dry firing m41

Read all the time about improving trigger control using dry firing, with my old mkiii it was no big deal but what are you guys using for protecting you m41? Are snap caps the ticket? How do you keep the extractor from pulling it out. Thanks.

File a notch that aligns with the extactor & keep a rod handy for removal.

In lieu of snap caps, I also have used plastic wall anchors - again, cutting a small section off so the extractor leaves it alone.  The ones I currently have are yellow and labelled:

Plastic Anchors
Diameter: #4-8
Length 7/8"
3/16" Drill Bit Required
Use with #4 to #8 screws

They measure 113/128" long and 3/16" diameter just under the rim.

As a note for the Ruger users. Although you can "safely" dry fire the Rugers when all is well, if anything is amiss, you can still damage the chamber rim.  A few cases in point:

1. I personally damaged mine when the firing pin deformed at the cross pin from lots of dry firing.

2. I, again, did some damage when a firing pin broke, without me noticing.

3. A friend lost the cross pin, without noticing, while reassembling his Ruger the night before a match.  The next day the gun wouldn't fire properly and during all the trials and such to determine why, he dry fired it several times and damaged the chamber rim.

Note about #3:  I don't like how easily the cross pin falls out of the bolt on new Rugers.  As such, I normally misshape one end slightly to provide a little tighter fit.  My preferred method is to tap it against a hard surface with a hammer to slightly oval one end.

Made a few stops on way home, no 22 snap/dummy rounds found I'll give the wall anchors a try

Ed,
Could you be a bit more detailed regarding  the "wall anchors" mentioned above?

Ron Habegger

Trim an edge off of one edge of the lip and line the flat spot up with the extractor so when you recock the "snap cap" stays in the chamber.

Looks easy enough, how long do u use one for before it needs to be tossed

they will get mooshed flat after a few hundred dry fires.  You usually misplace them before that.  With them so cheap, just replace them frequently.

My favorite dryfire thingy is a piece of magnetic card fit in the breech.  Next would be a block thing back at the hammer end.

Those magnetic football schedules that politicians and realtors give out work great for that.  Just punch out round circles with a 3 hole punch.  Stick the magnet to the breech and dryfire away!

I, too, had a firing pin break in a Ruger I had.  It's fixable but leaves a little divot.  Doesn't look good when you try and sale the gun.
I use the magnetic cards now in my 41. I cut a small rectangle shape so that some of it sticks out on the left side of the gun.  Good for dry firing and good for safety because I know that the gun isn't loaded.

Sorry Ron,

I can't find any more details on 'em.

However, here's yet another option:

Trash Can Snap Cap for Smith & Wesson Model 41

Second on using a hammer block, made mine out of some spare maple.  took a day or so to fit it right, but works great

Trash Can Snap Cap for Smith & Wesson Model 41

Ed,

i figure that could cost as much as grand, I don't have 41 anymore.

Ron   

I use the rubber ban you have to put it on when you have the barrel off so put it on after cleaning then dry fire till next match and dry fire a few times in the prep before slow fire then cut it off and your ready for match clean after match put another rubber ban on and on and on

FWIW Personally been shooting the S&W M41 for 36 years and have NEVER put a snap cap of any kind in the chamber.   Turned in my last issued M41 in '96.   Traded for my current personal M41 in '84.  The S&W M41 is chamber is relieved so the FP does not burr the chamber like a High Standard.   Snap cap them if you like but I'm not snap capping mine.

One of my teammates came up with the method of removing the S&W Model 41 slide, return spring/pin.  When you reassemble the pistol, you can cock (and re-cock) the hammer with a small dowel.

With the slide (and firing pin) no longer in the gun, you can dry fire and still get the same trigger pull, feel, etc.

I tried using plastic wall anchors and found they have to be made so the firing pin hits the strongest part of the anchor, in which there are 3. Make sure the firing pin will strike where there is the most plastic between the slits along the sides and where the web which has to be shaved off was. If snap cap is positioned so the firing pin strikes near one of the 3 slits along the side it will break the snap cap real quick probably on the first hit.

Iceout, there are anchors made of softer plastic that don't have slits on the sides like the blue ones I posted above.  They won't break after hundreds of hits--they moosh.

jman wrote:Second on using a hammer block, made mine out of some spare maple.  took a day or so to fit it right, but works great

+3

Easy to make and no fear of the hammer hitting the firing pin, fits right inside the slide and will not wear out like plastic screw anchors . I made my last one out of Derlon but have made them out of wood also.


Virgil

I just hapened to have 4 trash baskets the right size I purchased years ago from Staples or Office Max.   I made some and found them to work better than fired brass or wall anchors which I didn't get much life out of in my M41.  If the firing pin doesn't get hit by the hammer it can't get damaged.
John Pearson
LLF&GC VP