Musket nipple for Lyman Great Plains

Bass Pro Shop has musket caps for next to nothing. Does anyone make a musket nipple for the Lyam Great Plains?

Dear JBarclay,IMHO you would be wasting you money and time.I purchased one of those a few years ago.It went in w/ no trouble...until I tried to fire the rifle.You see, the hammer is recessed,for lack of better term and the musket cap was too large.The hammer would come down and the musket cap would become stuck 1/2 up the recess and not detonate.Not wishing to grind off this "skirt-like" part of the hammer since it does have a saftey purpose,namely reducing flying cap fragments,I returned to the no.11 cone and ne'er looked back.Just a thought.Your srevant,Sir.Jack.

jbarclay, I agree with jack.The Musket Nipple can cause quite a few problems for you.

You didn't say why you want to try a musket nipple. I assume you just want to have more spark. If you're using Pyrodex, you may want to use the CCI #11 Mag. It has about 25% more spark and should be sufficient for anything. I've used them with great success on my percussion and my underhammer. I've never needed to go to the extra expense of a musket nipple.

Hope this helps.

Yes ,one is made for the Lyman GPR.........It is the size 6x.75....A metric designation........Be aware that I had one on my GPR and I got an occasional misfire if I didnt make sure the musket cap was seated all the way down..........The GPR's mainspring does not seem powerful enough to light the caps I had if they were not seated absolutey down. One other thing is to make sure you have clearance at half cock,and you may have to bend the hammer so it will hit correctly................Bob

Yes ,one is made for the Lyman GPR.........It is the size 6x.75....A metric designation........Be aware that I had one on my GPR and I got an occasional misfire if I didnt make sure the musket cap was seated all the way down..........The GPR's mainspring does not seem powerful enough to light the caps I had if they were not seated absolutey down. One other thing is to make sure you have clearance at half cock,and you may have to bend the hammer so it will hit correctly................Bob

Click to expand...

Also be aware that Lyman does not recommend musket nipples on any of their rifles, so you might have a warranty issue if you use one. I agree with all the others, that using one is more trouble than it is worth. There really is no need to have to use a musket nipple to get reliable ignition on a GPR. I have no ignition problems with my GPR using atandard CCI caps.

If you are having occasional misfires, it could be because the stock GPR nipples run a bit oversize in diameter. The cap won't fit completely down over the nipple and and the first hammer strike sometimes will not detonate the cap, but will drive it on down onto the nipple and the second hammer strike will then detonate it. If this is your problem, simply wrap a couple of wraps of electrical tape around the nipple threads, chuck it into a drill and then touch a file to it while spinning it. Just remove enough metal to get the caps to seat completely on the nipple, with firm pressure, and you should have no more problems.

Dear JBarclay,SabinaJiles brought up an excellent point.When I returned to the 6x.75mm cone, I replaced it w/ a spitfire cone from Cabelas.While I had little difficulty seating a cap on the original cone, I was not particularly pleased w/ the overall design.It seemed to have an rather large hole in the bottom and this allowed debris or fouling to invade the flash channel, consequently making the next shot iffy.The spitfire cone, having a smaller pin hole, has alleviated this problem.Best regards,Jack.

Thanks for all the replies. I will stay with what I have. :thanks:

I converted to musket cap nipples awhile ago. But, let me warn ya, its not as simple as just replacing the nipple.

Now, many a shooter here will tell you to use BP only. And I agree with them to a certain degree. I have to travel an hour to and an hour from my nearest source of real BP. With Homeland Security requirements, BP sources are drying up and Pyrodex and other substitutes are becoming your only available propellent. So, one needs a hotter source of ignition.

First, make sure the nipple you replace the original with has the proper threads for your gun.

Once the new nipple is installed, quite often your hammer will fall on the cap and nothing happens. The first thing many will tell you to do is to replace your main spring. This may help and again it may not. The most likely cause for this mis-fire is not the mainspring, but an over sized nipple cone.

To cure this problem, you will need masking tape, a power drill, a fine grain knife sharpening stone, dishsoap, a musket cap and a small amount of water. I generally do this job at the kitchen sink when the ole lady is not at home.

