Home Made Percussion Caps Review

johnetattoo · Nov 19, 2022

Accidentally found some great cap making material while trying to stay awake at work. Ghost energy drink. Unpainted aluminum cans with a removable plastic wrapper.

Ps: that Swedish fish one changed my life

rhart · Jan 24, 2023

tgfrench said:
HAHA Do you also like to live dangerously as the utuber with a lighter in his cap making assortment.

I wonder how the DUCO glue would work for making paper cartridges. I've noticed that the larger pieces of unburnt paper appear to be from where two pieces pf paper were glued together (like the bottom cup to the cartridge shell).

rhart · Jan 24, 2023

I watched an interesting youtube video that showed a guy dissolving the aluminum pop/soda/sodapop can (bottom third of it) and there was a clear plastic liner that still held the liquid in. Wondering what effect that might have on the priming compound coming loose and crumbling out - assuming the inner can formed the inner part of the homemade cap. Then there is the paint on the outer can. I like the idea of using .005" or .006" sheet copper for the caps.

johnetattoo · Jan 24, 2023

rhart said:
I wonder how the DUCO glue would work for making paper cartridges. I've noticed that the larger pieces of unburnt paper appear to be from where two pieces pf paper were glued together (like the bottom cup to the cartridge shell).

Works great. I've used it for that as well.

rhart · Jan 24, 2023

johnetattoo said:
Works great. I've used it for that as well.

I'll have to give it a try. Are there any special procedures to make it as convenient as the normal glue sticks?

johnetattoo · Jan 24, 2023

It dries pretty quickly so working fast is a must. I only made about ten cartridges with it. I did dilute it with acetone, apply with a dropper and go quickly. Glue sticks are easier. Really just eyeballed the dilution and can't say how much of each I used.

tgfrench · Jan 24, 2023

rhart said:
I watched an interesting youtube video that showed a guy dissolving the aluminum pop/soda/sodapop can (bottom third of it) and there was a clear plastic liner that still held the liquid in. Wondering what effect that might have on the priming compound coming loose and crumbling out - assuming the inner can formed the inner part of the homemade cap. Then there is the paint on the outer can. I like the idea of using .005" or .006" sheet copper for the caps.

You use the painted side for the inside of the caps

Crawfish · Mar 6, 2023

Would diluting the Duco with Acetone make a difference? I make flying model airplanes, and Duco is often diluted up to 50%. Soaks into the balsa wood better. That might cut out a step in the process, as the acetone would already be in there.

n.h.schmidt · Mar 7, 2023

The Duco Cement is too thick to work with.You would use up a tube in 50 caps. With it thinned out( I use three drops in a tablespoon of acetone) I can bind a hundred . Still have the rest of the tube for many hundreds more. As with any binder if its too strong it will slow or stop the action of the prime.

user 34300 · Mar 8, 2023

Is anyone marketing a Musket cap size swage.

#11 are fiddley to use and certainly to make. Musket cap size would address both problems. Musket cap nipples are easy to find. Musket caps are more reliable too.

oldsmokey · Mar 16, 2023

Relax and enjoy the fun of muzzleloading. Over 40 yrs and I'm still a big kid when it comes to planning a shoot and I really enjoying getting ready for it each time.

Flintlock Whiskey · Apr 13, 2023

Walkabout said:
Hmm, I was only able to produce 10 #11 caps with one mixture. Maybe I used too much mixture per cap, but I was spilling quite a bit. Need to find a tiny funnel. Thanks

Maybe a tiny scoop like coke-heads used back in the 1980s.

