Impala Bullets pin jags and .22 LR dummies / snap caps

[A-R]

I also ordered a set of pin jags from Kobus. Was surprised to see they are nickel plated.

On the dry firing matter: I'm not familiar with the High Standard pistols, but my Rugers are of similar configuration. They also have to be dry fired before disassembly and obviously when unloading. Ruger states in the manual that this is safe and I have not seen any data to prove that it does do damage. The pin does not contact the chamber mouth. However, what I do to de-cock the hammer, is to pull the slide back 1mm, then pull the trigger. This allows the slide to absorb most of the hammer blow and thus takes the energy off the firing pin. I would be surprised if the other hammer-fired 22 pistols like High Standard and Browning can not be de-cocked in the same way. Might be worth a try?

[oafpatroll]

Thanks for that suggestion A-R, I'll give it a try.

[wlm]

Colt Woodsman can also be decocked in the described manner.

[oafpatroll]

I tried the decocking method suggested by A-R and it works on my Hi-Standard. Will definitely use it if caught short with no snap cap but since I have a bunch of them now that won't be any time soon.

Re the relative deformation of the cartridge cases versus the dummies/snap caps it turns out that, at least for my sample of cases from American Eagle and Magtech, the dummies actually indent more than the cases despite them being machine from solid brass. I'm assuming that this is due to the alloy and/or the fact that the material hasn't been work hardened. Tried to take photos for comparison but gave up due to incompetence and started drinking wine instead.

[oafpatroll]

In other news I spoke with Kobus on Friday and he said that he will make up a 12G pin jag for me to test out. Once I have my hands on it I will provide feedback on how it works and report back here. Really looking forward to this as barrel jags on shotties are a ball ache due to how much fabric you have to wrap around them.

[Dick]

A solid brass dummy will not see the inside of any of my weapons.

Struck me as a bit strange too. The primary objective is to protect the barrel. That could be done with a steel dummy but that would risk damaging the firing pin. I'd guess that that's why they are brass. Could be made from copper or aluminium, but they'd be too soft to last long. I'd also guess that the brass ones are intended for what oafpatroll uses them for, not for repeated practice dry firing. I can confirm that dry firing rimfires will damage a barrel face to the point of rendering the barrel scrap if done often enough. It leaves a big dent at 12 o'clock often with a little "lug" where the dent displaces enough metal into the chamber to prevent chambering. Removing it with a chamber reamer is the worst thing because it leaves in place the 12 o'clock dent resulting in erratic ignition. I repaired an Anschutz with a bad case of it with a time consuming method described by Roy Dunlap. That's a story for another day but be warned that its a repair that can't be done twice. Setting back the barrel might seem a simple repair but is too difficult with most rimfire rifles because the barrels are not threaded into the receivers. Bottom line - don't dry fire them without snap caps and I'm not even confident of those.