Experiments in homemade percussion caps for pistols

[enfield249]

Due the recent ammo shortage, I have got back into my 1860 revolvers. I haven't really picked them up in a few years, and as I looked over all my old kit, I discovered that I only have about 100 Remington No. 10 caps. I didn't let this get me down, and after a brief google search found my way to the 22reloader sight, and the home made cap maker and Prime-All kit. After a initial run of caps out of .004 Aluminum beer can, and mixing up the compound, I headed off to the ranger. The only non-factory part on my Pietta 1860 is the nipples, which I had replaced with Treso nipples years ago, to good effect with my aforementioned cap of choice. However, nothing happened. No snap, no bang. Nothing. Discouraged, I was able to finish up the range session with a few of my precocious No. 10s. So, what went wrong?

I followed the recipe for the caps to the letter, and used acetone for the wetting agent. This did leave the priming compound powdery when dry, but not falling out of the cap. My first thought is that the caps are too long. The average of 5 caps measures an inside height of .156, while a Remington No. 10 measures .132. .020 deeper than standard! My plan to correct this is three fold:

1. Slightly more priming compound. I was going light on the 1/3rd full recommendation in the instructions. I think will error towards .3 +.1/-.0 of a scoop.
2. I have ordered some slix shot nipples, which by the reports I have read tend to run .010 long.
3. Use some kind of duco cement or possibly hair spray to fix the priming compound in the base of the cap better.

Some positive notes about the caps:
They do stay on the nipples pretty well due to being kind of "wrinkly". In fact the average ID of the home made caps was slightly smaller than the factory ones (.157 vs . 161)

Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[Winchester97]

Others will no doubt chime in, but I have been making them for a while with great success. The tips I can offer are... Use double thickness of aluminum, fill up the caps so you are getting 25 per batch of priming compound, press the compound dry, then add a drop of Duco cement/acetone mixture. I use 10 drops Duco to 5ml of acetone. I am getting near 100% fire rate on everything I have tried them on. Good Luck!

 

[enfield249]

When you say double thickness, place two sheets of .004 Al in the punch at one time?

 

[Winchester97]

Yep,just fold over the aluminum, and start punching from the loose end after trimming even with scissors. After punching a row, trim it clean and start over. However, my calipers show my cans are .0025 thick.

 

[enfield249]

I just tried that, and it does make for a very stout cap! Thanks.

 

[deerstalkert]

i just made 50 #11's and fired 25. 100% went pop. i used single thickness pop can and some copper sheet i had laying around.
the aluminum is .040 and the copper is .060. the copper is harder to work with but can be punched out and used again. i double charge them to "Magnum" for getting a stubborn charge to fire.

 

[Nameless Hunter]

i just made 50 #11's and fired 25. 100% went pop. i used single thickness pop can and some copper sheet i had laying around.
the aluminum is .040 and the copper is .060. the copper is harder to work with but can be punched out and used again. i double charge them to "Magnum" for getting a stubborn charge to fire.

I'm guessing you mean 0.004" and 0.006" thick. 0.060" is almost 1/16th of an inch...

 

[Sparkitoff]

I put what I eyeball to be at least and maybe just over 1/3 "cap" full of the compound. I fill them a little more than I think they are supposed to be. I use 1 drop of Duco in a tablespoon of acetone and mix. Add one small drop on top of the compound and let them dry 24-hours. When I first made some there were a few that ended up where you could see the compound was thin and there was some exposed aluminum in the cup. These were predictably erratic. I increased the amount of compound and make sure the cup is totally coated on the bottom. They have all worked since. I drilled a hold in a metal plate that the cap barely fits through. Push them through gently by hand and they are kind of "sized". Without doing this they tend to be a little flared at the mouth. This makes them squared off and they fit tighter on the nipples. The bit I ultimately used in not marked, so I don't know the exact size offhand.

 

[awc]

watch the cap video on you tube , type tonycalp an look, theres lots of info i put here on making an performance

 

[deerstalkert]

I'm guessing you mean 0.004" and 0.006" thick. 0.060" is almost 1/16th of an inch...

yup! never was good at arithmatic!
i took a small drill and dimpled the end of a delrin spatula i made from a cutting board. used a drill the same diameter as the inside of the cup and made the dimple just 1/3 the depth of the small dipper.
i took another piece of the cutting board and drilled 50 holes in it just the size of the cups. when pressed in the cups are kinda sized and are stable for charging. much less primer compound ends up on the bench!
i use a dropper to drop one drop of denatured alcohol, with glasses on and good light can see the compound wet, wait the prescribed 5 minutes , then tamp once with a teflon stick i made. very little sticks to the tamp if cleaned once in a while.
i tested my stash of winchester, cci, and remington against my homemade and think the homemade actually are hotter.
fun!

