The Ultimate Dummy Ammunition Head to Head Review
Dry Fire Practice continues to grow among all levels of shooters as a way to increase skills without the high cost of live ammunition. Recently our own Matthew Maruster published a fantastic article about the Various Uses of Dummy Ammunition and Snapcaps and in the light of his excellent thoughts, I want to take a look at the 3 biggest players in dummy ammunition.
First, some quick vocabulary to clarify the difference between Snap Caps and Dummy Ammo. Snap Caps are the name of a specific product made by A-Zoom. As the dominant player in the Dummy Ammunition category for a long time, for many folks, Snap Caps have become the term to use when referring to any dummy ammunition much like Kleenex is to Facial Tissue and Band-Aids are to Adhesive bandages. Given that this article is comparing Snap Caps (the product) to competing products, I will be referring to all these products as dummy ammunition and when I say Snap Caps I'm referring to the product made by A-Zoom.
Also please notethat in the last few years I've seen several Chinese Manufacturers begin producing and selling dummy rounds that are identical to the A-Zoom Snap Caps. Thus, many 3rd party companies are now stocking and selling a product that is identical to construction to the name-brand Snap Cap but may be less expensive.
Lastly, it is worth noting that Ready Up Gear is the new manufacturer and seller of the dummy rounds previously marketed by Newbold. If you remember the Newbold dummy rounds you should note the same product made by the same people in the same way is now being sold by the brand Ready Up Gear.
ST Action Pro VS A-Zoom Snap Caps VS Ready Up Gear
I've chosen what I believe to be the 3 highest quality and most popular options in the marketplace. Frankly, there is NOT a ton of competition but from what is available these 3 companies are the top 3 in my opinion. All three companies are US based and all their dummy ammunition is manufactured in the US.
A-Zoom brand Snap Caps are now owned by Lyman which is a larger company. Ready Up Gear is an upcoming company making their selling a number of firearm-related products, and ST Action Pro is primarily focused on their dummy ammunition products.
*Disclaimer: We do sell A-Zoom and Ready Up Gear products on our own site. Links in this article will take you to those product pages. We do not currently resell ST Action Pro rounds. Despite this financial incentive, I've prepared the below thoughts and review them as much as possible without bias.
Preventing Firearm Damage
The industry has an ongoing debate about the possibility of damaging your firearm by dry firing the gun. The key issue is that the firing pin COULD be damaged over time by NOT striking anything. Hitting nothing but air can arguably damage the firing pin over time.
Many people feel this is nonsense but the Glock official website states:
It is ok to dry fire your Glock pistol, but in situations where the pistol will be subjected to continuous sessions of dry firing, the use of a snap cap or dummy round is recommended.
I most definitely do believe dry fire can cause damage over time with thousands and thousands of trigger presses on an empty chamber. I know several very serious shooters who have broken firing pins doing so though most gun owners don't conduct enough dry fire for it to be a concern.
Dummy rounds come into play in this discussion because in theory by using dummy rounds you provide something from the firing pin to strike and thus prevent damage. This is, however, probably the single biggest point of differentiation between these three products.
This is for me where ST Action Pro dummy rounds fall short. Of these three, ST Action Pro is the only product that has no primer cup. This means that if you have any concerns about causing damage to the firearm when dry firing you will want to consider either A-Zoom or Ready Up Gear rounds.
In fact, a head instructor at a local police academy told me they had to switch from ST Action dummy rounds to Ready Up Gear dummy rounds because the firing pins in the Gen 5 Glocks were getting stuck in the hollow primer cup of the ST Action Pro rounds and making it difficult to extract the rounds from the chamber.
The A-Zoom Snap Caps are primarily all one metal piece but the primer cup is actually an inserted hard plastic piece. On the Ready Up Gear rounds, the shell casing has a single solid polymer piece that sits in the shell casing and sits flush with the bottom of the round.
So in the category of preventing firearm damage, I would say ST Action Pro loses, and Snap Caps and Ready Up Gear rounds are a close tie.
Smooth Operation
I've run all three dummy rounds through my magazines and guns several hundred times in preparation for this article and countless times in the past. The Ready Up Gear rounds are newer on the market so I have less overall experience with them but in the last 12 months have used them exclusively without a failure.
I think you can't go wrong using any of these products as it relates to them doing what they are advertised to do.
Durability
The A-Zoom Snap Caps are a solid machined aluminum metal piece with a primer cup insert. Despite my best efforts, I cannot remove the primer cup insert. Now while it is nice that the entire thing is a single piece of metal the primary issue many people have reported is that the aluminum is too weak. With about 10 cycles of a Snap Cap I can already see flakes of the aluminum that have come off where the extractor engages the round.
My friend Riley, and many others online have reported that with ongoing use of Snap Caps, entire shards or rings of aluminum can also come off and be left in the barrel or gun.
In contrast, the ST Action Pro and the Ready Up Gear rounds are not single pieces of metal but are made using actual steel/brass casings. I would call that an advantage as it will stand up to any use since those casings are designed for live fire.
