General Questions to do with Cap & Ball Revolver

[MaterielGeneral]

Hello to all that has input and to those that are just reading.

I assume nipple wear will very with balls shot but if you were to guess how often would you have to change nipples?

Do you have to do all six nipples at the same time?

How often do you have to remove the nipples, clean, apply anti seize lube?

I understand black powder is corrosive and the gun needs to be cleaned right away after shooting. But is the alternative Pyrodex corrosive also?

I appreciate the help.
MG

 

[Desperate Lee]

Virtually all powders are corrosive. Some greater than others. I personally pull my nipples every time I clean the cylinder, which is after a days shoot, be it one cylinder or ten plus cylinders. I use TOW stainless Nipples in all my cap and ball revolvers. Hope this helps.
DL

 

[Eutycus]

From what I hear Pyrodex is just as even more corrosive than black powder. But I'm not an expert on the subject. They will be along shortly with the help you need.

 

[Desperate Lee]

I now have some Black MZ that I have not tried yet. It is suppose to be reallllllly clean. I also heard they now guit making it. Just my luck.
DL

 

[Eutycus]

Thats a good question on the nipples. From what I gathered on this and other forums changing out factory nipples with quality nipples that are on the market is one of the first things alot of shooters do to their revolvers.

 

[rodwha]

Some don’t remove the nipples often. I do. Each time.

Yes Pyrodex is corrosive. I don’t know if any that certainly aren’t. If you find you won’t have time to clean up your gun(s) that day use some sort of black powder oil such as Ballistol. It will soak into the fouling leaving no room for moisture. It works.

I’ve never heard of anyone not replacing all of the nipples at one time. Seems you’d want them uniform. But that’s likely not an issue for casual plinkers. Were it me I’d replace them all and save any of the better nipples as spares.

I also like Track of The Wolf nipples. No better than the others that I’m aware of, but mine were cheaper than Ampco nipples, enough so that it paid the shipping on a set of 6. But then I only checked a few vendors. But it was also for my Ruger and I wanted the hex head original design as it went to great lengths to find a tool for them.

Oh, and my 2013 Pietta Remington still wears the factory nipples. They work just fine with the caps I have to use with my Ruger. The orifice is a little bit bigger but I’m not getting cap jams so I don’t really care. The day I have some issues or just want to change them I’ll buy them from ToTW again, if for no other reason, to ensure the caps I use will fit nicely.

 

[Kansas Jake]

I pull the nipples from the cylinder every time I shoot when cleaning the cylinder. I've purchased a couple of used revolvers where I don't think they had ever been out of the cylinder and they were very hard to remove the first time. Now I pull them every time. If I was replacing nipples, I would do them all at the same time. The exception might be if I had the same kind of spare and one nipple got damaged or lost. I've replaced them in a revolver when the ignition became unreliable. If I was a dedicated target competitor I might do it on a regular basis. I mostly plink with my revolvers.

 

[Eutycus]

I've seen it written on several posts lately that when the nipples become mushroomed, from the hammer hitting on them, to just file them down until the cap fits snuggly. I recall reading somewhere that the hammer should not contact the cone of the nipple at all or just barely.Is it alright to have the hammer hitting the nipples or is some sort of adjustment needed?

 

[Carbon 6]

I'm supposed to remove and replace my nipples?

Wish someone had told me that 35 years ago.

 

[Shot deer]

Wish someone had told me that 35 years ago.

I haven't even lived that long.


MaterielGeneral,

I'd say remove the nipples every time if possible. (Of course you clean them,etc)

 

[Rat]

I only remove them about every three cleanings. The important thing to remember is that percussion nipples are like spark plugs in an engine, you only want to snug them down, not tight. And yeah, have had to deal with friends revolvers with stuck nipples, the result of never being taken out, and over tightened.

I have never had to replace nipples on any revolver I've owned.

 

[MaterielGeneral]

Rat, thanks for letting me know about the tightness, that's a great tip for me.

 

[Enfield58]

I don't remove the nipples unless it has been through several cleanings or shot a lot. Just remember to grease the threads with white lithium grease. It also pays to have a quality nipple wrench.

I got one of these for the revolver and another for the musket nipples:

https://www.cabelas.com/product/Ted-Cash-Ratcheting-Nipple-Wrench/706445.uts?slotId=3

I've also become a recent fan of the Slix-Shot nipples. The first revolver that I tried them on was the Pietta 1851 Navy.

The only failure to fire was my fault. I couldn't get my finger on top of the percussion cap well enough to seat it firmly against the nipple so when the hammer fell it didn't detonate.

That was fixed when I used a piece of nylon rod in my gun box to seat the percussion caps.

I shot my Lemat and '58 Remington with the Slix-Shot nipples, yesterday and today.

I would estimate that between both revolvers, I shot about 500 rounds. Yes, you read that correctly. I shot about 500 rounds.

In those 500 rounds, I did not have a single failure to fire, hang fire or cap jam! I was beginning to think that my cap and ball revolvers are just as reliable as the new-fangled 21st century counter parts.

