2024 cap update, bad and the bad

PastorB said:

I watched that video, and i disagree with one thing he said. Ethan said if you were in Walmart and saw some caps, to just buy a few tins, and leave the rest for some other fellas. Well, that is a nice gesture, and it is exactly what I did last fall. I got plenty of caps, so I just got 3 tins for $5.62, leaving 17 on the hook. Not 30 secinds later, a low grade poltroon that I recognize from his table at the local gun shows, swoops in and takes all the remaining caps. Saw him in December selling those caps for $35 per 100. I should have bought them all and gave them away, and that is exactly what i will do next time. Buy caps when you can, and pass them out to your muzzleloading friends. If you don't, those scurvy buzzards are surely going to, and they will sell them for 700% mark-up.

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As Ed McMahon used to say, "You are correct, Sir!"

About 25 years ago I anticipated real or "manufactured" shortages of ML products. I started picking up extra supplies including 2 to 4 packs of 1200 count toy roll caps every time I went to a store selling toys. They've been vacuum sealed in mylar and stored in 5-gallon plastic buckets for years.

Last week I ordered a kit to make percussion caps. Don't expect them to be as good as factory caps, but if they will ignite a powder charge half the time, I can keep plinking and informal paper punching, which has become 90% of my ML shooting.

Long ago, I adopted a "Get It Now" policy after looking through copies of 100+ year old Sears & Roebuck catalogues. Also, my maternal grandfather started a mercantile store (later hardware and groceries) in 1920 and stayed in business for 65 years. I worked for him in my early 20s and was stunned when hearing what things he had sold in the past. He's gone now but anyone who thinks we are still "free" should look through a 1900 Sears catalogue or newspaper. JMHO.

stikshooter said:

Not happening if you buy a flint lock !!/Ed

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I can make percussion caps that are both completely reliable and now even look like commercial caps.

Why? Because learning how to do that was apparently easier than making a flintlock work, as I have yet to successfully make one fire.

Depends on your skill set I suppose.

Dwight Dutton said:

I can make percussion caps that are both completely reliable and now even look like commercial caps.

Why? Because learning how to do that was apparently easier than making a flintlock work, as I have yet to successfully make one fire.

Depends on your skill set I suppose.

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If you can't make a flint lock work please don't bring up skill set ,instead just think with an open mind as your in the right place to learn what others can teach/show/advise you to gain a skill set your obviously lacking ! PS never mention lock failures around Jim Kibler ,instead go on bube tube and see his videos' , you might learn something /Ed

dpasek said:

I'm not too fond of the offerings that I am seeing for cap forming dies. I may have to see about designing something more suitable. I have found enough info on specifications and dimensions to work from. There is adequate info for primer comp.

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Let us know what you come up with!

Get strike matches. Cut off the white tip and put it in the cap well. Works great. What also works well is 'POP BANGS' Semper Fi.

kyron4 said:

Just last year they changed the everyday name to Czechia, the official name is still Czech Republic, but for business, sports, etc. purposes it will be referred to as Czechia. Much like the Republic of France is referred to as France and so on.

I have a old friend that lives there and if you want to tick off a Czech or a Slovak; just refer to them as Czechoslovakian. They are two separate nation of two separate peoples. Both are good people .

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Yes, my dad was Slovak. We lived in a Czech ( Bohemian) neighborhood. He was very adamant that he was NOT a Czech.

ColonialRifleSmith said:

Get strike matches. Cut off the white tip and put it in the cap well. Works great.

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Someone posted that this stuff, like roll cap mixture, is really corrosive. Can you confirm?

leadhoarder said:

There is an adapter on the market that lets you use different primers but it is a pain to use as you have to unscrew the top half of it to install or remove a primer.

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Primers are hard to come by as well.

dpasek said:

I'll upvote that too.
My mother almost always fixed her own stuff. She kept fixing her lawnmower until a neighbor finally convinced her that it was too worn out to be worth fixing any more. Only then did she buy a new one with features that made it easier for her to use. There was some old depression era saying that went something like "take care of it, fix it up, or do without..."

