[Rooster59]

I have hesitated for a couple years to pay the high price for .45-70 snap caps for my wife to use. While browsing another gun-related forum the other night I found a recipe for homemade ones. Just curious if anyone has done the same or similar thing and how it worked out. This recipe sounds like it would serve the same purpose and be easily constructed if you reload and repaired if it wears out.

Take a used or new, unprimed brass, clean the primer pocket, install a bullet only and crimp, dab a little silicone caulking in the primer hole, let the caulk dry.

The silicone would have some spring/resilience and you could always pick it out and redo if you really get crazy with dry-firing.

Any comments?

Jeff

 

[greyhawk50]

Thanks for the post Rooster.
I've not tried silicone but I have heard of using a pencil eraser. I would think that one could use a leather punch to remove a primer size slug from the sidewall of an old lawnmower tire. Maybe even some leather.
The concept is good and there are multiple ways to skin that cat. (I hope that if PETA sees this, they knows that I'm speaking figuratively) hehe.

 

[Rooster59]

I just completed making some. I thought I would use some of those Hornady LE brass since I can't use them for anything else. I slipped a few of them through the sizing and flaring die then seated a few 300RNFP's I had around. Only problem was that the Hornady LE brass didn't appear to be long enough to go into the factory crimp die far enough to get a crimp.

I thought it would crimp brass of any length but these were bottoming out with the press ram against the die and the crimp collets were closed but no crimp. I better check with some reloaders who have loaded 325gr LE bullets to see how they are crimping them. A little puzzling.

I guess I better paint these with a little blaze orange paint so they don't get mixed up with reloads sometime and give a very poor performance!

 

[SHOOTER13]

I have heard of the pencil eraser trick, but the only firearms that I have snap caps in are my shotguns...all 12 gauge.

 

[duster066]

I've made them using spent primers. Mine are mainly for checking function since I stopped using live rounds when a load of bird shot ended up in the sheet rock. By the way that gun didn't work after I put it back together.