CAS Practice ?

[Lanyard Stretcher]

How many of you Cowboys dryfire your leverguns and single actions?

Mike

[Lefty Dude]

only with snap caps.

Practice W/ 22's its cheaper.

[J Miller]

I DO NOT DRY FIRE FOR PRACTICE. I'VE SEEN TOO MANY BUSTED FIRING PINS. AS LEFTY DUDE SAID, PRACTICE W/ .22S IS THE WAY TO GO.


JOE

[Griff]

Practice; ancient word derived from the Sumerian practi meaning "to do" and vice meaning evil, crimes or soulless depending on inflection. The entomolgy of the word shows their earliest cntraction into one word was in the Latin practicar, and thence to English, where knowledgeable folks understand its ancient, negative conotations; whereas iits most common usage derives from the Dark Ages where practriceners of the so-called 'dark arts" performed rituals & rites associated with sorcery and witchcraft.

No thank you, I eschew such pasttimes!

[Texican]

Practice; ancient word derived from the Sumerian practi meaning "to do" and vice meaning evil, crimes or soulless depending on inflection. The entomolgy of the word shows their earliest cntraction into one word was in the Latin practicar, and thence to English, where knowledgeable folks understand its ancient, negative conotations; whereas iits most common usage derives from the Dark Ages where practriceners of the so-called 'dark arts" performed rituals & rites associated with sorcery and witchcraft.

No thank you, I eschew such pasttimes!

I bet you don't feel that way with regard to your surgeon's or pilot's ability.

P.S. to the actual question asked: yes, it's very beneficial for building muscle memory for proper trigger control, firearm transitions, etc. I use A-zoom snap caps in my shotgun. I don't bother with them in my Ruger Vaqueros. I have brass dummy shells made up with hard-set hot glue in the primer pockets to practice with my rifle. they tend to be more durable than the aluminum A-zooms with regard to damage from the extractor. Just remember the old mantra: "If you play when you practice, you'll practice when you play."

[alnitak]

All the time with my Vaqueros. No problem with the transfer bar. Not at all with my Winnies.

[Andrew]

I have done it a few times with my Blackhawk and only a couple times with my ROA. The manual says it's ok to dryfire the ROA, but I don't want pound the nipples any more then necessary. Plus, it doesn't feel any different than my Blackhawk so why bother?

[Lanyard Stretcher]

Practice; ancient word derived from the Sumerian practi meaning "to do" and vice meaning evil, crimes or soulless depending on inflection. The entomolgy of the word shows their earliest cntraction into one word was in the Latin practicar, and thence to English, where knowledgeable folks understand its ancient, negative conotations; whereas iits most common usage derives from the Dark Ages where practriceners of the so-called 'dark arts" performed rituals & rites associated with sorcery and witchcraft.

No thank you, I eschew such pasttimes!

I love this response!!!!!

Mike

[Hagler]

...well, if I "dryfire" anything, then it is always with SnapCaps, or dummy rounds. I never truly dryfire any of my guns. No matter how safe I am told it is to dryfire a gun, I would rather be in a position to not have to pay for parts and/ or repairs on mine.

I prefer real shooting. Unfortunately, I do not get to do that, as often as I want to. Sometimes, all I can shoot is my Red Rider.

Shawn

[Hagler]

Duplicate

[adirondakjack]

I know some guns it's a bad idea, but to answer the ?, with the rugers, no problem. I sometimes cycle the marlins a few times, not endlessly, but a little, They have aftermarket steel, one piece firing pins running in nicely polished channels and greatly reduced power hammer springs (less pounding by far than stock). I don't do it at all with my external hammer SXS, as the pins are soft enough as it is.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I never practice for CAS. Just don't care enough about the score.

I also avoid dry firing all my guns as much as possible. Rugers plainly say in the owner's manual that they can be dry fired without snap caps. However transfer bars do occaissionally break, and if you smack them thousands of times you may eventually need to replace the transfer bar.

With a traditional Single Action Army lockwork or similar, I would not dream of dropping the hammer on anything but a snap cap or a live primer.

Same with my rifles, '73 or Henry. Just kind of the way I am.

My old Marlin Model 1894, made in 1895 had a problem when I first bought it about 30 years ago. The tip of the firing pin had separated, although it was still present and still able to fire cartridges. I suspect somebody had dry fired it a bit too much.

[TomD]

On the one hand I believe one should probably only practice with snap caps in place. On the other hand, the caps I have are machined aluminum, and the material that resists the firing pin travle is a soft polymer in the end of the shell. I just don't believe that stuff is doing anything. It develops a set after the first few strikes and isn't hard enough to cushion anything. I think it is pretty much a gimmick, except to the extent that one uses them to practice cartridge handling. The only caps I trust are the ones that have hard brass or bronze plungers and a high pressure coiled spring, but they are expensive and not available in all the sizes I would like.