Accidental Discharges removing a cap

[Stumpkiller]

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've been saving myself for the right girl. :wink:


And bravo to Paul V. and Mad Professor for reminding us that safe gun handling prevents tragic events. :applause:

 

Yep! And be sure ya look both ways before ya cross the street and don't drink and drive on yer way to the range to pull the caps off of yer rifle, neither. Always play safe. Be especially careful in cow pastures where ya step when out huntin'. :wink:

Here is a simple solution to the problem. Chuck the nipple in a drill press and turn it on. While the drill press is spinning the nipple, use a diamond hone on the outside of the tube to polish it down ever so slightly. Check with a cap for ease of removal every little bit to see how you are progressing. Don't hone it down too far or the cap will fall off. You want it snug but not so tight that it won't seat with gentle pressure.

P.S. Be sure to turn off the drill press before you try to put the cap on the nipple and/or take it off of the nipple. :haha:

 

[Vbull]

Roundball,
Nope, the hammer definatly did not come down on the nipple a second time. I do remember looking at him scraping the cap off and seeing the gas "whoosh" out the nipple with the hammer cocked. It is possible it was a hang fire but there was a considerable amount of time from the last drop of the hammer and when he fished out a knife to work on it.
This was quite some time ago as he had just come home from a "tour" in SE Asia.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I suspect that gun had a similar problem to one I saw years ago. The hammer was so misaligned with the nipple, that the skirt actually rubbed against the nipple on the downstroke, preventing a sufficient blow, most of the time, from firing the cap. All you would need was a cap like the one my father found, where some of the compound was spilled down the inside edge of the cap, and you would creat a match-striking situation, where remove the cap, with any kind of friction could set off the cap mixture, now transferred to the side of the nipple. In our case, the cap blew outward, from Dad's revolver, and barely missed us when he fired the defective cap. In your friend's case, the compound got on the nipple, and lifting the defective cap off with a knife scraped the compound and ignited it.

As I said above, I now inspect all the caps at one time when they are loaded in the capper. I remove any that don't look right,( like the rest of the caps) and throw them away. Its just not worth it fiddling with them. I only find one or two defective caps per thousand, but its stil worth while taking a look just for the peace of mind.

 

[Vbull]

Having a bit of compound along the side of the nipple is probably the most plausable explaination for the discharge. We'll never really know. It just reinforces safe handling practices. Frank M.

 

[xxgrampa]

greetings frank,

good to see you posting..

..ttfn..grampa..

 

[lonewolf5347]

I never had any problems using a edge of a knife to remove percussion caps but I do always point the barrel in a safe direction.
I found RWS 1075+ plus caps when they are on the nipple a knife is the only way to lift them off.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Those RWS caps are designed to use on the smaller nipples you find on the replica cap and ball revolvers. They are a tight fit on a Rifle nipple make to American specs. Use instead an American made #11 cap.

 

[rdoggsilva]

I have also been at it for 30+ years and never had it happen. I used to use a knife but went to using small needlenose.

 

I have always preferred and used the RWS caps over any other brand for consistancy of ignition in my Hawkens. I also prefer the Uncle Mike's nipples. The RWS caps are tight so I turn the nipples in a drill press and polish slightly with a diamond hone. This combination works for me and others that I have tutored.

 

[Bill Hall]

Been doing it for over thirty years myself and never had it happen, but it is always in the back of my mind.

 

[CZMark]

I also have always used RWS caps and Uncle Mike's nipples. The slight hassle of having to pry the cap off at the end of a hunt is outweighed by the piece of mind, knowing that when I drop the hammer on a deer, I'll hear a ka-boom rather than the hollow click of a hammer hitting an empty nipple because my cap fell off.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I get the same confidence just by squeezing the sides of my caps before putting them on the nipple. I have used both Remington, and CCI #11 caps, and don't have any confidence problems using either. I have actually had more problems with my flash channel being clogged than with caps failing to ignite. I now routinely run a wire down the nipple and through the channel to clear it before going back to the firing line to shoot.