Brass nipples?

[Kentuckywindage]

Whats your guy's take on brass nipples? I just installed one onto my cva mountain rifle and wanted some opinions before taking it out to the range.

 

[musketman]

This is just my opinion but I would imagine over time the brass would become distorted from the slamming of the hammer against it and even work loose from the recoil.

 

[jtmattison]

Brass or Bronze?

I've seen bronze nipples but not brass.

I use bronze revolver nipples and bronze touch hole liners. They work just fine.

HD

 

[Kentuckywindage]

maybe its bronze? I dont have the packet any longer. Think it will be ok even if it is brass?

 

[Travis Gregory]

I seen some nipples at the local muzzle shoot recently that looked brass but when I asked the guy selling them he said they were Berilium (I dont know about the spelling). Perhaps this is what you have, I cant imagine brass holding up to the pounding of the hammer very well.

 

[musketman]

maybe its bronze? I dont have the packet any longer. Think it will be ok even if it is brass?

Is it the color of the brass patch boxes or the color of a pre-1982 Lincoln Cent? The older cents are bronze whereas most inlays/patch boxes are made of softer brass.

Do you remember who made the replacement nipple, perhaps we can locate one on the web and find out?

 

[Kentuckywindage]

Its a bright light color looking brass. Highly polished to where it looks almost silver if you dont look hard at it.

I dont have the original packing it came in but i do remember green and white on the tag.

 

[Kentuckywindage]

Found it! Its bronze, http://trackofthewolf.com/(S(kzud5...es/tableList.aspx?catID=1&subID=9&styleID=984

These pretty good nipples that can hold up to a 100-110gr 2f charge? My .54 cva mountain rifle is a powder hog :nono:

 

[albert]

I have used the Ampco nipples for several years and from my experence with them they are as good or better than steel ones.

 

[Kentuckywindage]

Any issues with hangfires? I noticed that the flash hole is a lot smaller than my current Knight redhot nipple.

 

[Zonie]

Ampco Bronze is a special alloy that is very hard and very resistant to corrosion and heat.

Quoting the Ampco web site:

"Early in 1914 a small group of entrepreneurs met to discuss an exciting discovery: “a new bronze hard enough to cut steel”. On June 6th, 1914, the inventor, August Littman, with other entrepreneurs, formed the American Metal Products Company. The product was to be called AMPCO® Bronze, a name derived from the initials of the Company."

AMPCO HISTORY

Today, many years after the initial AMPCO Bronze the company has developed many different alloys, all of them bearing the Ampco name.
I am not sure which alloy these nipples are made from but they do not deform when used as a Percussion nipple and they are much more corrosion resistant than regular steel.
Whether they are better or worse than stainless steel is subject to debate.

They do look cool though.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I recall reading somewhere they are made from "Beryllium Copper Alloy". AmpCo does produce such a product, but apparently the nipples are made by Treso. Since there are a couple of beryllium copper alloys produced by AmpCo., one would have to ask Treso which one it uses.

These nipples are considered the best in the industry for what they are. They are highly resistant to high temperatures, so that the orifice in the nipple( the very small constricted opening) does NOT erode away, as will happen with steel, and stainless steel nipples. Because they are made from such a tough alloy, they also resist peening of the top edge of the nipple, by repeated hammer blows.

The Uncle Mike " Hot Shot ", with the hole in the top of the nipple, was designed to use blow back gases to break the copper percussion caps free( ie., Away) from the neck of the nipple, for easy removal. The holes also vent excess gases, so you don't get hammer "blow back", which can produce a dangerous situation when the hammer is pushed back far enough to allow the spent cap to move off the nipple and travel through the air at high speed.

If you have a "weak " mainspring, and your hammer comes off the nipple when the gun is fired, first check the nipple to see of the orifice has enlarged. If so, replace the nipple. This is the usual source of the problem- not the mainspring.

