snap cap

English

Noun

snap cap (plural snap caps)

1. (firearms) A dummy round of ammunition used to check ammo feed and other mechanical problems.
   • 1863 December 18, The Mechanics' Magazine‎^[1], page 889:

     1187. B. Lilly. Improvements in the construction of "snap caps" or "nipple protectors" for firearms. Dated May 12, 1863.

   • 2012, Silvio Calabi, The Gun Book for Boys‎^[2]:

     Snap caps are dummies (no powder, no primer, no projectile) shaped like the ammunition for a particular gun. They're supposed to provide something for the firing pin to hit during dryfiring, so the gun's lockwork doesn't have to absorb this impact. It's a fine idea, but not all snap caps are made right.

   • 2014, MAssad Ayoob, Gun Safety in the Home‎^[3], page 124:

     However, it does no harm (and may prevent damage) to use snap caps - dummy rounds which are inserted into the chamber to soften the impact of the firing pin.

2. A cap or cover that snaps into place.
   • 1966, Package Engineering, volume 11, page 66:

     Development of the snap cap for Bufferin pinpoints the Bristol-Myers Products approach to these problems.

   • 1997, Gordon R. Finch, Effect of Various Disinfection Methods on the Inactivation of Cryptosporidium‎^[4], page 10:

     After centrifugation, the top dense band (out of three formed following ultracentrifugation) contained the purified oocysts, which were removed using a pipette and placed in 15 mL polypropylene snap cap tubes.

   • 2011, Nava Dayan, Formulating, Packaging, and Marketing of Natural Cosmetic Products‎^[5]:

     The shampoo bottle closures included a screw cap closure considered to be the most vulnerable during use, a flip or snap cap with a circular orifice considered to offer the greatest degree of protection, and a flip cap with a slit orifice whose protective abilities were unknown at the time.