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"use it up..wear it out....make it do....or do without. I believe was the saying for Depression era Parents.

Dwight Dutton said:

I can make percussion caps that are both completely reliable and now even look like commercial caps.

Why? Because learning how to do that was apparently easier than making a flintlock work, as I have yet to successfully make one fire.

Depends on your skill set I suppose.

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Interesting. Even the appearance of them, etc. I'd guess your patience in learning paid off!

When I was a kid in the Fiftie's caps were more "hot" than today, I'd wager. Similar to the watered-down Strike Anywhere matches which are pretty wimpy.

Dwight Dutton said:

I can make percussion caps that are both completely reliable and now even look like commercial caps.

Why? Because learning how to do that was apparently easier than making a flintlock work, as I have yet to successfully make one fire.

Depends on your skill set I suppose.

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Did you use that commercially sold cap making kit?

Gun Tramp said:

Someone posted that this stuff, like roll cap mixture, is really corrosive. Can you confirm?

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They are very corrosive. So is black powder, who cares?

Toy caps are made from an oxidizer and red phosphorous. This is a very corrosive mixture. It is also extremely sensitive, powerful, and prone to self ignition if not handled correctly. Just sturring or jossling the dry mixture will cause it to detonate in your face. Do not ever-ever mess with these chemicals. In anything but tiny portions is it likely to hurt you bad. It is an academic point as to the composition. Red Phosphorous is highly restricted due to it's use in illicit drug manufacture.

Cutting out paper caps is safe enough, they are small, wear safety glasses. I have used toy caps with success for percussion caps.

stikshooter said:

Not happening if you buy a flint lock !!/Ed

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Will the caps go bad with time? I'm at the end of a batch of 500 that I bought a few years back and I've had several miss fires lately.

Pphillips said:

Will the caps go bad with time? I'm at the end of a batch of 500 that I bought a few years back and I've had several miss fires lately.

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No sir. Not if they have been kept dry. I had some that were over 20 years old and they fired off just fine.

If you’re having misfires of the caps, then they may have been a bad batch or they were not stored properly.

ETipp said:

No sir. Not if they have been kept dry. I had some that were over 20 years old and they fired off just fine.

If you’re having misfires of the caps, then they may have been a bad batch or they were not stored properly.

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I would agree with @ETipp on this. I have some #12 Alcan caps my dad and I bought in about 1968. We got a pack of 1,000 (ten tins) and I think maybe five or six of the tins are still unopened. I found one of our old #12 sized nipples in 1/4-28 and put it in my rifle so I could shoot some of those nearly sixty year old caps. They worked fine. In fact, I think the priming charge was greater than in today’s CCI #11 Magnums.

Keep ‘em dry and they will last for generations.

Notchy Bob

ETipp said:

No sir. Not if they have been kept dry. I had some that were over 20 years old and they fired off just fine.

If you’re having misfires of the caps, then they may have been a bad batch or they were not stored properly.

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I store my shooting things in a ammo box at all times.

Pphillips said:

I store my shooting things in a ammo box at all times.

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Have the box been kept in the dry?

If so then you most likely have some bad caps.

Pphillips said:

Will the caps go bad with time? I'm at the end of a batch of 500 that I bought a few years back and I've had several miss fires lately.

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Respectfully, are you certain that the caps are seated all the way down on the nipple ? Do the caps that misfired go off with a second hammer strike? Nipples do wear with time and a little “mushrooming” or upsetting of the nipple may occur with use. It might not take much to prevent seating the cap. If they detonate with a second hammer strike it may be because the first hit simply seated the cap. You can sometimes improve the fit of your caps by filing or stoning the nipple, but it may be easier to just try a new one.

Bad caps are a possibility, though.

Best of luck to you!

Notchy Bob