Which Nipple?

A good nipple can make all the difference...but is one any better than another? Of all the nipple's out there, is there a nipple that is hotter and therefore helps to ignite your load faster? What is the difference between a standard, spitfire, and using a musket nipple to ignite your load of powder? I figure to use black powder not a substitute, also if using a nipple that is hotter will I have to reduce my powder load? :hmm:

To answer that correctly we need to know if your prefer Blondes, Brunettes or Redheads and whether you like Ford, Chevy or Dodge.
:idunno: Because it amounts to just about that, personal preferance.

I seek the Knight Redhot Nipples, others swear by the HotShot, and others the Ampco Bronze.
Pretty much any nipple thats not made buy the folks that make the guns.
Factory nipples on almost every model need to be replaced/upgraded with an aftermarket.

Like nechi mentioned, most factory nipples are junk. My son in law had a brand new Traditions nipple break in half on the fith shot. I've had a Lyman nipple, after a period of time, become soft and start mushrooming. I have replaced the nipples on all my percussion rifles with Spitfire nipples: http://www.cainsoutdoor.com/shop/product.asp?c=0&l=Nipples+-+Spitfire . Even though they were developed to make ignition more reliable with sub powders, they work great with real black powder. No need to change your powder charge. Never had a problem with the Spitfire :thumbsup:

The Treso/Ampco bronze are pretty much the standard by which all others are judged. The Hot Shot style is, IMHO, an improvement. Given a choice I go with the HS every time.

I use the hotshots.
I did however only started shooting BP rifles in the last 6 months. So I do not have exposure to all of the after market nipples available for rifles.

For pistols I never paid much attention to the maker of the nipples I bought until I started shooting rifles. I just looked for the ones that fit the gun.

+1 for HOTSHOT!!! Enjoy, J.D.

If your talking about the nipple that has two holes a 1/3 of the way down just let me add that the CO2 unloaders will not work well if at all. If you never dry load it does not matter! But I do on occasion. Geo. T.

Hot shots have done good by me. Never any problems on any of my guns.

I like the hot shot nipples myself.

[Ron??] Bloomquist in Minnesota/Indiana/Ohio??? makes/made platinum lined nipples. That's the good news.

My contact information for Bloomquist is no longer valid; I tried to order such nipples for my Alexander Henry rifle. Since his business was, apparently, solely making custom or high-quality replacement nipples, he may be out of business.

If ANYONE know current contact information, or of another maker of platinum lined nipples, please let me know how to reach that maker.

This information may be useful for you if Bloomquist is still in business.

Buffalo Arms has them in 1/4-28 thread. platinum nipple

with the cost of precious metals where it is, I will skip the platinum lined ones

The cost of a P.Nipple is only $59.95...if the reviews are correct the cost of using them is spread over years of normal shooting....so the cost per shot is minimal! Still 60 bucks can go for some other items I need, so P.Nipples will have to wait! :v

You beat me to modifying my reply. I seek platinum lined musket cap nipples 1/4-28 rather than #11 nipples that Buffalo Arms has available.
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Following up the original query, because of its incredibly high resistance to heat erosion, plus its significantly improved longevity in use, platinum lined nipples are not nearly as overpriced as one might believe at first glance. And were the shooter wanting to push his rifle to its maximum potential, such nipples become a valid choice - not necessarily the choice, though.

Among factors not usually considered are: "Maximum" load development can be time consuming and stressful on consumables. Problems, slight as they might be, can occur when one develops a nearly perfect load, but that perfection disappears when the nipple quickly deteriorates under the additional stress caused by huge charges - that is, battering from repeated impacts and flash hole becoming enlarged by heat erosion.

Were such loads not something wanted or needed, the additional expense of such high performance nipples is probably a waste of resources.

Just some thoughts.