1860 Army #10 caps CCI, Slix-Shot nipples

[FishDFly]

I think I would be more worried about someone dropping their revolver which is partly capped while putting on another cap. The sudden impact with the ground or cement would concern me more than thumb pressure of seating a cap.

Any time when capping there is a calculated risk of something happening which is not intended.

Guess there is a good reason not to cap with your thumb, that is why cappers were made.

 

[arcticap]

I'm more concerned about the impact sensitivity of plastic ring caps, toy caps and home made caps.
Many people have tried them as a cheap substitute in place of percussion caps in an effort to save money.
Yet many folks don't realize how much more impact sensitive they are.

While searching for the info. contained in my previous posts, I found two people who had accidental discharges
with their C&B revolvers due to what I believe were the use of plastic toy ring caps.

These are their posts which are only those from one other forum but I hope folks will heed the warnings.

Posted Jan,, 2011 by Skinny 1950:

I was using toy caps for quite a while with my Uberti 1851 Navy until a cap went off as I was putting it on the nipple,the ball shot out the side of the gun hit the frame and shaved a slab off. I don't know where the ball went but I sustained a minor injury to my thumb. Good thing it was pointed downrange or someone could have been hurt. Up to that point the toy caps were working great as they don't jam up the gun like the CCI #11's. Anyway the toy caps go off a lot easier that metal ones and could lead to injury.

Posted Match, 2012 by Busyhands94:

Just an FYI guys, do NOT use toy caps in your percussion guns. Although they are cheap and plentiful they are so dang easy to set off it's scary. The sensitivity is many times more than just a percussion cap, it's very dangerous.

I once had my NAA companion go off from using toy caps as the primers, I was putting the cylinder in (I was in my room, going out to the shop to shoot) and I had three chambers discharge due to the gun being loaded with toy caps. It scared my mom pretty bad, it made me jump. I'm a jumpy guy, kinda paranoid sometimes. But stuff exploding is one of those things that makes me cringe. Using toy caps to ignite blackpowder is a dreadful habit. Don't do it!

 

[Bad Karma]

There is an SASS shooter named Cuts Crooked who claimed on the SASS forum he was the victim in a police documented case of a percussion cap detonation in 1986 during loading and he shows a photo of the scar to prove it. He damaged the nerves in his thumb as a result.
The post is from Nov. 26, 2004:--->>> http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,1620.0.html

Here's the photo that he posted of his thumb:

View attachment 7711


That's a picture of what's left of my thumb after a cap detonated under it while loading my old 58 Remington years ago.

The following is an article that was printed in the Cowboy Chronical earlier this year about capping these old time guns.
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The Great Capping Controversy
(how to avoid the whole thing and still enjoy Frontiersman)

Howdy gang!

Back in the May issue of "The Chronicle", Old Scout, SASS Life #34718, wrote about capping our Cap & Ball pistols and the inherant dangers, or lack thereof, involved. Old Scout did a great job of testing and documenting his efforts to find out just how dangerous the chore might or might not be, along with testing for the results of an out of battery discharge. I enjoyed the fact that he covered the various seating methods employed and noted the possible level of danger to the shooter and bystanders. Then along comes the June issue and a letter from Silver Sam, SASS Life #34718 expressing his frustration over the rule that prevents "hammer seating" of percussion caps. And I certainly understand Silver Sams feeling on that matter! Once one gets used to a method of doing something, and it never seems to be a problem, it's difficult to accept that someone else can see a possible danger in that method...human nature at work there!

Well, Old Cuts is going to enter the controversy and tell y'all the answer to the cap seating dilema. The answer is DON'T. It's that simple! You see the whole "seating" thing really isn't needed, and I'll tell you why in a bit here. But first...

