DIY caps

I use the #10 die from the primeall guys and the #10 BGS prinnted cups on stock pietta and uberti nipples and they fit great.
I dont use the tan bag of the primeall I use duco and acetone at 10:1 one drop after dry tamping.
Works very well and have some I have been bouncing around for almst a year that still fire every time.

Have you tried just Acetone and not using the tan bag?

BG uses just the Duco and the whole mix and likes his results. So far the Acetone has fired 4 caps just fine. Acid test tomorrow with powder and ball.

The BG printed cups have enough flange I can put a Cap on from the outside, I usually Cap the cylinders when I have it out of the gun after ball and powder as my fat and not adroit fingers can't manage them.

I may try the Duco but I have the Acetone and will see how it goes with more done.

Acetone by itself will not hold the mix together. It will crumble and fall out. That's why the Duco cement or other binder. I myself use acetone with a pinch of pistol powder. Works great for me. There are other binders proven to work.Shellac flakes , nail polish , Even Elmers school glue can work if thinned down enough with water. Water does not ruin the priming mix. It simply dries and your good to go. I have used all these.

Smokerr said:

Are you talking about the tool from Reloader 22? If so I doubt they do any testing. Number 11s fit the guns fairly well but I am inclined to 10s which is the kit I got from BG.

I doubt you will get a precision out of 22 Reloader tool that does not wander back and forth between 10s and 11s. Its not precision and the mfgs of Caps don't agree on the right sizes.

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Yes I am speaking of that tool. It seems as though you are suggesting the #10 sized tool?

rodwha said:

Yes I am speaking of that tool. It seems as though you are suggesting the #10 sized tool?

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For revolvers with stock nipples yes.

AlexB said:

For revolvers with stock nipples yes.

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Well, my Pietta’s are stock and are happy with what my ROA requires so I guess I’ll be ordering the #10 tool shortly. Thanks fellas!

Acetone by itself will not hold the mix together.

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So far mine has held together fine with Acetone. Will have to see how they do when in the cans and transporting of course.

I am trying to keep the process simple while I work on the technique. The process is clear but the fiddly bit of making sure the cup has got the compound in it, making sure the scoop has dropped the compound and not partly on my hand. Making sure the tamper is not a bit off sideways. How long to dry (Acetone did not need 24 hours and I did a 6 or 8 hour test and good - but I put on a heating pad) . Eliminating Alcohol as a possible liquid. Alcohol failed miserably so not sure why its suggested.

Alcohol works well with shellac flakes. The directions with the kit should have been revised years ago. The kit with the bottled binder would work way better for the percussion caps.

I have found the kit materials and a few drops of acetone make perfect caps that don't fall apart for me even on a 1851navy

Dan Have you made many caps and used them? There are many who use the same kit as you only to find the priming crumbling and falling out. Me included. Most don't use the small bag of off white powder, It's the binder . Most have found it to not work. I have used several binders with good results.

100s of caps without problem. If using beer can material the printing has to be inside the cap for the compound to bond, i suspect that is where people go wrong. Using brass .005 stock also works fine.

I use the 4 chemicals matching their directions with no issues at all

Ok, range report on the DYI Caps, in this case its the printed cups and the Primer Package.

I am still sorting through aspects of it, I may have gotten non viable caps mingled.

The issue I ran into was a need for a double strike to set some of them off. That may be the Number 10 size cups not sitting down on the cone as correctly as it should. That ranged across the 3 buns, from the 58 Pietta NMA, ROA and the 47 Walker. I had a couple of fizzlers as well.

I shifted the ROA to the Mag Spark device and no issues there. Will probably stay there though accuracy has suffered.
I will order some BG Number 11 cups and I can see if some of the other solvents/glue works better, a step at a time. It looks like a viable system.

Change one thing at a time and see what the results are.

Smokerr said:

Ok, range report on the DYI Caps, in this case its the printed cups and the Primer Package.

I am still sorting through aspects of it, I may have gotten non viable caps mingled.

The issue I ran into was a need for a double strike to set some of them off. That may be the Number 10 size cups not sitting down on the cone as correctly as it should. That ranged across the 3 buns, from the 58 Pietta NMA, ROA and the 47 Walker. I had a couple of fizzlers as well.

I shifted the ROA to the Mag Spark device and no issues there. Will probably stay there though accuracy has suffered.
I will order some BG Number 11 cups and I can see if some of the other solvents/glue works better, a step at a time. It looks like a viable system.

Change one thing at a time and see what the results are.

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Once you get a system down that works for you, you'll wish that you had done so sooner. The larger caps might also be what you need.

Thank you. Learning curves are what they are and I figured this would be the same. I was surprised at initial success, clearly it can and does work, just have to put the work into it for the consistent results.

No options before and now options. And cones are different between gun mfgs not to mention Slix Springs and that is another area to do a bit of testing in, trial the original cones and see what difference there might be.

Range of guns is quite wide as well, Pietta, Uberti and Ruger not to mention Ruger is the modern take on BP and 1858 NMA Pietta vs the 47 Walker.

An area that has my curiosity and no answer I have seen is how they made the original PC and how consistent those were.

Ok, fair warning, do not do this at home!

Giving some thought to the Cups and how they worked with the 47 Walker (two hits to fire) I thought, hmm, what if I take an EMPTY cylinder, tap the caps I have made on with a wood dowel and then try to fire them.

So I did. All 6 fired first hammer strike. One was a bit off sound wise, but then quality control still being worked on for my part.

So I got the 11s ordered but I can use up the 10s in the meantime and get more shooting in as well as refine my QC.

So, empty chambers, tap the caps on, then load powder and then ball at the bench. I cant get caps into the 47 Walker to save me (old fat fingers) so I cap the cylinder outside the gun after I have the powder and ball in.

I will also get a finer drop dispenser for the Acetone as its a big drop and I believe that is too much though its working well over all.

Don't do it much to dangerous just use them on something else or throw them away Its not worth the risk for the little cost you have invested in them

R Ellis said:

Don't do it much to dangerous just use them on something else or throw them away Its not worth the risk for the little cost you have invested in them

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Can you clarify please?

rodwha said:

Can you clarify please?

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Sure you will have your hands in front of a loaded gun when seating the ball sir you should already know better that to have any body parts in the line of fire even if just a cylinder should be common sense

On another note:
Anyone that has purchased my DIY caps from Amazon, could you be so kind as to leave me a positive review if you feel it's earned? It helps alot.

R Ellis said:

Sure you will have your hands in front of a loaded gun when seating the ball sir you should already know better that to have any body parts in the line of fire even if just a cylinder should be common sense

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Slow down a second. First off are you not saying these DIY caps are too dangerous? That seemed to be what you were saying. If so what do you bring to show us that is this dangerous and should refrain from doing do so? Let’s see it. Why is this so dangerous but using store bought is just dandy?

To respond to your hand being in front of the cylinder while loading maybe you need to read up on that, it’s been tested. And guess what, a ball with a 30 grn charge of 3F had just 7 lbs of energy with no barrel ( I don’t know of anyone who awkwardly loads their guns over the barrel) and isn’t even enough to do more than break the skin and leave a bruise. Again, it’s been tested. So what is it you’re saying exactly? You still are rather vague, be more specific please.

When I load my guns it’s powder then projectile, all seated, and then I affix the caps while it’s pointed down range. I’m not sure how you load yours and why it could be so threatening.