Accidental Discharges removing a cap

[mykeal]

But then I've never been struck by lightning, kissed a pig or been to Paris in the Springtime, either.

quote]
Sounds to me you gotta a whole lotta living to do then! :rotf:

Just hope you don't get to do all three at once!

Back on topic: I've used a pocket knife to remove caps a number of times with no mishaps.

 

[uncrichie]

Me, nope.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

I never had to remove a good cap from a nipple! Just a fired one! Same for revolver nipples. I guess shooters remove spent caps and hunters remove unfired caps, ahy?

Dave

 

[Vbull]

No, it has never happened to me. But I did witness it happining to another shooter. He was shooting an imported Kentucky type rifle that failed to fire the cap. It was driven down on the nipple and he was trying to remove it with a Buck knife. He had the muzzle pointed upwards at an angle resting it on the porch railing. (we were shooting off the back porch) When it went off he got a nasty burn on his belly from the gases coming out of the nipple. The bullet went over the horizon. As far as I know, he did not shoot that rifle again. Frank M.

 

[GreyWhiskers]

I've never seen or experienced an AD while removing a live cap. I usually use my pocket knife for that chore iffin they don't come off by hand. Got to admit tho that I'm always a bit uneasy while doing it. :hmm: Same thing when pushing a cap onto the nipple with a cap box. GW

 

[walruskid1]

been using my knife for 30+ years - no problem popping off a cap, lucky i guess. :grin:

 

[gmww]

I haven't had it happen. Be interesting to test what it would take to set one off. :hmm:

 

[rebel727]

I've used extreme force with a hardwood dowel trying to set one off on a revolver nipple. I also hit it with pretty good licks several times, not that you can get a real good lick on it on a revolver. Nothing set it off till I tripped the trigger.

 

[Juggernaut]

I've never seen or experienced an AD while removing a live cap. I usually use my pocket knife for that chore iffin they don't come off by hand. Got to admit tho that I'm always a bit uneasy while doing it. :hmm: Same thing when pushing a cap onto the nipple with a cap box. GW

Grey Whiskers,
I have that same feeling when I prime a nipple with a cap.
Juggernaut

 

[CZMark]

I never had one go off, but every time I have one that is badly stuck, I wonder if it might.

 

[Runner]

I pinch the caps so they fit real tight. I start them on the nipple and then I lower the hammer and use the hammer to seat them fully onto the nipple. I have used a knife a hundred times to remove a cap with no problems. A friend was loading a 36 revolver at his kitchen table. He had the gun in his lap putting the caps on. A cap went off and he has a 36 ball in his thigh near the bone still today.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Yeah, right. He had a cap go off-- when he pulled the trigger -- and that put a ball in his leg. Q. Why was he loading a Cap and Ball revolver in his Kitchen?

Sorry, I don't believe the cap just went off. This is the kind of omission that is common with guys who shoot themselves, and don't want to admit it was their own stupidity that caused the accident.

LIke the lawyer who asked me if his client had much of a case suing a manufacturer or a 4 barrel derringer, because his client claimed that all 4 barrels fired at once putting 4 .22 cal. bullets through the palm of his left hand. Or the kid across the street from my mother's home who put a .38 caliber bullet through his thigh, then in and out his calf, before it struck the floor in his kitchen and ricochetted to hit his infant son, graising the child. The gun was a double action Smith and Wesson, that " just went off ". When I told my mother about the internal safety features of Double Action Revolvers, and explained that the only way that gun could fire a shot, would be with the trigger pulled back and held back, she realized that she had not been told the full story. Neither had his mother. Surprise. Same Question: Why was he loading a gun in his kitchen? Oh, mom was told " He was cleaning his revolver when it went off, at first! I have a standing bet to pay anyone $5.00 if they can show me how you " Clean " a loaded revolver. ( referring, of course, to cleaning the barrel and chambers.) In 25 years of teaching Hunter Safety Courses, and offering that money, I have not paid out a dime.

 

[Runner]

His name is Goerge, Paul. The cap that went off was the one he was putting on. It was not lined up with the barrel thankfully. As for why he was loading at the table. That was pretty normal practice back then for us to come inside to reload the revolvers and BS. We stepped out into the yard to shoot them. Come to think of it, it hasn't changed much today! We tend to load and BS at a table outside these days tho. Loading three revolvers takes a while and unloading them just a few seconds. At one point I had a window that the whole thing lifted out so we could shoot from inside the house in bad weather! I kind of miss trying to learn to fan a CB revolver and hit the target at 10 meters!

