Worn out nipple

How do you tell when a nipple is burned out and needs to be replaced?

 

I've always heard that if your hammer blows back to halfcock , it's time to replace the nipple . :results:

 

[rabbit03]

Hi Trigger,

If your putting shots on paper it is easier to see but if your shots start going astray then you might need to replace it. If after you have made sure that all the other things you have been doing are still the same and nothing else has changed and the shots are still off then try replacing the nipple.

It has been my observation that there is also an eroded spot at the hole in the bottom. Take the nipple out and turn it over and inspect the hole for any elongation of the (what should be) a perfectly round hole. If the hole appears not to be perfectly round then you should replace it. Keep in mind these nipples might be able to be reworked and made to shoot again. And I always keep mine for emergencies anyway.

I also had my hammer re-cock on me once while shooting a slug rifle. I think it had a weeeeeeeee bit much powder for the 500+ grain slug though and I attributed it to that. Kind of scary when it happens too to look down and see the hammer already cocked!

For anyone that has their drum or pattent breech vented you will notice an eroded area at the bottom of the nipple where the fire has eroded a narrow noch-like area from the bottom. that is also past time to replace the nipple.

rabbit03

 

[walruskid1]

if your shooting an underhammer, its worn out when brass and powder stick in your forearm. i speak from experience. ::

 

My brother and I have also experienced the nipples flairing-out slightly at the cap-end from repeated hits from the hammer. (Yea, it takes a long time for this to happen.) When it does happen, the first thought is "what the (*^^( :: :: is making these caps go on so hard." We try to blame the caps 'til we start having misfires and then the light goes on and we slide a thumbnail along the side of the nipple . . . . "Oh, yea. This has happened before!" :redface: :redface: I think/hope we finally got smart-enough to actually look at them occasionally.
Don

 

[vradin]

I think/hope we finally got smart-enough to actually look at them occasionally.
Don

Along these lines, looking at the nipples periodically... Is there an inspection procedure that you carry out on a regular basis?

Since the guns I have are for others to use and fire, I inspect everything from muzzle to butt every week during the summer camp season, including taking off the lock and checking springs, screws, etc and doing a trigger pull test. Prevented a number of problems that way, not least of which was a very loose sear screw which could have been a very unpleasant surprise.

vic

 

For us, it's simply a visual inspection. In your situation, I probably would lean toward just replacing them with new ones once a season and not have to worry about it. I haven't seen this but I imagine one could get one crystalizing from the heat and the "repeated smack of the hammer" and experience a failure involving a broken piece flying at one's eye. Don :imo:

 

The rifle blows the percussion caps to fragments leaving only a hammer cup sized disk, and I was wondering if that was normal. I removed the nipple and compared it to an new one and saw that the hole was larger in the used one and was wondering about it. I am using 45 gr. of 3Fg in a .40 Cal. gun, which is well short of what the Black Powder Loading Manual lists as max.

 

Interesting! I've never experienced anything like you describe. :hmm: :hmm: I'll just throw-out a couple of thoughts and maybe someone more experienced will pick this up: sharp edges at the top of the nipple . . . a way-too-strong main spring . . . . some problem w/the type/brand of caps you are using . . . . For what little it might be worth, I've always used the German caps and my brother has always used CCI (I think I'm right on that . . .). Don

 

The entire issue in now more or less irrelevant. I tried to install a new nipple which had 1/4 28 threads and it turned out the old drum did not use 1/4 28 nipples. Fortunately I had a blank drum on hand which fit the gun so my .40 cal is now back up and running. During one of my frantic trips to the hardward store purchasing drills, taps and various Implements Of Salvation, I picked up a metric thread guage. The old, and apparently perfectly good, nipple has a 1mm pitch metric thread so I assume the drum did too.

By the way, those nipples which seem to be made of brass? They are not made of brass, they are made of something that just looks like brass. But they are REAL hard.
T.

 

[walruskid1]

i think that material is called ampco or something like that.

 

[davy]

i think that material is called ampco or something like that.

Based on what I have been able to find Ampco 45 material is made up of Aluminum, Nickel, and Bronze. I have a couple of nipples made of this Ampco stuff ...

Davy

 

[OTHERN]

Unless something has changed the Ampco nipples and touchhole liners are made of Beryllium, which is very heat resistant and they will not burn out as fast as a stainless steel nipple or touchhole. they look like brass but are much harder to file or work.

Othern

 

[Zonie]

Unless something has changed the Ampco nipples and touchhole liners are made of Beryllium, which is very heat resistant and they will not burn out as fast as a stainless steel nipple or touchhole. they look like brass but are much harder to file or work.

Othern

I believe they are "Beryllium Copper" as OTHERN said.
Because of the Beryllium which is very hazardous to your health if breathed or eaten, I do not recommend filing or sanding it.
Use it as it came and you should have no problem, but don't frinkle with it. :shocking:

 

[Paulussie0]

Well guy's(and dolls)The answer to when a nipple needs to be replaced is very simple as I was told by Andreas Baumkircher: He starts with a 0.6 mm hole in the nipple and stops with a diameter of 0.75 mm.
If the nipple hole gets any bigger your gun will lose accuracy.
It is as simple as that.
And if you let the nipple hole get so big that your hammer gets blown back to half cock you are destroying your lock. :imo:

 

[Zonie]

For all of you folks in the U.S. who think millimeters and centimeters are those little disgusting little bugs you'ed rather not have crawling around on your body at night, .6mm is .0238 inch and .75mm is .0298 inches.

These sound a bit small to me but I agree that if the hammer gets blown back to half cock some serious damage could be done to your lock.