1stnamebassist · Apr 21, 2023

I’m new to the forum as of today, but I have experimented with the cap maker and primall as well as legends of the west paper caps. I’ve used aluminum cans and .005 brass to make caps. I mix up my primal on a piece of paper then put it in a plastic medicine bottle. I use the small primall scoop and put it in the caps using a paper funnel. I have a small glass medicine bottle I fill with acetone and 3 or 4 drops of duco cement and shake it up. I put a drop into each cap. After I take a paper cap I punched out with a star shaped paper punch and push that in with a small drill on top of the mix. The 5 legs of the star shaped cap help hold the mix in place as well. You can use a round punch as well it will work fine also. I try to get the cap in while the mix is still wet also. It will help anchor the cap better. I put the cap in red side facing out. I have also used nitrated coffee filters punched out instead of caps. They work really well also. The problem with caps is you may get some paper debris in the nipple but it hasn’t created a problem for me yet. I’ve had great results without the caps or nitrated paper, just using the duco/ acetone mix also. I am going to try some ideas I learned from some of you also!? I like the idea of using a drill press or arbor press to apply even pressure to the punch. I’ve always used a hammer before, but I would get a lot of messed up caps. Applying slow even pressure sounds like it could be just the ticket to consistency and less wear and tear on the dies as well!

n.h.schmidt · Apr 22, 2023

A drill press ,arbor press and reloading press can be used for better production and better quality cups. A fairly stout drill press is the easy way to begin. The pop can is folded over the long way.I can get 51 double wall cups out of a can. As you can see the maker is mounted upside down.The cups fall through the punch and through a hole in the board and into a plastic jar. Production is as high as 600 per hour and I am the slowest. The die set is now on a reloading press with leverage mods.Speeds are still the same. The real problem with the die set is the too loose fit of the punch into the die body. Something can be done about that too.

1stnamebassist · Apr 22, 2023

What a great solution! Only drill press I have right now is a small bench top press. Not a lot of leverage but I could add a longer piece of tubing to one of the handles I suppose.

n.h.schmidt · Apr 22, 2023

Only you can judge if yours is robust enough. On a bigger drill press like mine it's easy The platform needs to be strong too. If you are only using a single layer pop can,You would likely be ok. Double layer or .005 brass really ups the effort.

AlexB · May 17, 2023

Ordered a #11 die and prime all from 22lrsharpshooters on the second and still waiting.
Ordered a #10 die and prime all from 5ddefense this sunday and it arrived today.
Mixed acetone and duco at 10:1 made up a couple dozen to try out tomorrow.
Hopefully avoid anymore crazy road trips for caps in the future.

buckleymarka56 · Jun 4, 2023

MaterielGeneral said:
As some of you may remember I spoke about the percussion cap makers by Sharpshooter 22LR Reloader Store

I will recap my previous post on my experience with the #11 percussion cap die and end the post with my experience with the #10.

“The die performed great. The percussion caps are ugly. If you are a perfectionist and everything has to look pretty then this is probably not for you.

I made 20 #11 caps. The following day I mixed one batch of primer mixture and just had enough for the 20 caps. I used 3 drops of acetone to set it and gave it over 24 hours to cure. Probably more like 30 hours but 24 was required.

Today I tried them out with live loads in my Traditions .50 Trapper. My observations were as follows. They fired great. They did dirty up the outside of the gun, more so than the commercial caps. The area around the nipple was the dirtiest and had a rust appearance. I had one cap go off but did not have enough power to ignite the Pyrodex. I replaced the cap and had ignition. I noticed a couple caps lost the powder adhesion in the cap.

So in conclusion I am very happy with the cap makers and primer mixture. The couple deficiencies that were there I would say they were from human error. Am I going to stop buying the commercial caps? No, I will use them for hunting where human error sucks. I am primarily going to use the homemade caps for shooting in the back yard.

Keep in mind the #10 and #11 cap makers is $50.00 each and the priming mixture is $20.00 and you are supposed to get 2000 caps out of it.”

Now here is my experience with the #10 percussion cap maker. I made up about 20 caps to use with my Pietta 1858 revolver. The caps loaded onto the nipples just fine and stayed put. While firing the caps they would expand outwards kind of making themselves flat which would make you tilt the gun back so they could fall out or hand removing them so that the revolver would not jam. I had to use a tooth pick on a couple caps. I had several hangfires but I am wondering if they were human error. I may have went light on the primer chemicals on some of the caps.

My opinion on the #10 is that it did what it was supposed to minus the human error. I would not use the #10 or #11 percussion cap maker for any revolver type guns as they will jam. Pistols like my Trapper or other mini muzzle loaders will be fine. Regular muzzle loaders will be fine.