Happens that I am one of those pards who Old Scout mentioned as having a cap detonate under "finger pressure". Yes it can happen! The results ain't fun or pretty! For those who want the gory details, it happened in either June or July (I would have to check with the local Sheriffs office to be sure. It was recorded as a "firearms related injury" at the time and the doctor called in the Deputies to record the details) of 1986 in Marion County, Iowa. I was in a farm lane on my in-laws property doing a bit of target practice when a cap that I was "seating" on my 58 Remington detonated under the pressure of my thumb. Now a percussion cap doesn't have much power, not much more than the explosive force of a cap designed for toy cap guns, but the escaping gases coming back through the nipple hole from the ignition of the powder DO HAVE CONSIDERABLE FORCE!. Without the hammer down over that little hole enough hot gas can escape to do a lot of damage to any digit in its path. When it happened I ended up with a thumb that looked kind of like a peeled banana, only black! The nail bed was laid back down over the knuckle of my thumb, a strip was peeled down the inside radius, and the meaty ball was sort of bulged out. This left the bone exposed on the end of my thumb! (OUCH!) After washing and wire brushing away all the charred stuff the Sawbones was able to pull every thing back together and sew it up by running stitches through the thumbnail and the meaty part. But there was a piece missing that he couldn't do anything about. It really didn't hurt though, in fact I've never felt anything in that thumb again! Apparently the nerve bundle on the inside of the thumb was instantly cauterized. Made fer a bit of a hassle to relearn how cock a revolver!

So, Cuts decided to make sure he never had to "seat" a cap again! And it isn't that difficult! My first effort in that direction was to purchase nipples (did you know the old timers called them "tubes"?) that fit my caps properly. In those days the availability of various caps and nipples wasn't all that great. But a little perserverance found a combination that fit properly. The caps would go all the way down on good fitting nipples with only a little pressure from the capping tool. And there was just enough friction to keep them in place during cycling and firing the gun. That's the way it' supposed to work, no pushing them down on with a dowel or yer finger, and no pinching them to make them fit tight enough to stay on. Just press them on with the capping tool and keep going! Simple! Right? Well...no, not exactly. Seems that nipples tend to batter and get out of shape, Which makes it harder to press a cap onto them after a while. And sometimes you just can't find the right combination of caps & nipples to achieve that perfect fit. So what do you do? Use yer finger or a dowel? The answer is neither of those! You make the nipple fit the caps!

If you have access to a lathe this is a pretty simple job. But most folks don't have a machine shop laying around the house. I know, I don't anyway! But there's still a pretty easy way to make those nipples fit yer caps, it's not hard, and it doesn't require expensive tools. All you need is a fine toothed file, some emory cloth, and an electric hand drill! Simply chuck the offending nipple in the drill, closing the jaws on the "shoulder" of the nipple to avoid damaging the threads. Then hold your fine toothed file against the "tube" and pull the trigger on the drill. Use very light pressure to hold the file against the nipple while it spins, stopping frequently to check fit with a cap. (Stop the drill when do this!!!!) When you have removed enough metal so that the cap just slides down onto the nipple with minimal pressure, then polish things up a bit with the emory cloth, not too much because you want to maintain a friction fit...and you're done! You now have a perfect fitting cap & nipple combination that doesn't require placing yoru fingers in danger or the use of a special pushing tool to seat the caps all the way down. All you have to do is place a cap over the nipple with your capping tool and press lightly, then pull the tool straight out. It will save you some time at the loading table, no more concerns about the dangers of hammer seating, and your fingers will thank you for your efforts on their behalf! And from Snakebite, SASS Life #4767, comes the tip to carry an old toothbrush in your kit, to brush away accumilated soot from the nipples at the unloading table. This helps more than you'd imagine!

Now, go shoot that fine old time cap gun, and have fun...safely!

Yer Pard,

Cuts Crooked, SASS #36914
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I believe that this is the testing and documentation mentioned in the post about the danger to bystanders from a gun firing out of battery during capping which led an SASS club to adopt a push stick only rule for capping..--->>> http://www.brimstonepistoleros.com/articles/capping.html

My faith in my childhood hero is restored. This guy busted a cap with his mere mortal thumb. Imagine how easily Elmer could have done so with his thumbs of iron!