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poteen

32 Cal
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I bought a Hawes 44 C&B revolver marked "Army Model" at a garage sale recently. My only B P experience has been deer hunting in Pa with a flintlock. I am having difficulty finding a big enough cap to fit on the nipple. I have tried Remington & CCI in both # 10 and 11, and they are both too small.
My question is: Is there any other size percussion caps available? I hate to spend the money to buy replacement nipples as this is a "get your feet wet in blackpowder revolver shooting " project.
Any advice appreciated
 
Do you have a caliper to measure the nipples at the top of the cone?

Get a good nipple wrench to fit the pistol sized nipples. You are going to need a good wrench no matter what you end up doing

Take a good look at the nipples. Do they appear to be mushroomed at the top of the cone, perhaps by dry firing of the pistol? If the nipples are mushroomed, then there is really little recourse but to replace the nipples or reduce the cone diameter. Slix Shot are probably the best.

You could buy a nut to fit the nipple and use a file to reduce the cone to fit the #11 caps. Use the nut to hold the nipple in your electric drill and while running in reverse file the top of the cone just enough to fit the cap,
 
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Thanks, I think I read that the nipples are 7mm thread, so using a 7mm nut, screwed into a cut off 7mm bolt, I can make my own mandrel. The tops do look very flat, but my fingernail can't detect any burr. I'll give your idea a spin.
 
You better measure the threads of your nipples before you make your mandrel Some of mine are 6 x 0.75 mm. Some, mostly on single shot pistols may be 6 x 1.00 mm
Many of the Italian handguns use a 6 x 0.75 nipple, while the Spanish (CVA) usually have a 6 x 1.
Thanks, I think I read that the nipples are 7mm thread, so using a 7mm nut, screwed into a cut off 7mm bolt, I can make my own mandrel. The tops do look very flat, but my fingernail can't detect any burr. I'll give your idea a spin.
Any chance you could post a close up photograph?
 
I would send a nipple to Track of the Wolf to have them match one up. There is more to it than just matching the thread. There are almost endless variations as to length as well, which is very important when replacing revolver nipples.
 
The original nipples may have been mushroomed by dry firing. You can bring them back into spec. with a file and electric drill. Trim them till they fit.


Thanks for the advice, it worked. I notched an old 5mm socket and made a nipple wrench, pulled the nipples , tapped a piece of 3/8 brass round stock and chucked it into my drill press. As you suggested, ran the drill on slow and took one of my wife's sandpaper nail boards and took the mushroom off the top of the nipple and kept grinding until I got a real good fit with #11 caps.

Now off to the range and see if my 25 buck garage sale six shooter works.
 
Uh-oh.
Messing with your wife's stuff will get knots pounded on your head. :eek:
You best go get some new nail boards, exactly like the ones you ruined and get them back into the place you found them before she finds out what you did.

While your at it, buy a good, small flat metal cutting file so you won't need to raid her stuff again. :D:D
 
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