 

[paulvallandigham]

We have a safety rule at my gun club, that says a gun is only capped at the firing line, and then only when the line is open and you are ready to shoot. Loading a gun in your kitchen to get out of the weather is one thing. Capping it is another. That should always be done outside, with the gun pointed down range. At revolver shoots at our club, only one chamber is capped at a time. I am not a big fan of this restriction, but it happened in response to prior bad safety practices by some shooters, and the club officers decided the club could not afford a lawsuit of some guy shot himself or someone else loading the gun any other way.

There are reasons for safety rules. Most " accidents" occur during informal shooting events, and not at ranges with range officers present enforcing safety rules.

My father, years ago, was using some Foreign-made caps he bought at Friendship, to shoot blanks in our back yard on the 4th of July, and found a cap where the explosive mixture had been dribbled down the inside of the cap. He was very careful to put that cap on the nipple, and he had us stand to one side to see if there was any extra flames coming out where that compound was on the side. Of course, there was a rather large flame, but mostly it blew the side of the cap off, and it barely missed us going by.

From that day on, we have done three things in shooting cap locks:

One: we use only American made percussion caps.

Two: we now visually inspect each cap before putting it on the nipple.( This is not as difficult a task as you might think. I use a Tedd Cash Capper, and put 100 caps in it at a time. I jiggle the capper until all 100 caps are turned facing up, and then visually inspect all of them at a glance. In fact, its much easier to spot something " Different " when you are looking at a whole group of similar objects. )

Three: We do not put caps on nipples with our fingers, anymore.

I have found several caps that had no compound in them at all, and finding them before capping my gun has saved me considerable inconvenience. Its not been restricted to one company, I might add, So I won't identify the names of the companies whose caps have been defective, here.

We did receive some foreign-made caps from a relative who wanted them destroyed properly, and among those caps, we found another cap with the compound dripped down the inside of the cap, just like the cap Dad had those many years ago.

 

[Mad Professor]

No, it has never happened to me. But I did witness it happining to another shooter. He was shooting an imported Kentucky type rifle that failed to fire the cap. It was driven down on the nipple and he was trying to remove it with a Buck knife. He had the muzzle pointed upwards at an angle resting it on the porch railing. (we were shooting off the back porch) When it went off he got a nasty burn on his belly from the gases coming out of the nipple. The bullet went over the horizon. As far as I know, he did not shoot that rifle again. Frank M.

That sounds more like a hangfire to me. Cap may have fired but charge did not ignite, until later when he was playing with the cap. Another reason to keep things pointed in a safe direction.

 

[roundball]

No, it has never happened to me. But I did witness it happining to another shooter. He was shooting an imported Kentucky type rifle that failed to fire the cap. It was driven down on the nipple and he was trying to remove it with a Buck knife. He had the muzzle pointed upwards at an angle resting it on the porch railing. (we were shooting off the back porch) When it went off he got a nasty burn on his belly from the gases coming out of the nipple. The bullet went over the horizon. As far as I know, he did not shoot that rifle again. Frank M.

That sounds more like a hangfire to me. Cap may have fired but charge did not ignite, until later when he was playing with the cap. Another reason to keep things pointed in a safe direction.

Or when pulling up with the knife, it slipped, his hand came up and rocked the hammer causing it to fall back down on the cap...

 

[Juggernaut]

No, it has never happened to me. But I did witness it happining to another shooter. He was shooting an imported Kentucky type rifle that failed to fire the cap. It was driven down on the nipple and he was trying to remove it with a Buck knife. He had the muzzle pointed upwards at an angle resting it on the porch railing. (we were shooting off the back porch) When it went off he got a nasty burn on his belly from the gases coming out of the nipple. The bullet went over the horizon. As far as I know, he did not shoot that rifle again. Frank M.

That sounds more like a hangfire to me. Cap may have fired but charge did not ignite, until later when he was playing with the cap. Another reason to keep things pointed in a safe direction.

Or when pulling up with the knife, it slipped, his hand came up and rocked the hammer causing it to fall back down on the cap...

Every and anything can happen at any given time, that is why you should always use safe gun handling techniques

Juggernaut

 

[mingo]

Nevah hoppened to me, but I always have worried about it. Same-same applying them.

I am always pretty careful when doing either.

 

[JCW]

No, never had that problem. Have never heard of it happening either.

 

[Roy]

But then I've never been struck by lightning, kissed a pig or been to Paris in the Springtime, either.

Sounds to me you gotta a whole lotta living to do then! :rotf:

I have... not so much in that order though.

For the cap thing nope, but maybe you should consider using a piece of brass instead of steel. Sort of an extra safety measure... :thumbsup: