tuning up battered nipple cones

[M. De Land]

I have employed this tune up many times if nipples still have some orifice life left in them but the cones are battered to where caps no longer fit correctly.
I pull them and chuck them up in my drill press on the threads (just snug enough so they don't slip), use magic marker to coat the cones so as to see where they are being honed down.
I then turn the drill press on and with a diamond file paddle, reshape the cone batter until a fresh cap will fit correctly.
This will work until the orifice is burned oblong or is greatly enlarged which can be easily checked with a numbered drill bit.
Keep in mind that a battered cone is a shorter than factory new cone but all I have tuned in this fashion have still worked very reliably.
Truth be told when nipples get to this point it is time to invest in a new set but being a tight wad I hate to throw them out when they are still perfectly serviceable.

 

[tgfrench]

Maybe, but if I understand stand correctly, if the cones are the correct height they won't get battered in the first place.

 

[SDSmlf]

Maybe, but if I understand stand correctly, if the cones are the correct height they won't get battered in the first place.

The hammer not touching the cones is how I was taught to setup a revolver. It’s also how the originals I have owned and examined were setup. Plus I also believe that is how the Dixie catalog (would need to confirm) in the how to section recommended doing it.

 

[Eutycus]

That is true, the hammer should not quite touch the cone. A piece of paper like a dollar bill should be able to pass between the downed hammer and the empty cone but just barely.

 

[M. De Land]

Maybe, but if I understand stand correctly, if the cones are the correct height they won't get battered in the first place.

That is the design principle in percussion guns ( the copper cap cup is supposed to absorb the impact and limit nipple cone and hammer face damage but as the guns wear , tolerance changes and factory nipple length seems kind of random, you will eventually find two things occurring. Nipple imprint in the hammer face and in the 58 Rem the shoulders on either side of the hammer nose begin to batter their frame seats.
This is the reason the cones often start to batter and flair out before the orifice is burned past usefulness.