PRECISION GUN SPECIALTIES - 45 Auto Orange Dummy Rounds 50/Pack

We use for teaching how to load magazines and slip one into a loaded magazine to teach the immediate action drills.

We use for teaching how to load magazines and slip one into a loaded magazine to teach the immediate action drills.

Of course, these are not as durable as aluminum snap caps, but you can have a lot of them, and at low cost. (I bought 50 9mm Luger dummy rounds.) I use them for checking ease of loading and functioning of pistol magazines and particularly "large capacity magazines" (more than ten rounds, oh, heaven forfend!) for a pistol caliber carbine. It is a heck of a lot safer than loading and cycling a magazine with, say, 20 or 32 rounds of live ammunition. Some of these might get chewed up, but it will take years to chew up fifty of them! I like 'em! (Of course, your mileage my vary.)

These are excellent to avoid dry firing on an empty chamber BUT.... they are much better to teach new pistol shooters to break bad habits. Randomly place dummy rounds in magazine with live rounds when training. (Works best if someone else loads shooters magazine.) Works best with Anticipating recoil, picking up head in follow through, looking at target after shots fired. Pistol jumps on a dummy round means shooter made the weapon move, not recoil or weapon cycling. Even helps break bad habits in older shooters. Well worth the price.

I went back and forth between aluminum snap caps and Saf-t-trainers before deciding to give these a try. Even though I only needed a few I sprung for the 50 ct package. I have used a handful of them 8 to 10 times over the past two weeks for dry practice in my XD-40 pistols. Specifically, trigger control, reloads and type 1,2 & 3 malfunction drills. After reading other reviews I was concerned about their durability, but in my experience with them thus far they have proven to be quite robust. They do appear to be ever so slightly undersized (as other reviewers have indicated) because they slide into and out of the chamber pretty easily and they don't perfectly align with the round count markings on my magazines, but I'm inclined to believe this helps ensure they function reliably, which they do. After 8-10 practice sessions with the same handful of dummy rounds I'm really pleased with their performance and durability. The only wear is a dimple on the base from being struck by the firing pin. The rims, ball tips, and case walls still look new. I expect my 50 pack will provide several years of regular dry practice. They are a little pricey for small pieces of molded plastic, but the value of being able to safely practice reloads, malfunction drills and trigger control at home far exceeds their cost. I highly recommend them.