Snap Caps

[Pa SxS]

I would do as Brian suggests. I've also heard of guys knocking out the spent primer and inserting an eraser off of a new pencil to use for shock absorption. You could also buy some inexpensive snap caps, no need to pay a lot of money for them. Just about all the snap caps now a days are painted a bright color, the reason being so as not to confuse with a live shell.

If you do use a fired hull, I suggest you paint the base for easy identification. You don't want to think you have a snap cap in the chamber when in fact you have a live shell

[Roundsworth]

'A-Zoom' snap caps are a good choice. They are available at multitudes of sporting goods emporiums. I really do not see anything wrong with an inexpensive device that absorbs the shock of a firing mechanism in the absence of a live cartridge, especially in older/antique firearms.

[Wild Skies]

I've been informed by a very experienced collector that most of us here know, or at least know of, that told me that snap caps are not necessarily needed for letting down the hammers, but they are needed for Parker ejector guns (and other makes with ejectors and similar hammers) to offer resistance for ejectors. He told me that he has seen, on more than one occasion, of the ejector rods as well as the doll's head snapping off when opening the gun if the hammers are relieved without snap caps. Anyone else here experienced this?