May 15, 1999, 02:04 PM | #1 |
Member
Join Date: November 7, 1998
Location: Sparks, MD, USA
Posts: 42
|
I just purchased two Kel-Tec P-11s. My intention is to have one set up to carry and shoot and reserve the other for dry fire practice and malfunction clearing drills.
I have a Beamhit 110 dry firing system which consists of a laser transmitter which fits into the gun barrel. The shock of the hammer or striker activating causes a laser pulse to be fired which can then be picked up by the special target which will register any hits. The problem is that the P-11 has such a short barrel that when I fully insert the laser rod it extends into the chamber so that a snap cap cannot be inserted. This is good for safety because it helps to detect a round in the chamber, but I'm concerned about damage to the firing pin. The manual expressly states that dry firing should not be done with the P-11. I assume this is because the firing pin can be damaged. If I remove the firing pin, will it be safe to dry fire the gun or can some other part be damaged? Axel |
May 15, 1999, 05:34 PM | #2 |
Senior Member
Join Date: October 11, 1998
Location: Brisbane.....Australia
Posts: 1,258
|
Why not get a .380/9mm kurz snap cap ?
At least a shorter than 9mm Luger one might fit? ------------------ "The Gun from Down Under !" |
May 16, 1999, 01:56 PM | #3 |
Member In Memoriam
Join Date: March 17, 1999
Posts: 24,383
|
Snap caps are easily made. Get some nylon rod a little over primer diameter, trim enough to force into the primer pocket of a fired and de-primed case, and cut off flush. If you want to make a dummy round, go through all the reloading steps except the powder loading and priming. Insert the nylon as above.
Jim |
May 16, 1999, 02:26 PM | #4 |
Staff
Join Date: March 20, 1999
Location: Somewhere in the woods of Northern Virginia
Posts: 16,955
|
Axel,
To answer your original question, if you remove the firing pin you won't hurt anything else by dry firing. The hammer will be hitting the pin retainer a scosh harder, but it hits it thousands of times during the life a gun anyway, so who cares. |
May 16, 1999, 09:19 PM | #5 |
Member
Join Date: November 7, 1998
Location: Sparks, MD, USA
Posts: 42
|
Thanks for the advice everyone. I went ahead and removed the firing pin, but when I tried to dry fire the gun the trigger would not reset. I reinstalled the firing pin and it worked again. It looks like if the hammer travels too far forward that it won't reset.
OK, so it looks like I have a couple of options now. I can keep dry firing the gun and just watch for breakage of the firing pin. Since I don't use this gun for self-defense, breakage of the firing pin is probably not that big an issue. Secondly, it looks like I can tighten down the firing pin set screw so that the firing pin won't move when struck by the hammer. Will immobilizing the firing pin protect it from breakage? Axel |
May 17, 1999, 07:54 AM | #6 |
Staff Alumnus
Join Date: October 12, 1998
Location: Earlington KY
Posts: 2,299
|
Axel, tightening the firing pin will probably break it quicker than simply dry firing. I agree with the advice about getting a snap cap. Cheap insurance. George
|
May 18, 1999, 01:10 AM | #7 |
Member
Join Date: December 28, 1998
Posts: 32
|
Axel,
Take the advice of DS. If a .380 snap cap is still to long, you can cut and plug one. Just make sure the spring action still works. James L. |
May 18, 1999, 06:00 PM | #8 |
Member
Join Date: November 7, 1998
Location: Sparks, MD, USA
Posts: 42
|
A gun shop clerk told me that the hard plastic, orange dummy rounds can be used as snap caps. Do these offer the same protection as the spring loaded ones?
I was also told that the .380 snap caps won't fit in a 9mm. Is this true? Axel |
May 19, 1999, 07:46 PM | #9 |
Senior Member
Join Date: February 15, 1999
Location: Winston-Salem, NC USA
Posts: 6,348
|
If you haven't already done so, go to the Kel-Tec Owner's Website at WWW.KTOG.ORG. See how to do a "fluff and buff" to improve the trigger pull and overall function of the gun.
Others there, including some very knowledgeable gunsmiths very familiar with the Kel-Tec P11 and P40 say its very safe to dry fire the Kel-Tec. They base their assertions upon thousands and thousands of dry fires. I have a P-11 and dry fire it from time to time. (I shoot it enough however, that the urge to dry fire it a lot just isn't there.) Very accurate, very reliable, and small. That long trigger pull, however, takes some getting used to. |
May 23, 1999, 02:14 PM | #10 |
Member
Join Date: February 20, 1999
Posts: 44
|
Axel,
The plastic "dummies" make poor snap-caps. The plastic dents very quickly and becomes useless. .380 snap-caps cannot be used in 9mm's. |
|
|