Cap jam

Why is it that Ruger can produce a cap and ball revolver that does not have cap jams but Pietta and Uberty can't?

Rugers are a modern invention, Pietta’s and Uberti’s are copy’s of revolvers made in the 19th century.

Ditto

It boils down to you get what you pay for.

bobthemotorcycle said:

Why is it that Ruger can produce a cap and ball revolver that does not have cap jams but Pietta and Uberty can't?

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One is $500.00 and one is $200.00 plus or minus a few $$$ on each.

Proper nipples, caps and know how prevents a lot of cap jams. I don't have issues with mine.

RiverRat said:

Rugers are a modern invention, Pietta’s and Uberti’s are copy’s of revolvers made in the 19th century.

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... and not entirely faithful to the original.

True, but for the money, what can you expect?

A set of SliXshot nipples will solve it. #11's fit like a glove as well.

bobthemotorcycle said:

Why is it that Ruger can produce a cap and ball revolver that does not have cap jams but Pietta and Uberty can't?

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Because, Ruger designed a revolver using modern technology, whereas the others are copying an old original style that the consumer demands be just like the 19th c. originals.

Treso nipples over everything. I have all
The nipples for several different revolvers including slixx but I always end up with the treso's in my guns, including my ruger. I don't believe I've ever had a cap jam in my remington patterns. Remington brand caps also help....they are thinner than cci and the revolvers can "chew" them up and spit them out much easier. Never shot a uberti with stock nipples, not even once. And as of yet never even shot a pietta.

Is it also because Rugers have a stronger coil spring which does not cause the hammer to bounce like a flat spring does?

There are a lot of factors. I found the RWS Caps do not exhibit the same issues as the CCI and Rems did on the 47 Walker.

I tried the Slixsprings cones on a Pietta NMA and I did not find them any better than the cones on the old 76 ASP, some and some.

As for hammer bounce, yea its a thing. My ROA Centennial hates the Mag Spark device (shotgun primer that works because shotgun primers have their own built in anvil such that a smack with the ROA flat fires them, no other devices involved). The ROA-C has the primers coming back through the slot and locks up the cylinder (big time complete disassembly and fun tring to get the hammer spring capture again to I could finagle from the side of the bulge and free up the Cylinder). The ROA-94 does not do that.

Flip is the ROA and the RWS caps stick to its cones, so a upgraded cone might address that.

Frontstuffer070 said:

Proper nipples, caps and know how prevents a lot of cap jams. I don't have issues with mine.

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Amen to that!! Slix, Track of Wolf, or Tesso nipples along with proper caps preferably Remington #10's go ALONG way in preventing cap jams. Heck even with factory nipples using Rem 10's I rarely rarely have a cap jam and don't need to take the time or expense of installing by myself or having it done all of the cap shields, rakes, and other this and that. Rem 10's has the longest skirt of any percussion cap, fit down on the 'cones' tight, no problem with them falling off when firing and they stay on better after firing than any #11's with shorter skirts. Fifty-two years of shooting percussion revolvers using about every nipple and cap size/manufacturer has shown me this.

A little tuning goes a long way. As with many firearms these days, the are really not at their peak "right out of the box"
A stronger hammer spring, rounding some sharp edges on hammer and cylinder

Here's a couple of vids, but there are loads more out there. One is from our friend Mike Belvieu (duelist1954).

Crow Choker said:

Amen to that!! Slix, Track of Wolf, or Tesso nipples along with proper caps preferably Remington #10's go ALONG way in preventing cap jams. Heck even with factory nipples using Rem 10's I rarely rarely have a cap jam and don't need to take the time or expense of installing by myself or having it done all of the cap shields, rakes, and other this and that. Rem 10's has the longest skirt of any percussion cap, fit down on the 'cones' tight, no problem with them falling off when firing and they stay on better after firing than any #11's with shorter skirts. Fifty-two years of shooting percussion revolvers using about every nipple and cap size/manufacturer has shown me this.

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The only percussion gun I have that I felt in need of an action shield is the new Uberti Walker which has a cavernous cut out in the hammer when fully cocked that allows all manor of debris to fall into the action.
I never felt the need to install a cap post in any of them once the hammer face slot is de-horned and can't see a lick of difference in slix shot nipples over properly tuned factory cones turned in a drill press and filed to fit the caps on hand.
This was especially true in the new Walker as the factory nipples worked superbly in the first outing with the gun.
I just put a set of slix shot nipples on the Walker and will test/compare them against the factory cones the next time out.

M. De Land said:

The only percussion gun I have that I felt in need of an action shield is the new Uberti Walker which has a cavernous cut out in the hammer when fully cocked that allows all manor of debris to fall into the action.
I never felt the need to install a cap post in any of them once the hammer face slot is de-horned and can't see a lick of difference in slix shot nipples over properly tuned factory cones turned in a drill press and filed to fit the caps on hand.
This was especially true in the new Walker as the factory nipples worked superbly in the first outing with the gun. I just put a set of slix shot nipple on the Walker and will test/compare them against the factory cones the next time out.

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What is the thinking in the vents that slix shot nipples have ? Are they not covered by the cap skirt any way at ignition ?

@M. De Land Slixshots its so that excess pressure vents out the sides and prevents hammer bounce/blow back and also it make the caps really split and is supposed to help them fall off to the side when cocking for the next shot. I found tresso work the best for me. They have the smallest flash hole and so prevent any blow
Back or excess pressure for Revolvers where that is an issue and they fit the caps well. Sometimes with slix I found, depending where the holes line up on each individual cylinder, sometimes they cause the cap frags that sometimes don't fall off to catch on the frame and cause jams that way

Flash hole size compared
Left to right
Treso,totw,uberti,slixshot

Blackpowderart said:

@M. De Land Slixshots its so that excess pressure vents out the sides and prevents hammer bounce/blow back and also it make the caps really split and is supposed to help them fall off to the side when cocking for the next shot. I found tresso work the best for me. They have the smallest flash hole and so prevent any blow
Back or excess pressure for Revolvers where that is an issue and they fit the caps well. Sometimes with slix I found, depending where the holes line up on each individual cylinder, sometimes they cause the cap frags that sometimes don't fall off to catch on the frame and cause jams that way

Flash hole size compared
Left to right
Treso,totw,uberti,slixshot

Click to expand...

Great photo and very informative of nipple orifice size, Thanks !