How to Make Dummy Rounds

[thehobbygunsmith]

Hey guys so i just uploaded a new video on my channel on how to make some Dummy Rounds at home as a weekend project or just for fun. these are great for Dry fire training and for running pistol malfunction training drills. I hope you guys like the video.

 

[beag_nut]

What's wrong with simply seating a bullet in a fired case (no powder, old primer)?

 

[thehobbygunsmith]

What's wrong with simply seating a bullet in a fired case (no powder, old primer)?

You could go that route aswell. no problem with that at all. just remember you have to resize your case due to expansion from firing.

 

[Drail]

Good point.

 

[Varminterror]

Hard pass.

Also, you should test your own advice about oil deactivating primers sometime.

 

[thehobbygunsmith]

Hard pass.

Also, you should test your own advice about oil deactivating primers sometime.

I will definitely put that on my list of videos to make for the future. "Will oil deactivate a primer" hahaha I assure you it will any sort of moisture in the primer renders it useless.

 

[Varminterror]

Yeah - I'll look forward to the video where you learn something, instead of most of the other youtube junk filled by wannabe's without a clue.

Been through the testing myself, gun oil takes MONTHS OR YEARS to render primers inert.

 

[Drail]

Primers can be killed just from the oil on your fingers if handled when loose. Put an uncontaminated primer in a cartridge with a tightly fitted bullet and it's a whole different story. I have seen tests where complete rounds were left to soak in WD 40 for several weeks and every one fired on the first strike.

 

[H&R Glock]

Tapping out a live primer is putting your eyes at great risk. Pushing it out with your press is fairly safe. Just fire the primer and you can't go wrong.

 

[Varminterror]

When I switched to Hornady One shot (almost 10yrs ago now) I was curious if the dry lube could render primers inert like I had HEARD conventional gun oils like Rem Oil or Hoppe’s #9... so I tried a few. Soaked them for an hour, stuck them in a revolver, nope, every one went bang. So then I soaked them in Rem oil, nope. Every one went bang. Left them for a week, maybe I could say they weren’t as potent, but every one went bang. Tried motor oil. Nope. WD-40. Nope. ATF. Nope. Had a whole row of Gatorade bottle caps with drowning primers in different potential reactants for a week, none of them were fully inert. Less sensitive? Maybe. Less potent? Probably. But bang is bang.

So then I pulled a few MSDS’s (now SDS’s) and a few of my chemical reference manuals, took a look at the chemistry. The chemistry is there, but the reaction isn’t fast enough and doesn’t penetrate the primer compound sufficiently, basically it just cokes the surface it can reach, but the underlying material is largely unaffected.

I don’t take any chances with my firearms, so I do discard any primers which have even the slightest risk of contamination, but I don’t trust them to be rendered inert. I keep them in a tin can half full of sand on my bench, then when I get a hair to do so, I take them into the shop, sift them out, and drop a sledge on them.

 

[highlander 5]

Resize case,seat bullet and crimp. Fill the primer pocket with silicone or hot glue that way there'll be no mistaking them for live ammo.

 

[Louca]

I have heard others say that for safety sake, pistol and rifle dummy cases should have solid non-standard colors (e.g. not brass colored). so they can be easily identified as inert. As I understood it, that more readily helps prevent one from accidentally using live round(s). And that is especially important in the dangerous and not recommended situation where live rounds are anywhere near where dummies are being used. I am not sure how to change the color of a brass case with something that will last and not get scraped off when chambering. I know, if one is careful and makes sure to pick up and use only rounds that have holes drilled in their sides, all will be safe. It's just easier to identify a pistol or rifle dummy if it's some other non-standard case color.

Shotshells are particularly bad that way since live rounds can have cases of several different colors.

Obviously, accidentally using live rounds when dummies are expected can have disastrous results. And while accidentally loading dummy rounds when live rounds are expected may not be a significant problem on the target range, it can have disastrous results in a HD/SD situation.

 

[Chuck R.]

I just use nickle brass with FMJs and color the spent primers with a blue (inert) marker.

Since the majority of my nickle cased ammo is JHPs, that combined with blue primers gives me a warm fuzzy.

 

[thehobbygunsmith]

Thank You guys for all the input.