Making your own percussion caps?

[William Lincoln]

Plenty of caps around. Just keep checking. Bass pro goes up and down.
Because they require hazmat best to buy from shops and pay more.
They store good so you can get a good supply and rest easy. Over the
past year I do not fail to buy some if I see them on shelf - just leave
some for the next guy/gal. Ask gun shops to stock them. Some hardware
stores have them.

 

[tom in nc]

Can we even discuss this on here?

 

[William Lincoln]

Ya percussion caps are a historical muzzleloading item. You have to be able
to discuss them to a point. People are jumping the gun a little to make your
own, since high quality caps are out there. Just have to search. Remember
this is a small niche market that does not have overcapacity in manufacturing.
So a little bump in demand due to a scare or whatever will bottom out the
supply. ALSO, stay flexible. You might have to temporarily use a brand you
do not like. Same for powders. The greater risk here not the supply itself, it
is being able to order it online. There are proposals to block ammo buying
online. Will that include components like powder and caps? Hopefully not.
Hopefully nothing will affect our sport.

 

[tom in nc]

Yeah, I was kinda kidding, gouging the moderators a little with that remark. I've got a pretty good supply of caps stashed back but if I run out I guess I'll make some (or just shoot my flintlock!)
Someone said if God intended us to shoot percussion, there would be caps lying about on the ground.

 

[leadhoarder]

Ya percussion caps are a historical muzzleloading item. You have to be able
to discuss them to a point. People are jumping the gun a little to make your
own, since high quality caps are out there. Just have to search. Remember
this is a small niche market that does not have overcapacity in manufacturing.
So a little bump in demand due to a scare or whatever will bottom out the
supply. ALSO, stay flexible. You might have to temporarily use a brand you
do not like. Same for powders. The greater risk here not the supply itself, it
is being able to order it online. There are proposals to block ammo buying
online. Will that include components like powder and caps? Hopefully not.
Hopefully nothing will affect our sport.

I think it was a fair question. Powder was a historical muzzloading item too and that is not a topic for discussion.

 

[tom in nc]

Yeah, you knew why I asked.

 

[appalichian hunter]

What about TANNERITE for the compound.

 

[William Lincoln]

Well powder making is regulated with license required. Caps are not
regulated the same because,unlike powder, no nut job is buying up caps
to do something crazy. Years ago Paladin press got destroyed over a
book that outlined how to kill people. With all the lawyers you cannot
be too careful. If you have assets you better play very safe. "When in doubt
leave it out."

 

[brewer12345]

Well powder making is regulated with license required. Caps are not
regulated the same because,unlike powder, no nut job is buying up caps
to do something crazy. Years ago Paladin press got destroyed over a
book that outlined how to kill people. With all the lawyers you cannot
be too careful. If you have assets you better play very safe. "When in doubt
leave it out."

Actually, if you are making powder for your own use it is legal to do so and you do not need a permit/license under federal law.

 

[PM]

What about TANNERITE for the compound.

I think the energy needed to set off tannerite is higher than you get from a hammer. Also it doesn't generate much in the way of heat.

 

[William Lincoln]

Tannerite will soon be off the market. Way too many arms and legs
damaged or lost. The makers will get tired of lawsuits. Maybe no
license is needed to make BP under Federal Law--how about State
Laws? Not that anyone really cares until you try to profit from something.

 

[brewer12345]

Tannerite will soon be off the market. Way too many arms and legs
damaged or lost. The makers will get tired of lawsuits. Maybe no
license is needed to make BP under Federal Law--how about State
Laws? Not that anyone really cares until you try to profit from something.

There are 50 states and who knows how many local authorities. I suppose you could go look if you cared to do so for your specific area. As a practical matter, if the ATF isn't going to chase you over making it for your own purposes, the likelihood that a state or local authority would bother you unless you tried to sell it or blow something up is probably remote.

 

[Tom A Hawk]

So...I bought the Sharpshooter cap making kit and while I have not charged any yet my initial impression is the formed caps are a bit ragged. I was able to improve them a bit by squeezing the formed caps around a spare nipple with archery nock set pliers. I also ordered a sheet of .008" copper to see if this forms better than aluminum.

 

[Ponderosaman]

So...I bought the Sharpshooter cap making kit and while I have not charged any yet my initial impression is the formed caps are a bit ragged. I was able to improve them a bit by squeezing the formed caps around a spare nipple with archery nock set pliers. I also ordered a sheet of .008" copper to see if this forms better than aluminum.

I thought the skirts were kind of elegant in how they handled the forming. It is definitely thicker than a store bought cap and kind of folded or curled up rather than wavy. I’m curious how your copper experiment will work. On the video he says it has to be aluminum. Who knows maybe the aluminum is a catalyst. Please keep us in the loop.

 

[Ponderosaman]

When I snapped the unprimed cap on my gun the cap spread out and fell off easily where it was relatively tight before. Got to thinking about the catalyst idea an am skeptical because he doesn’t recommend the painted side of the can or the inside as the working side. Here is a magnified view of a cap.

 

[brewer12345]

So...I bought the Sharpshooter cap making kit and while I have not charged any yet my initial impression is the formed caps are a bit ragged. I was able to improve them a bit by squeezing the formed caps around a spare nipple with archery nock set pliers. I also ordered a sheet of .008" copper to see if this forms better than aluminum.

When I did my test batch my criteria for success was not the length of the skirt. Does it stay on the nipple? Does it reliably go bang? Does it set off the rifle consistently? Got a yes on all three and declared victory.

 

[M. De Land]

So glad I purchased a case of 1,000 CCI caps when I could.

It’d take me a month of sundays to get through them with my Hawken rifle. About 25 shots is an average for me so that’s at least 40 trips to the range for me, several years. Hoping it bides me enough time for the cap makers to restock.

A revolver will eat them up in jig time though.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

A revolver will eat them up in jig time though.

It will buy time hopefully for it to blow over.

 

[Wolfman0125]

Will homemade #11 caps fit into a Ted Cash capper or straight line capper? I ordered the 22 cap maker but haven’t received it yet. Going to try using German roll caps and priming powder, or Pyrodex to start out with sealed with acetone.

 

[Ponderosaman]

Will homemade #11 caps fit into a Ted Cash capper or straight line capper? I ordered the 22 cap maker but haven’t received it yet. Going to try using German roll caps and priming powder, or Pyrodex to start out with sealed with acetone.

They don’t fit into my traditions in line capper. They probably would if you squished the skirt like @Tom A Hawk mentioned he did with his.