Howdy, Foax! I've come into possession of a Marlin 336 lever gun in the (rimless) .35 Remington, but there don't seem to be snap-caps available for that caliber, and old as it already is, I'm not anxious to risk the health and welfare of the firearm's firing pin. Can anyone advise me as to whether it might be practical to build a snap-cap for the (rimless) .35 Remington cartridge?

Many thanx for your time, Walt @ Camp Swampy

Not hard, but it is an utter waste of time. If you hurt the rifle by dryfiring without a snap cap, I'll buy you a new one.

Take a fired case. Drive out the spent primer. Fill the primer hole with silicone caulking and let it cure for a day or so. Fire away. Yes, the silicone will eventually wear out. When it does, do it again.

I have seen more guns damaged by snap caps that I have seen damaged by dryfiring. The only ones I recommend snap caps for are certain rimfires and double shotguns and rifles.

I've done the silicone trick and also used hard rubber erasures. Both will wear in time, but easily replaced. A sheet of thick rubber and a punch of proper size will work, too.

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I use an old trucker tie down strap, the kind you'll see lying alongside the highway with the "S" hooks on each end. Use a small plug cutter bit and drill through the rubber (I make several plugs at a time). Then epoxy the plug in the primer pocket (trim to fit with a razor blade if it's too large in diameter). When the glue dries, use the razor blade to trim it flush. They don;t wear out like silicone or epoxy or other fillers.

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The firing pin stops itself against whatever it hits inside the bolt. The force that is applied to the primer is so insignificant that it will not count much towards buffering the fall of the pin to stopping it.

Therefor, dryfiring= the same amount of wear as regular firing.

as mentioned above the exceptions being rimfires, and a few misc guns.

Many many thanks, everyone, for your input and the relevance of your comments. (Sorry I couldn't reply sooner -- had to spend a bit of time in the "horsepistol" for repairs.) I am very curious though, Pisgah: how is it that a firearm can be damaged by a snap cap?

I was curious about that too. It seems that if a snap cap would damage the pin, then loaded cartridges would harm it too.

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Stretch ®

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I've seen two firing pins broken by snap caps breaking, trapping the pin in its forward position and causing a pin break when the action was opened or cycled. I feel snap caps are absolutely unneccessary, except with sxs shotguns (notoriously fragile pins) and rimfires (mostly older sesigns that allow the pin to hit the chamber mouth).

That is interesting to me pisgah. Have not seen that before.

I'm not a big fan of snap-caps either. An old double barrel that I wanted to be very kind to,maybe? Not a current production one though. Dry fire without much worry.

Cheezywan

I use a hockey puck for the rubber, one puck is a lifetime supply.

Thanks, Pisgah! There's nothing better than information undergirded by experience! I've paid attention, and will abandon the idea of snap caps.

Guess it's a wrap, Foax! Thanks again, everyone, for the privilege and benefit of your experience.

Happy Trails, Walt