#11 caps

[James Rorar]

I was down at my hunting property last week and stopped by to see how my neighbor did during deer season. We said he had a huge buck in his sites during ml season pulled the trigger an his cap was frozen and failed to go off. I dont remeber it being very cold this year during ml and have never heard of caps freezing. Does cold have an effect on #11 cap? He said he has had this problem before with #11 caps.
James

 

[Rebel]

I have hunted in some mighty cold wether in eastern Oregon and never had any problem with the CCI #11 Magnum caps i used. During the duck and goose season we had rain, snow, sleet, hail and cold and they always went off fine.

 

[bucktales]

I haven't heard of that one.
In 2005, I shot a doe and it was -10 F.I was using cci #11's . No problem with ignition but the lube on my conicals was frozen.

 

[jdstrang]

Buck pucky! :bull:

His cap may well have failed to detonate, but I'd bet lots of lead that cold weather (and we had only one week of single-digit temps in the whole Buckeye State) wasn't the cause. Too many deer died of blackpowder poisoning this season for that excuse to wash...

 

[marwat06]

Maybe he got the cap wet and it froze? I shot in cold weather without problems.

 

[Chiefs50]

I hunted the Muzzle loader season in the U.P. of Michigan this past December. It was very cold and I froze my butt but the weather had no effect on the CCI #11's I was using. I have had failures to fire with the CCI caps but a second hammer strike would cause them to fire. It seems they don't always want to fully seat on the nipple of my Lyman Trade Rifle.

 

[Mad Professor]

If everything is still dry it goes BOOM!!! :grin:

 

[jtmattison]

I've spent many a day at the range and in the woods in temps close to zero and never had a cap fail to go off.

HD

 

[playfarmers]

I have hunted in -20 temp before , and the CCI caps have always gone off.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I've been out in near 0 temps here, no problem with caps. it's the wet stuff (freezing rain-sleet) that is bad on 'em.

 

[Snakebite]

Man, my hat goes off to ya'll hunting in weather like that. Here in Texas I've hunted in extremes from the 80s to around freezing.
One possible reason was he didn't have the cap seated all the way on the nipple. I've seen caps not go off because of that.

Oh by the way, it's kind of cool today in Central Texas, around 70F. :grin:

Chris

 

[john12865]

Man, my hat goes off to ya'll hunting in weather like that. Here in Texas I've hunted in extremes from the 80s to around freezing.
One possible reason was he didn't have the cap seated all the way on the nipple. I've seen caps not go off because of that.

Oh by the way, it's kind of cool today in Central Texas, around 70F. :grin:

Chris

Thanks for the weather report. + 4 for here. Hope no sidewinders bite ya in the ass. Then again, you might be asking for it.

 

[walruskid1]

i may be too cold to pull the trigger but i know the cap will go off if i do. cap frozen - :bull:

 

[Jac Spring]

Can't speak for rifles yet but I've been shooting CCI magnum 11's on my two cap n ball 1860's and as long as I seat em down all the way, they go pop every time.

Haven't been out shooting in the rain or anything though...

I have to say, if I was planning on hunting in inclement weather much, I'd probably get one of those magnum gizmos that allows the use of 205 primers on your caplock. Just for huntin.

 

[Zonie]

I believe the detonating material in the modern percussion caps is the same stuff that's used in centerfire rifles. I don't think real cold weather affects it much.

It's possible that he oiled his lock with a heavy oil or grease. That could slow down the hammer fall to the point that the cap might not fire?

zonie

 

[Blizzard of '93]

we don't get a lot of that here in the mountains of South-western NC but when we do there is generally a stiff wind to go with it- and wind-chill goes below 0f. with 6500 ft elevations around here that can easily get to Artic conditions. I don't get out in that stuff much - stay home and do some shooting related hobby work.

 

[Deadeye]

Many nipples are a little on the fat side and the cap doesn't seat far down enough. If anyone has a problem with caps not firing it's almost always the size of the nipple. Turn the nipple down a few thousandth then they fire every time ,hot or cold.
Deadeye

 

[bpbrs]

already answered

 

[Slake]

I've had almost no problems with #11's. I did have a bunch of them that didn't want to fire, they had been given to me I didn't know their history I had several not fire and noticed the insides coming off into the nipple...I threw the whole can out and have had no problems since..I have a braggert friend who changed his T/C to musket caps and he seems to have loads of problems so I have stayed with 11's. I've been in some frosty cold Adirondack weather with no misfires {knock on wood}

 

[Rat Trapper]

Inlines and modern rifles will freeze up if they have too much oil or grease on them. With a side lock this is my guess as to the problem: Too much oil left in the barrel, and he failed to pop enough caps to burn it out. Cap not seated down on nipple. Or caps were left out in the capper from last season and went bad. If you run a patch down the barrel before you load it couple times. Then run a dry patch down the barrel and leave it in the barrel while you pop some caps. When patch is removed it should be black and burned from the fire of the cap. If it is not, your rifle will not fire and you need to do some more cleaning. Hope this helps.