectile at the moment, so I used a sharpie to color the back of the case black and put a big black line all the way around the case. Then I topped off each mag with two snap caps. I feel this gives me more than enough safety/identification buffer. Thanks again for the ideas here, guys

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I use cases with bullets and no primer like others have stated.  If you are really pushing reload times I have found these bullets (coated) get smashed to hell and dont have a coating for long.  I recently picked up a couple of dummy rounds from benstoegerproshop that have orange plastic pieces instead of bullets.  I use one on the top of each mag and they seem like they are going to hold up better to abuse.  

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  • 3 weeks later...

i use nickel brass and a different bullet. to visually keep them as different as possible from my real ammo.

i either fill the empty primer pocket with caulk or glue or take the decapping pin out of my sizing die and just leave a spent primer in. orrrr just use a commercially made dummy round in the chamber.

 

there is a significant difference in using a full versus empty mag in your dry fire.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I color code them. Bought BBI sample pack for this purpose. Spent primer, no powder and Blue bullets for dummy rounds. Green bullets for match ammo, and red bullets for practice ammo. Easy to tell the difference.

 

Dummy%20Rounds.jpg

Edited by tanks
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Why not just ram 2 bullets in some of the cases, make all have the exposed projectile backwards. Then put 2 snap caps on top?

 

Yeah, the cases will bulge and not chamber.  but so what?

 

Or... fill the 9mm mag with 40sw dummy rounds with backwards projectiles and put 9mm snap caps on top. 

 

Either option, high weight, snap cap chambered, easy to identify.

 

Just a thought.

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I use dummy rounds with nickel cases (which I never use live) I leave the spent primer in the case so I'm not dropping the hammer on an empty primer pocket. I use bullets from the sample packs that always seem to be in the swag bags at matches (they're never the weight that I use) The nickel cases are enough of a difference since I never handload or buy nickel cased ammo.

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