Like I said previously, “The percussion caps are ugly. If you are a perfectionist and everything has to look pretty then this is probably not for you.” You have to have patience when making them. Those of us that cast lead balls know it is a relaxation session. You cannot rush it. Hell, the whole black powder sport is a relaxation session.

Where this shines is it is inexpensive to make your own percussion caps. If you know you want to shoot a certain amount this coming weekend you can spend an evening cutting the caps and the next night putting the priming compound in the caps. Then you can go play. You have to preplan for it.

Like I said before, I would use factory caps for hunting. I do not want an error when a deer is in the crosshair. Any questions or comments?

Great article.
I agree completely.
I would cut up soda cans and cut them into strips. And away I went. Lol
The powder mix was great and worked fine. Minus the human error.
Where I had issues was finding something small to put the power in.
My hands aren't as steady as they use to be.
Yes a few misfires. Some I think had a little to much.
But all in all, for wasting lead and shooting , when the commercial ones are hard to find.

It's well worth the money.just be patient.
Mark

ohio64thffmedic · Aug 2, 2023

MaterielGeneral said:
As some of you may remember I spoke about the percussion cap makers by Sharpshooter 22LR Reloader Store

I will recap my previous post on my experience with the #11 percussion cap die and end the post with my experience with the #10.

“The die performed great. The percussion caps are ugly. If you are a perfectionist and everything has to look pretty then this is probably not for you.

I made 20 #11 caps. The following day I mixed one batch of primer mixture and just had enough for the 20 caps. I used 3 drops of acetone to set it and gave it over 24 hours to cure. Probably more like 30 hours but 24 was required.

Today I tried them out with live loads in my Traditions .50 Trapper. My observations were as follows. They fired great. They did dirty up the outside of the gun, more so than the commercial caps. The area around the nipple was the dirtiest and had a rust appearance. I had one cap go off but did not have enough power to ignite the Pyrodex. I replaced the cap and had ignition. I noticed a couple caps lost the powder adhesion in the cap.

So in conclusion I am very happy with the cap makers and primer mixture. The couple deficiencies that were there I would say they were from human error. Am I going to stop buying the commercial caps? No, I will use them for hunting where human error sucks. I am primarily going to use the homemade caps for shooting in the back yard.

Keep in mind the #10 and #11 cap makers is $50.00 each and the priming mixture is $20.00 and you are supposed to get 2000 caps out of it.”

Now here is my experience with the #10 percussion cap maker. I made up about 20 caps to use with my Pietta 1858 revolver. The caps loaded onto the nipples just fine and stayed put. While firing the caps they would expand outwards kind of making themselves flat which would make you tilt the gun back so they could fall out or hand removing them so that the revolver would not jam. I had to use a tooth pick on a couple caps. I had several hangfires but I am wondering if they were human error. I may have went light on the primer chemicals on some of the caps.

My opinion on the #10 is that it did what it was supposed to minus the human error. I would not use the #10 or #11 percussion cap maker for any revolver type guns as they will jam. Pistols like my Trapper or other mini muzzle loaders will be fine. Regular muzzle loaders will be fine.

Like I said previously, “The percussion caps are ugly. If you are a perfectionist and everything has to look pretty then this is probably not for you.” You have to have patience when making them. Those of us that cast lead balls know it is a relaxation session. You cannot rush it. Hell, the whole black powder sport is a relaxation session.

Where this shines is it is inexpensive to make your own percussion caps. If you know you want to shoot a certain amount this coming weekend you can spend an evening cutting the caps and the next night putting the priming compound in the caps. Then you can go play. You have to preplan for it.

Like I said before, I would use factory caps for hunting. I do not want an error when a deer is in the crosshair. Any questions or comments?

Now that it is almost impossible to find caps and the prices continue to rise when you do THIS IS it looks to be an even better option.

ernbar · Aug 2, 2023

ohio64thffmedic said:
Now that it is almost impossible to find caps and the prices continue to rise when you do THIS IS A even better option.

I wouldn’t say impossible. I received an order from Graff for the 4th of July sale waiving the hazmat fee. I also found them at Basspro near me last week. Some Walmarts have them for $6 a tin. You just got to search.

Home Made Percussion Caps Review

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