c100. dry firing w snap caps(azoom), hammer dropping makes 2 separate noises

[charlestheforth]

for the love of god, why does my tristar c100 make 2 separate noises when dry firing?
the first noise is very resonant. Its like the firing pin hits the snap cap just right and it has a musical note to it.
other times its just a dead click with zero resonance.

why isnt it the same every time?  Does anyone elses c100 do this??  Do I have a defective gun?

[Tok36]

Just a guess, firing pin spring maybe. I am interested to hear what other four members have to say.

[mountainrider]

Are hearing this difference in resonance occur on consecutive shots? Do you sometimes have (and other times not) a loaded magazine (or no magazine) in place?

And BTW,

[mwj999]

Does it happen when you dry fire without a snap cap? More importantly, does it ever fail to fire a cartridge? If not, the pistol is fine.

[charlestheforth]

Ok It's been a while but I figured out what was causing it (after having broke my firing pin).   The A-Zoom snap caps have rubber where th pin hits.  When this rubber is new and strong, the force of the firing pin pushes the bullet up against the chamber wall and you get a nice resonant metal on metal pop noise.

Well, when the snap caps start to wear out, the rubber starts to break and the firing pin is now just going into the rubber unobstructed.  BEcause of this the frnt of the bullet is no longer forced against the front of the chamber and you just get a dead thud sound.  But, of you cycle the snap cap, re feed it into the chamber, it will slightly move the area where the firing pin hits which will allow it make the pop noise when you pull the trigger.

Once the snap caps get a big enough hole in the rubber they never make the pop noise.



A solution Ive found is to take some cotton off of a cue-tip and stuff it into the crevasse with a pair of skinny tweezers.  This makes the snap cap like new, and will make it really pop again. 

[Tok36]

Good to know thank you for the follow up.

I switched to using an O ring placed behind the FP for dry firing. With the right size and thickness O ring the FP is never struck so it saves some wear on the Firing Pin Retaining Pin. Snap caps break down over time, even the aluminum ones. I still use snap caps for function checks and some drills.