I did have a foreign make gun with a mainspring that was too strong at Full cock, but was a tad weak at rest( ie., when it hit the cap on the nipple.) It would bounce back on firing from the blow back gases, and even new stainless steel nipples didn't solve that problem. About 6 months before Uncle Mikes came out with their " hot shot " nipple, I figured out that I could relieve the high pressure by drilling a 1/64" diameter hole through the cleanout screw at the end of my drum to vent the excess gases. I did so, and it did work. I filed a " hair-lip Shaped V " in the front of the skirt of my hammer, allowing gases to push out on the cap towards the muzzle, and this ended the problem of having stuck caps on the nipple.

The Uncle Mike's Solution to the problem of hammer blow back is SAFER, as you don't have to worry about people standing next to you being hit by venting gases. Its no great a problem than shooting a flintlock on a line, but you do have to warn people to stand back when you fire the gun. Any grease that is in that small hole becomes a hot projectile that burns as much as it stings.

I sold the gun before The Beryllium copper nipples were available, or before I had a chance to see and buy a " Spit-fire " nipple. At the time, Stainless steel Nipples were going for $1.00 each, while the new nipples began at $6-8.00 each depending on where you found them. I was waiting for test reports on the new nipples, before spending that much more money on a nipple.

The Spitfire Nipple is made of stainless steel that is hardened. Its available from Cain's.

 

[Moloch]

I have a nipple made of beryllium+brass. Have about 600 shots through and without any visable wear, works like on the first day on my 1842 springfield. :hatsoff:

Beryllium is very very toxic!

 

[paulvallandigham]

Its made of Beryllium Copper- NOT BRASS. It has that dull " gold " color of brass, but it is not BRASS. Beryllium Copper is a very hard alloy, much harder than most steels. that is why you have 600 shots through it with no apparent wear. :thumbsup:

 

[Kentuckywindage]

Shot the rifle a good deal today and didnt have any misfires or any problems. Cleaned up really easy too.

 

[Moloch]

Oh sorry, I knew that something was wrong as I wrote beryllium-BRASS. Of course its COPPER! :surrender:

I can really suggest everyone buying one of these nipples made of beryllium, as said before I have over 600 shots through one and ignition ist still perfect. I am sure the nipple makes another 600 shots and more without any problems. :hatsoff:

By the way, I would love to have a all-beryllium barrel for my rifles ..... :wink: Wonder how long it takes to shoot them out.

 

[paulvallandigham]

The cost of an all-beryllium barrel would be prohitive. This is very tough metal to machine, even when mixed with copper and zinc. If you are paying $12.00 today for just a B/C nipple, can you imagine what a barrel would cost?

And, exactly how is it your are going to wear out a steel barrel shooting PRBs, provided you clean it well, both after each shot, and at the end of your shooting sessions??? And, if you then protect the bore from rusting between shooting sessions? We have people shooting steel barrels made more than 50 years ago, and they are just as tight today as they were back when they were new.

Where you do see worn barrels is with slug guns that are using paper patched BULLETS, at very high pressures. The paper has granite dust in its surface, and that abrades the barrels slowly. The same problem exists with barrels made and dedicated to certain other target shooting games, where heavy loads are used. If the fabric used to patch the lead ball is not washed to remove the " sizing", the sizing also abrades the bore. And, if the shooter only uses a cloth patch around his ball as his gas barrier, the high temperature gas cutting that occurs will wear the barrel. If an OP wad is used with a PRB, however, the gas stays behind the PRB and wad, and exits the barrel as a single unit, rather than cutting its way around the cloth patch and lead ball.

I don't think there is any need for a Beryllium Copper barrel on any gun. What I do find favorable that is now available that may not have been available 200 years ago is the round bottom rifling, such as you can obtain from The Rice Brothers, and T/C on some of its RB barrels.

If you were to send such a barrel out to have the bore hard chromed, you would have the best of all worlds- a barrel that does not hold onto crud easily, is easy to clean, and one that cannot rust! :hmm: :thumbsup:

 

[rafterob]

Nipples are cheap enough. Buy another spare for when you need it and go with the brass? one for now.