Training With Snap Caps

I’ve been playing with the new Snap Caps from Otis. Otis is well known for gun cleaning kits, and I use my Otis LE Rifle/Pistol Cleaning System on the range all the time. Snap Caps are inert bullets shooters use in their guns to do certain tasks that require cartridges. They help with safe handling of a firearm, and give gun components a degree of protection. For example, users insert Snap Caps when a hammer needs to be safely lowered, but the mechanism won’t allow it without a cartridge and a magazine.

This article appeared in the March/April issue of OFFICER Magazine. Click Here to subscribe to OFFICER Magazine.

I used to make Snap Caps, using reloading components and silicone glue for the primer pocket. The Otis Snap Caps have more precision, last longer, are easier on the gun parts, and are not confused with real loaded cartridges.

Otis Snap Caps are made of anodized machined aluminum. The firing pin pockets safely cushion the action of the gun.

Years ago, Snap Caps were essential gunsmith items for adjusting trigger pull, insuring the gun cycles, extracts and ejects properly, and even storing the firearm without springs under tension.

There was a time when metallurgy and gun design was such that dry firing a handgun repeatedly was considered unhealthy for a gun because it entailed slamming a firing pin against the frame or slide of a firearm. We used Snap Caps so our our guns went “bang” when we pulled the trigger.

Snap Caps are also excellent for making sure the extractors and ejectors work.

Some Snap Caps used to be just aluminum or brass inserts that matched the dimensions of the cartridge. The Otis Snap Caps have some spring loaded “give”, which really protect the gun for long term.

As guns got better, manufacturers began to drop the warnings about dry firing without Snap Caps. I still won’t dry fire without them.

If you just purchase Snap Caps for just dry firing, that’s fine. However, the best use of Otis Snap Caps is for dynamic training, doing the same stuff you usually do on the range, only with the occasional induced stoppages.

Backup training

Dry fire should be part of every officer’s routine. I have shot my TV thousands of times. Just using Snap Caps for this purpose make them worthwhile. However, my “at home” training goal with them is to improve my revolver reloading speed.

Based on sales lately, revolver use is making a comeback, and many officers are carrying them off duty and as a backup.

Let me encourage you to always have a revolver in your inventory. With the improvements in cartridge design, revolver calibers like .38 special and 32 magnum are effective tools. The simplicity and indestructibility of a revolver cannot be disputed.

I often carry a .38 Special and the ammo of 2023 is like the .357 Magnum ammo 30 years ago. For example, DoubleTap Ammunition (doubletapammo.com) makes a 110 grain non +P .38 Special round that does 1175fps (337 ft lbs) in a 4” barrel. It penetrates 14.5” in the FBI heavy clothing test. The +P version does 1250 fps. If your revolver of choice is a .38, consider DoubleTap Ammunition.

I use 5 Star Firearms (5starfirearms.com), or Lyman Competition Revolver speedloaders. Both products are lightweight tools made of machined aluminum. I use the Lyman ones for some revolvers, and the 5 Star for others.

Most of the time, I’ll have my revolver and a couple of speedloaders in my pocket, and a speed strip in the other. I practice with Otis Snap Caps daily, and I can almost keep up with an auto in multi target scenarios.

Using Otis Snap Caps, I practice shooting my television daily. I practice reloading under pressure all the time.

Training for this is simple. After separating all loaded ammo from your training area and insuring your gun is unloaded, load a cylinder full of Snap Caps, and fill a speedloader. Using a good shooting stance, engage your television targets until you have fired all of the (training) rounds in the cylinder. Seek imaginary cover, drop the expended Snap Caps, and reload using the speed loader. For a refresher on speedloaders, go to officer.com/20994539.

The Snap Cap Challenge

With your training partner, start with an empty magazine, your duty belt, and two targets, side by side. You’re going to shoot a modified Bill Drill, a training drill brought to you by Bill Wilson. Basically, a Bill Drill is a 6 shot drill fired from the holster into the center mass of a target at a given distance. This drill used to be 7 yards at an IPSC style target.

All hits must be in the “zero” or “A” zone, which is the smallest circle in the center of the target. Anything outside of this zone is a failure. Shooters must draw and rapid fire into this zone. In a regular Bill Drill, a shooter must land all six shots in this zone within 3 seconds. Good shooters go 2 seconds. If this is the first time you are doing a Bill Drill, just work on A Zone hits, and worry about time later. If you are wondering, it is a rare day indeed when I get to 3 seconds.

Since this is a Bill Drill, extra credit is given if your duty gun is a WCP 320. Several of my friends have Wilson improved SIG guns, and they are worth every dime.

The Snap Cap Challenge is a Bill Drill, except you do it side by side with your training partner. Before you begin, swap magazines. Each shooter loads the other’s magazine with 5 snap caps and 6 bullets, in any order. Return the magazine to the other shooter and begin the drill. Whoever finishes first is the winner.

Tap Rack Target Drill

This is the same type of drill, using the same constraints, including having someone else filling the shooter’s magazine. The goal is the same also: 6 “A Zone” hits on the target. I shoot this at a 7 yard target behind simple barricades. One can use the same target set up as the Bill Drill.

Begin with a holstered gun, and a flashlight in the support hand. Draw and fire on the target using the flashlight. When the gun fails the fire, enter a stoppage drill.

We used to use “tap, rack, bang” as the mantra for stoppages. It has evolved to “tap, rack, target” (TRT) because we really should assess before continuing to shoot.

The flashlight forces the shooter to deal with something in their hand while putting the gun back into action. When a stoppage occurs, the shooter tucks the flashlight under the shooting armpit, then goes into the stoppage drill. When the gun is ready to fire, the shooter retrieves the flashlight, and goes back to target assessment.

If you notice, I drag my palm along the side of the gun when doing TRT. Once I slap the magazine, I never loose contact with the gun. This speeds up the drill a little for me.

I also have a “working area”, which is chest high, about a forearm’s distance from my chest. I always encourage shooters to establish a comfortable area where they can do all of their gun manipulations. Your mileage may vary.

For both the Snap Cap Challenge and the Tap Rack Target Drill, let me encourage you to do these drills with your backup and off duty guns.

Available at a reasonable price, it is a low hanging fruit investment for reinforcing perishable skills.

This article appeared in the March/April issue of OFFICER Magazine.