Using some tools I was able to forcibly remove the polymer from the casings of both Ready Up Gear and ST Action Pro rounds but that was more of a way to prove to myself it is possible when honestly I don't see how regular and normal use could ever cause any problems.
In this category, despite first impressions, I would say the Ready Up Gear and ST Action Pro rounds win.
Cost
One thing going for ST Action Pro and Ready Up Gear is that you can buy dummy rounds in single quantities. Only want 1? That is an option. A-Zoom rounds are only sold in packs as small as 5.
In addition to being available in any quantity, ST Action Pro is just generally the least expensive of these three brands.
A-Zoom Snap Caps are the most expensive … by about triple but they set themselves apart as being a solid metal piece that they claim will last forever. If you don't care about price and think these will last a long time you should probably buy Snap Caps. But experience has shown they do wear out and have to be replaced.
If you care about having something in the primer cup to prevent potential damage to your firearm, but ultimately think that the polymer option is best then you should probably buy Ready Up Gear rounds.
A look at a pack of 5 dummy rounds in 9mm Luger from each company. These are MSRP prices before shipping.
Color and Ability to Retain / Not Lose in the Dirt
ST Action Pro rounds are available in Orange in all calibers and optionally Yellow in a few calibers (though I've primarily used yellow for the pictures in this article). Ready Up Gear is currently expanding its product offering into other calibers and intends to use different colors for different calibers. This would help you more easily distinguish between dummy rounds of different calibers. A-Zoom rounds generally come in the Maroon color you see in the pictures on this page but are also common in a Blue tone.
Since I use Dummy Rounds for various malfunction drills at the range I end up looking in the dirt for my expended dummy ammo. They are too expensive to leave in the dirt and I get a little grumpy when I can't find one. In my opinion, all of the dummy rounds reviewed in this article are equally easy to find in the dirt, though if one is just slightly harder to pick out of the dirt it would be the A-Zoom Snap Caps.
Summary?
A-Zoom Snap Caps: Solid primer cup to ensure no damage to the gun and it won't break or come apart since it's a single piece of metal. BUT being made out of aluminum means it easily leaves shavings or bigger pieces of aluminum behind in your gun. Also, it is the most expensive product by far.
Ready Up Gear Rounds: Not the cheapest, but not significantly more expensive than the cheapest option. It has a full primer cup which helps ensure no damage to the gun is possible. I would say between these three it is the only one that for sure will not damage the gun in any way.
ST Action Pro: The least expensive but also the only one with an empty primer cup. Well made but could leave your firing pin subject to damage over time.
Links to Shop Each of These Products:
What do you prefer to use for dummy ammunition? Have a question I didn't address? Let me know below in the comments.
The firing pin is not the only part that may/may not be damaged. You would also want to determine damage to the feed ramp and chamber, but mainly the feed ramp. Because with repeated uses the cartridge cases can curl and in the case of the all metal one, that metal has to be soft, or at least as soft as copper, to not wear on the ramp with high use. I’m not sure how strict sizing is with non-firing rounds but with real cartridges it is a major concern. Especially, with repeated chamberings.
What are your thoughts on Tipton Snap Caps
They seem like a very solid and functional tool although I’ve yet to use any myself. They are on the more expensive side.
Another concern for me is how similar to an actual live round they look. The A-zoom case is a very different color. I can perform a press check with them and know that this is a snap cap and not a live round. The other two have a brass and silver case which looks very much like a live round.
I realize that when dry firing, you MUST not have any live ammunition in the room with you. You MUST check and double check that the handgun is not loaded. However, I like the extra precaution that the case of my snap caps looks significantly different from live ammunition.
My two cents. Worth about half what you paid for it.
Thank Jeff.
Safety is the most high concern to me
You make good sense to me.
Thanks.
PS, worth more then two cents. 😊
For many years I have been looking for a half way decent quality .22 cal snap cap. I have tried about a half dozen different types, all non-functional after a few hits by the firing pin. The plastic ones lose the rim of the rim fire and the aluminum ones flatten and spread out the rim of the rim fires, eventually getting stuck in the chamber.
Do you know of any manufacturer making .22 cal snap caps that hold up their shape for a reasonable amount of time?
Best option for .22LR is honestly those little yellow wall anchors from your local hardware store. You can pick up a pkg of 100 for only a few dollars. They are cheap enough to use a few times and then replace.
I have had the same problem, and have switched to those blue aluminum ones. They last a few times before the rim mashes down.
I also agree – any suggestions would be appreciatef.
Well my opinion is biased but try the Ready Up Gear dummy rounds as they use a true brass shell casing.
I had a bad incident while taking the NRA’s roll-out CCW Training Counselor Course several years ago. We were using brand new orange plastic dummy rounds in my Mod. 28 S&W revolver when one of them broke in the gun causing it to jam.
We played hell getting it out.
My recommendation, use a dummy or snap cap that uses a metal cartridge with an insert for the primer such as the ones in this article.
Nothing but Tiptons in my pistols for dry firing…