Old Army misfires

Need some help here....last times out with my Old Army all cylinders snap but don't fire...then fire when I snap the second time! Scary!! Thought it might be old caps, but does same with new. Thought I was not seating the caps well enough, took special care. So, what am I doing wrong? Really, setting off a cap can't be all that difficult.

Could be caps are too long, nipples are too wide. Try around with different brands of caps and their sizes.

I believe it is a matter of the caps and nipples not matching up. I had the same problem with my Ruger; the caps I have easiest access to (CCI #11) did not allow me to seat them on as well as needed onto the Ruger nipples, although the first hammer fall tended to shove them onto the nipples well enough to often fire with the second hammer fall. Either find caps that allow seating well and readily, or replace the nipples to match the caps you have. I replaced with Treso nipples and the ignition problems have gone away.

Welcome to the Forum.

If your ROA was firing reliably before and this misfiring is a new development it could be telling you that you need to give the guns internals a good cleaning and oiling.

If you reciently changed the brand of percussion caps you've been buying that can easily explain the problem.
There is no standard for the sizes of Percussion caps and the different makers all seem to have their own sizes. If the previous brand was working you should look to see if you can find more of them.

The most common problem with percussion guns is that the nipple is too large for your current caps.

This can be corrected by chucking the nipple in an electric drill, locating on the nipples BODY, NOT THE THREADS.
Using a small metal cutting flat file and holding it at the same angle as the cone on the nipple, with the drill running slowly you can remove just a little material.
If you try this, stop often and check the fit of the cap. You should be able to feel it come to a positive stop without being loose on the nipple.

Hope this helps you.......

snip< I have had problems finding the proper size percussion caps to fit the nipples on an Old Army revolver. Number 10 caps were a bit too small, and would not properly seat on the nipple, resulting in an occasional misfire. Number 11 caps were a bit too large on some earlier Old Armies, having to be slightly pinched before placing on the nipple, to assure that the cap did not fall off. Evidently, Ruger has addressed this problem, as number 11 caps fit precisely on the nipples of this Old Army, resulting in positive ignition with caps that stayed in place until fired. >snip

sixbull

March 2nd, 1986 until the middle of this afternoon - RWS #11 caps on my Ruger Old Army.

Still using the original set of nipples, too.

tac

It's likely the mouth of the nipple has been mushroomed a bit, perhaps due to dry firing or just heavy use. I'd try the tip Zonie suggested or just get new nipples. I had some revolvers which took #10 caps and some took #11. I got tired of fooling with two sizes so I just replaced all 30 nipples with Ampco nipples from Track of the Wolf so now all fit CCI #11 caps.

That mushrooming sounds about right. The inside cap is a little tapered. If the nipples are getting worn out then the cap is sliding on the nipple but isn't being seated all the way down. On the first try the hammer knocks the cap down solid on the end of the nipple. On the second try then the gun fires.
Nipples wear out. I'd get a new set and try to match the replacement nipples to the cap size.

If I recall correctly, from reading an old Ruger Old Army owner's manual, a Ruger Old Army with the factory original nipples can be dry fired without damage to the nipples as the hammer does not quite hit the nipples.

Hope the original poster comes back to tell if all the good advice posted has helped.

....last times out with my Old Army all cylinders snap but don't fire...then fire when I snap the second time!

Click to expand...

In this case the caps are not seating on the nipple properly. When you first try to fire and nothing happens, you just seated the cap, thats why when you try a second time, she now fires. Whenever I see this problem the nipple is to large for the cap and a little time rolling it on a hone with oil always fixed the problem with the cap seating better and firing on the first try.

We have no idea which caps they are.
Providing some more specifics may help.
What brand and size are the caps?
Sometimes seating the caps with a piece of wooden dowel or what some call a push stick will help you to seat the caps just fine.
Or at least until you have a chance to try some other caps that may fit better.

Zonie gave good advice...I do a similar operation on most all my percussion guns,do it by hand thouigh while watching TV with a dowel and some emory cloth