First wrap the threads of the nipple to be honed with masking tape. Two to three wraps should do the trick. Once that is done, chuck the threaded end of the nipple in the power drill. Now put a small amount of dishsoap, mixed with a couple of drops of water, on your stone. Making sure you match the original angle of the cone and with the drill on low, careful not to overheat your nipple, slowly turn the cone side of the nipple on your stone. Don't over do it, keep stopping every so often to use the cap as a guage to ensure a proper fit.

Once you are sure that you have a proper fit, be sure to clean the nipple thoroughly and that the vent is clear of debris. Remove masking tape, dry, oil and install on your gun. I use a little plumber's teflon tape to install mine. If you try this, make sure you don't cover the vent hole.

Next issue to address is to ensure that the hammer nose recess is large enough to accommodate the larger musket cap. If not, then you will need a dremel tool, set to slow speed, and a fine grain rotary stone. Slowly and carefully open up the recess to accommodate the head of the cap. Don't over heat the hammer nose or grind the wall of the recess too thin as this can cause the hammer to break and possibly spend sharpnel into the face and eyes of the shooter. Use of dishsoap and water will help to keep the heat of grinding down to a minimum.

I have done this conversion on a CVA Bobcat, T/C Hawkens and my GPR.

Like I said, it entails a little effort to get it right.
:results:

Thank you Bob... you answered my question about it.

TotW sells them , I have one on my Plains Pistol. No problems at all, works great.

I would recommend RWS caps. They seem to be a little hotter. The other choice is to use the Magnum caps which have a bit more priming compound. You really shouldn't need to use a musket cap. If you need that hot a cap, I would be concerned about what is blocking the flash channel or is there a fouling bridge that is keeping powder away from the base of the breech.

I don't need it, I may go back to a #11 cap since I use it for pure target shooting.

Thinking of getting a .50 Plains pistol which will get the musket cap nipple.

Want to be sure your hammer cup sits centered over the entire circumference of the nipple to start with?

I was new to muzzleloading at the time and bought a brand new GPR as my second muzzleloader.

Was having failure to fires one cap after another. For the likes of me I couldn’t figure out why? Was using Remington caps. My Cabela’s Hawken was firing great using those very same caps??

Another experienced shooter examined my GPR and noticed that the hammer cup was not centered squarely over the nipple. Only the front edge of the cup was hitting the cap?

Anyway, I ended up boxing up the GPR and sending it back. After about three weeks I received the same GPR but with a different barrel. Hammer cup and nipple were aligned properly.

Never had a problem since! Doesn’t matter what nipple or cap I use with this rifle. Fires 100% of the time!

That was my experience.

Respectfully, Cowboy

Cowboy said:

Want to be sure your hammer cup sits centered over the entire circumference of the nipple to start with?

I was new to muzzleloading at the time and bought a brand new GPR as my second muzzleloader.

Was having failure to fires one cap after another. For the likes of me I couldn’t figure out why? Was using Remington caps. My Cabela’s Hawken was firing great using those very same caps??

Another experienced shooter examined my GPR and noticed that the hammer cup was not centered squarely over the nipple. Only the front edge of the cup was hitting the cap?

Anyway, I ended up boxing up the GPR and sending it back. After about three weeks I received the same GPR but with a different barrel. Hammer cup and nipple were aligned properly.

Never had a problem since! Doesn’t matter what nipple or cap I use with this rifle. Fires 100% of the time!

That was my experience.

Respectfully, Cowboy

Click to expand...

Changed both my GPR and Plains Pistol to them. Really helps putting them on with these old arthritic fingers, especially in the cold !! About the only benefit of using them. Wal-Mart had them on sale for $2.00 a hundred, should have enough for what`s left of my Lifetime !!

I put a musket nipple on my 1997 Investarms Hawken. I bought RWS 4-flange musket caps at Sportsmans Warehouse. These caps are easier to pick up and handle compared to #11 caps.
https://www.sportsmans.com/shooting...ers/rws-4-flange-200-ct-musket-caps/p/1445452

In my opinion, replacing a #11 nipple with a musket cap nipple is like replacing a 16 oz claw hammer with a 4 pound sledge hammer to drive finishing nails. It can be made to work, but can be unnecessary.

About percussion GPR's, over time they changed the nipple length. Tried a magspark on my fast twist forty bore GPR and the hammer would not strike the magspark correctly due to my particular rifle being set up for a different nipple length from what the magspark was designed for. To make the magspark work I would have had to alter my hammer.