snap a cap?

Holy manure!- 4 caps every shot at the line??- At $6.95 + tax per 100, your way of shooting would convert EVERYONE to a flinter. No wonder there so many more flinters than cap-blasters on our firing line nowadays. Perhaps, with a 4-cap rule, there wouldn't be ANY cap sooters left in these parts. Most of us here, figure the cap-lock trend won't catch on, anyway. There's always an arrowhead or chunk of quarts somewhere around handy to be used in the firelock. It's also no wonder many of the mountain men switched straight to cartridge guns from their flinters in the 70's and 80's without owning percussion guns. While not well documented, I feel it's probably more than an uncommon happening.
Daryl

I assume we're talking Musket Caps since it's the N-SSA that require the firing of 4 caps? With the musket cap that burns hotter I would think two caps would be sufficient? The first cap with rifle aimed down range to give proof your weapon is not loaded, and to clear the breech of oil... The second cap to give proof your not leaving the range with a loaded weapon... But what do I know... Rules are rules and if you want to belong and compete in the N-SSA shoots, you'll follow them!

If the logic is to ensure there's no main charge left in the bore, the requirement should be the same for flintlocks.
But you wouldn't see a blade of grass move in front of the muzzle from firing a pan of priming powder...so how do they handle flintlocks?

Before I load my rifle for the first time, I put a clean patch on the jag end of the ramrod and push that all the way to the end of the breech. This is my way of checking to make sure the rifle is not loaded. I then pop two caps. When I pull the jagged patch back out of the barrel it will be black. That means any oil was removed and the nipple is clear with good fire to it. The patch on the end will also clean the barrel on the way out.

I then load as normal.

As for blowing down the barrel. I used to see this all the time at shoots. Believe me, it was common. This practice has since been discouraged and even forbidden at some shoots. At private shoots I still see it happen though. They explained that this was to blow out any embers still glowing in the barrel before they dumped the next charge. My theory is when I swab the barrel I should put those embers out so blowing down the barrel is not necessary.

When I go to the range. I 'll wipe with a patch, snap a cap and shoot a fouling shot. That is a practice shot which is suppose to dirty the barrel a little. I wipe it again and shoot. After every shot I will wipe the barrel, sometime with a damp patch and a dry one or in humid weather, just a dry one.

When hunting I forego the wiping between shots and if unable to snap a cap like in preditor hunting, I will add 5 grains of Goes to my normal loading dumping the goex in first.

strongarm

Poke a toothpick in the vent. If it meets resistance it's loaded. If it goes in easily you can wobble it around it's probably unloaded. But as you treat EVERY gun as if it was loaded it doesn't matter much until it's time to clean it.

Equally effective but less safe is to remove the priming, if any, flip the frizzen forward, tip the vent skyward and look for the light reflecting in the bore. Flintlocks come with their own built in bore light.

My ramrod markings are my surest way to tell the condition of my bore;

Also, a ramrod will 'bounce' a little if dropped onto a bare breech face, and make a metallic sound...if a load is present however, it won't bounce and the noise will be a faint dull thud;

Daryl,
That is 2 caps minimum at the start of a relay or event and 2 caps at the end not 4 caps per shot. We buy musket caps in bulk, RWS are $24 per 1000 or $2.40 per 100, no tax. With 250 shooters on the line at a time loading and firing as fast as they can a 100% sure method is needed to insure no one leaves the line loaded.
Looking down a barrel to determine if a firearm is loaded is just another variation of Russian Roulet. Take a long hard look at cap locks, they are the up and comming thing, just like computers, don't get left behind!

Simple.....you wouldn't use a flinter on our team......you have 2 min or something of such(I forget) to hit your targets and the remaining ones of your team mates.....something of about 8 or nine shots......john.....

MUSKET CAPS???? - holy manure again- they've got to be close to $8.00 to $10.00 a tin up here, when available, being as CCI#11 rifle caps are ($6.95)$7.00+ tax.
: 4 caps still sounds quite extreme to me, but then a lot of rules are made or seem to be made by people who have safety phobias. They number quite a few.

yeh I agree with you but you have to understand in the "Heat of Battle" (Competative team shooting) a lot is going on, people hooting, hollering, guns being discharged all down the line, team mates bumping into each other, ramrods being dropped, nipples plugged......just all kinds of 'stuff'........trust me, you are real happy for that rule......while your team is shooting the opposing team is behind you on the bench cleaning their bores point them who knows where........john........

What if the percussion cap makers got together at some big cap convention in Las Vegas and came up with this "4 cap" rule to implicate it at all shooting ranges for the sole purpose of selling more caps?

Stranger things have happened...

I wonder what the North and South Armies of the day taught their soldiers about clearing their rifle of oils before loading? We always hear or read that marksmanship and weapons training was not a high priority of the armies, but certainly they would have gone over some basics I would think? After all, can you imagine two opposing armies facing off and both sides front line's all mis'fire??? Pretty embarassing for those in charge I would think???

After all, can you imagine two opposing armies facing off and both sides front line's all mis'fire??? Pretty embarassing for those in charge I would think???

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Ready...
Aim...
Snap a cap! :winking: :haha: :haha:

:haha: Good come back, musketman... :haha: :haha:

We've all heard of the rifles found after the battles in the Civil War with multiple minies stacked in - the soldier not having noticed his gun was not firing (or that the ramrod was getting longer!)

I'm just finishing Glenn Tucker's book Chickamauga, a battle faught almost entirely in a wooded area, and he speaks of folks finding bent ramrods stuck in trees for years afterwards (the local lumbermills would not accept trees from that area for all the metal they contained). Once you've shot your ramrod away you're kind of SOL for the rest of the fight.

With all the death and destruction there, I'm quite sure there were probably several within reach at any given time.