Lucky Escape

[Nildes]

Here's a picture of a snapcap for a 20 bore with the ring broken off.

The gun, a Beretta over and under had been in storage all summer and hadn't been used for six months.

I was puzzled to see that there was only one snapcap in and was trying to remember whether I'd lost the other one.

Almost as an afterthought, I raised the barrels to the light before slipping a couple of cartidges in.

There was the other one..............

 

The whole ring had sheared off, probably from being dropped once to often.

I've bought some brass ones now

 

 

Nildes

 

EDIT NOTE: Oversized picture removed by Admin.

Edited December 20, 2005 by Cranfield

[jonno 357]

Nice picture

 

Jonno

[Nildes]

Sorry jonno,

Too big, I've shrunk it a bit.

Try this

[flash]

i saw a gun at bisley on display where a 20 bore cartridge had slipped down the barrels of this guys 12 bore, he then took it on a shoot but hadnt checked the barrles and had slipped two 12 bore cartridges in and pulled the first trigger which was fine and then pulled the seconds trigger at which point the 20 bore down the barrel exploded opening the side of the barrel up and blowing the guys hand off.

 

must have been a bit of a shock

 

poor guy, but it was his fault for mixing cartridges. and not checking the barrels

 

flash

[Axe]

Ouch! he wont be making that mistake again, poor sod.

[Nildes]

Yep, check and check again.

 

I just hope that, having read this, it rings a bell in someone else's head at the right time.

 

[henry d]

I have a pair of those and they are about to go in the bin !

[Nildes]

Henry,

Its still better to use snapcaps than not.

I guess, like everything else, they shouldn't be taken for granted.

The Brass and Stainless ones aren't too expensive.............at least, not compared with blowing your hand off!

 

I never used to use snapcaps when I first started shooting until I had a hangfire on the second barrel.

Then I cussed as I watched the rest of a flight of ducks go past while I was standing there counting off until it was safe to open the gun.

 

So I went into the Gunsmiths for a checkup and came away with those snapcaps.

Now I've replaced them with something better, brass.

 

I've lived and learned

[the last engineer]

I never used to use snapcaps when I first started shooting until I had a hangfire on the second barrel.

Then I cussed as I watched the rest of a flight of ducks go past while I was standing there counting off until it was safe to open the gun.

Nildes, im curious as to how not using snap caps cause a hangfire ??

 

and before anyone gets carried away, i know the individual choice/veiws on the subject, im asking as towhat caused the hangfire in the first place .

 

 

 

Martin

[Nildes]

Last Engineer,

I'm no expert but I'm told that if you store a gun cocked it eventually damages the springs because theyre left in tension.

If you pull the trigger to prevent this onto an empty chamber, it can eventually damage the firing pins because theyre not designed to hit against nothing and theyre being sent further forward than they should.

 

Whether the hangfire was cause by a dicky spring, a damaged pin or a duff cartridge, the duck flew by and there was nothing I could safely do except stand there like a lemon, shoulderd gun pointing at sky.

 

You've just gotta wait and wait with the gun pointing in a safe direction until you judge it safe to unload.

Its a nice little Beretta and worth a few bob so I figure its worth looking after in case I ever want to flog it. Besides, I'm not such a good shot that I don't need to use both barrels and be sure of them working.

[Axe]

Would / should you use a snap cap in a semi-auto as well?

[Catamong]

Why bother using snapcaps when storing a gun..how many gunshops do it..??

 

Aha, you will say, because it takes the pressure off the mainsprings, but it also cocks the ejector springs through dry firing...so which is best..??

 

Catamong.

[Dunkield]

I agree with the Cat.

 

I used to use them but don't bother now, ejector spring problems are far more common than main spring problems. I have had the former but never had the latter.

 

They are usefull for checking you gun over once you have put it back together, but I don't store my gun with them in.

[the last engineer]

as posted i decline the use myself, i know the "recomended " use of talk , but realy, i have yet to find one of mine in need of new springs because of not releasing, one of my Brownings has excess of 200,00 rnds through with no caps and only new pins for the pitting they received, the others in the region of 75,000 plus, autos again i see no exacting reason for them.

 

this is just my opinion, the post i read was to the point of a hangfire for the lack of use of snap caps, maybe try to reproduce the situation, i think you may find the problem was something else, im not critising your actions, you did well in waiting it out , but can you tell if the pin dropped or not, did the trigger hold hard like it wasnt set ?? has it happened before , if so how regular, i can tell you from own experience Berretas dont like cold on the bottom pin, ive seen many a shooter fall in to the dry click stance, even with semi's , again im not trying to reinvent your shooting, just trying to find a solution to the problem.

 

all the best Martin

[dunganick]

the main thing i use them for is practice mounting, i too dont believe they serve any long term advantage for the springs, my dads berreta 391 has never had a snap cap in it, and is always stored with the mainspring cocked, yet it works flawlessly (bar one malfunction, which was probably cartridge related as the primer was struck hard)

 

however i think if dry fireing it probably is a good idea, i have no idea why, but i just dont like the idea of these springs and firing pins flying forwards and having no resistance other than the mechanism to stop them. probably comes from being told never to dry fire a centerfire rifle, unless its got a set trigger. dont know why, but thats what ive been taught and its stuck.

 

is there any logic to using snap caps for dry firing?

[Nildes]

Last Engineer & others.

Not much more to add I'm afraid.

There was a definite mark in the cap but not as deep as I'd expect to see in a cartridge that had fired properly.

As for whether snapcaps should be used or not, its clearly one of those rules that's honoured as much in the breach as in the observance and some do and some don't as it suits em.

The gunsmith seemed to think it was a good idea and I took his advice. It is cheaper than paying £70 for a once over.

 

The subsequent failure of the snapcap was another issue and clearly wont worry the folks who don't use them but I thought it was worth sharing it in case it happens to anyone else.

 

Hangfires seem to turn up at awkward times. It was an Ely cartridge and not too old, bought in at the start of the season. It was cold and it was the second shot of the day so you may be right about that. My previous hangfire to that was back in August in shirtsleeve conditions and everything was warm.