I don't get any compensation or perks from Slix-Shot nipples. When I see a good think I tell others about it.

It's a wonderful experience when you can shoot cap & ball revolvers without contending with the aforementioned problems!

 

[MaterielGeneral]

Thanks for everyone's input. I do plan on removing the nipples when cleaning but did not know how often it should be done and I will stick with the census of every time. I already have the anti seize lube but had to order the wrench last night. I also ordered a capper as I found putting caps on the nipples a pain in the butt. Thanks,
MG

 

[Enfield58]

Thanks for everyone's input. I do plan on removing the nipples when cleaning but did not know how often it should be done and I will stick with the census of every time. I already have the anti seize lube but had to order the wrench last night. I also ordered a capper as I found putting caps on the nipples a pain in the butt. Thanks,
MG

Good luck with the capper. I've never had one work for me. That's not to say they are no good.

Other people seem to have better luck with them than me. I must get nothing but lemons.

What capper did you order? Be sure to let us know how well it works.

 

[rodwha]

I don't remove the nipples unless it has been through several cleanings or shot a lot. Just remember to grease the threads with white lithium grease. It also pays to have a quality nipple wrench.

I got one of these for the revolver and another for the musket nipples:

https://www.cabelas.com/product/Ted-Cash-Ratcheting-Nipple-Wrench/706445.uts?slotId=3

I've also become a recent fan of the Slix-Shot nipples. The first revolver that I tried them on was the Pietta 1851 Navy.

The only failure to fire was my fault. I couldn't get my finger on top of the percussion cap well enough to seat it firmly against the nipple so when the hammer fell it didn't detonate.

That was fixed when I used a piece of nylon rod in my gun box to seat the percussion caps.

I shot my Lemat and '58 Remington with the Slix-Shot nipples, yesterday and today.

I would estimate that between both revolvers, I shot about 500 rounds. Yes, you read that correctly. I shot about 500 rounds.

In those 500 rounds, I did not have a single failure to fire, hang fire or cap jam! I was beginning to think that my cap and ball revolvers are just as reliable as the new-fangled 21st century counter parts.

I don't get any compensation or perks from Slix-Shot nipples. When I see a good think I tell others about it.

It's a wonderful experience when you can shoot cap & ball revolvers without contending with the aforementioned problems!

I’ve put close to that number of shots through a combined shooting of my Ruger Old Army that sports the ToTW nipples and my New Model Army with stock Pietta nipples with 100% reliability when I switched to Rem #10’s AND ensured the priming compound was in the cap. Neither gun is known for cap jams though.

 

[rodwha]

Thanks for everyone's input. I do plan on removing the nipples when cleaning but did not know how often it should be done and I will stick with the census of every time. I already have the anti seize lube but had to order the wrench last night. I also ordered a capper as I found putting caps on the nipples a pain in the butt. Thanks,
MG

I know there are a few people, some of which shoot in various matches, that only completely tear down their guns and remove the nipples like once a year. I’m too anal for that though, and I enjoy disassembling them.

 

[drobs]

I like to shoot more than I do clean and will shoot a couple cylinders through a pair of C&B revolvers every day over the course of 4 or 5 days. I'll clean with water on the 5th or 6th day followed by gun oil for storage. YMMV - but I don't find a complete tear down is necessary.

I've only needed to replace 1 nipple. I bought a used Pietta 1860 Army off gunbroker that was missing it's original cylinder. It came with a conversion cylinder only (unmentionable here). I bought a replacement cylinder from Cabela's that came with a rusty factory nipple. I had a spare set of factory nipples that came with a Pietta nipple wrench and swapped out the 1 rusty nipple.

I wouldn't mind trying slix shot nipples. However, having 6 Pietta C&B revolvers x $36 a set = real money.
Concerning cap jams and my 4 open top Colts, I expect I'll add cap rakes in the future making Slix Shot nipples an unnecessary expense.

 

[TFoley]

After about thirty years or so I had to replace the nipples on my ROA. To keep the irreplaceable Ruger nipple wrench in use, I bought a set of Uncle Mikes stainless items from The Gun Works in Springfield, Oregon, after Joe there recommended them to me. At less than $18 a set of six that seemed like a good idea to me Since then I guess I must have bought around twenty or more sets for friends over here in UK who are peeved at having to pay one dealer $56 + shipping for the same things.

and yes, I remove them and clean them every time I shoot, but then i also tend to shoot around a hundred shots in a session - I figure that they deserve it. How tight to put them back in? Easy one - I hold the cylinder in my right hand with the same grip I'd use to shake hands, tightening up the nipple until the cylinder rotates in my grip. Job done.

 

[MaterielGeneral]

This is the capper Enfield58
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5338413729&icep_item=332781975771

This is the nipple wrench. Traditions has another wrench that is supposed to suck due to the metal not being hard enough and it bends on the end.
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5338413729&icep_item=232917431327