I've got a bunch of different snap-caps in different cartridges, most of them A-Zoom(they last a lot longer than others I've tried. Couple of days ago I loaded some .380 caps into a magazine to check a pistol I'd cleaned and cycled the slide and oops! Two or three times out of each mag the extractor wouldn't extract; sometimes had to work the slide back & forth several times to get it to grab.
Checked the extractor, couldn't find any problem. Finally, just to check(Note: this is one of those BE DAMN CAREFUL IF YOU DO THIS things) I loaded the mag with ammo and- being very careful where my finger was- cycled the slide. And no problems.
Loaded the snap-caps, problem. Ammo, no problem. I've never had this happen before; apparently the rim or something on the caps is just enough different that this occurs with this pistol. I guess I need to make some dummies with cases and bullets just for testing things like this if they occur in the future.
Updated: took that pistol to the range today, and it worked flawlessly. But it still has the problem with those caps.
Have you mic'd out the snap caps and compared the measurements to an actual round?
ReplyDeleteBe interesting to know the difference.
I thought about doing the same thing, leaving the primers and powder out. But you'd have to mark up the case - maybe red magic marker or something - to make it damn obvious they're dummy rounds.
ReplyDeleteI use ammo that somehow didn't get a primer put in it during reloading. Just shake the powder out first.
ReplyDeleteNo, haven't gotten the mike out yet; need to do that.
ReplyDeleteI've made dummies before, use a red marker to color the cases and be very careful to put them in their own bag after use. AND always look at the primer before using them; I'm jumpy about such things anymore.
About the only time I run into that is on the Dillon, and happily that's rarely. And most stuff I load for I can't do on the progressive, unfortunately, so I'll just make some dummies up.