 

[MIOutdoorsman]

I'm a flint guy, with one flint rifle and one fling pistol.. I've toyed with the idea of a cap rifle squirrel-caliber, but the cap shortage is keeping me far away from pursuing that. I don't envision making home made caps, though it is interesting that it's possible to do for all the guys & gals out there with cap guns.

 

[ryoung14]

Due the recent ammo shortage, I have got back into my 1860 revolvers. I haven't really picked them up in a few years, and as I looked over all my old kit, I discovered that I only have about 100 Remington No. 10 caps. I didn't let this get me down, and after a brief google search found my way to the 22reloader sight, and the home made cap maker and Prime-All kit. After a initial run of caps out of .004 Aluminum beer can, and mixing up the compound, I headed off to the ranger. The only non-factory part on my Pietta 1860 is the nipples, which I had replaced with Treso nipples years ago, to good effect with my aforementioned cap of choice. However, nothing happened. No snap, no bang. Nothing. Discouraged, I was able to finish up the range session with a few of my precocious No. 10s. So, what went wrong?

I followed the recipe for the caps to the letter, and used acetone for the wetting agent. This did leave the priming compound powdery when dry, but not falling out of the cap. My first thought is that the caps are too long. The average of 5 caps measures an inside height of .156, while a Remington No. 10 measures .132. .020 deeper than standard! My plan to correct this is three fold:

1. Slightly more priming compound. I was going light on the 1/3rd full recommendation in the instructions. I think will error towards .3 +.1/-.0 of a scoop.
2. I have ordered some slix shot nipples, which by the reports I have read tend to run .010 long.
3. Use some kind of duco cement or possibly hair spray to fix the priming compound in the base of the cap better.

Some positive notes about the caps:
They do stay on the nipples pretty well due to being kind of "wrinkly". In fact the average ID of the home made caps was slightly smaller than the factory ones (.157 vs . 161)

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Some useful info on making the caps. I have the kit but haven't used it yet. Thanks to you and all posters.

A comment on the caps being "wrinkly": Wouldn't this make them more prone to chain fires? I strongly believe that most chain fires in BP revolvers originate at the nipple due to poor cap-nipple seal and that loose or poorly fitted caps are the primary cause. Seems like the 'wrinkles' would have multiple ignition paths built-in.

 

[enfield249]

Some useful info on making the caps. I have the kit but haven't used it yet. Thanks to you and all posters.

A comment on the caps being "wrinkly": Wouldn't this make them more prone to chain fires? I strongly believe that most chain fires in BP revolvers originate at the nipple due to poor cap-nipple seal and that loose or poorly fitted caps are the primary cause. Seems like the 'wrinkles' would have multiple ignition paths built-in.

I suppose that is possible. I have no experience with them one way or the other right now.

 

[deerstalkert]

Some useful info on making the caps. I have the kit but haven't used it yet. Thanks to you and all posters.

A comment on the caps being "wrinkly": Wouldn't this make them more prone to chain fires? I strongly believe that most chain fires in BP revolvers originate at the nipple due to poor cap-nipple seal and that loose or poorly fitted caps are the primary cause. Seems like the 'wrinkles' would have multiple ignition paths built-in.

personally i have been shooting bp cap and ball revolvers for 50+ years. i have in that time had a few score of friends that also shot c&b revolvers. i have never seen a chain fire. could happen but i ain't gonna lose sleep over the possibility.

 

[Brokenbear]

Some useful info on making the caps. I have the kit but haven't used it yet. Thanks to you and all posters.

A comment on the caps being "wrinkly": Wouldn't this make them more prone to chain fires? I strongly believe that most chain fires in BP revolvers originate at the nipple due to poor cap-nipple seal and that loose or poorly fitted caps are the primary cause. Seems like the 'wrinkles' would have multiple ignition paths built-in.

"Chain fire" ..On the other hand the double wall pop can cup is a tight fit ..does not fragment ..and have to be removed one at a time from the nipples to place on new caps vs factory caps that in my experience shred quite regularly spreading their great lack of robustness to their fellow loaded capped chambers every other shot
...the wrinkles in pop can cups are more prominent on the outside than the inside and the area where the nipple face meets the striking area of the cap cup is well formed and quite smooth

With that said I must underline that for me it is still a work in progress (home spun cap making) and in no way am I qualified to unequivocally state anything as being fact ..but it is an informed opinion from some pretty close magnified scrutiny that the cap is round enough, tight enough and square enough to seal the nipple

Believe me when I say I have a more than healthy respect regarding chain fire ..Even though I have a lubed felt wad between the powder n ball ..even though I have the little lead ring from ball seating ..I still slather the front of the chambers closed at every reload

Bear

 

[Tom A Hawk]

personally i have been shooting bp cap and ball revolvers for 50+ years. i have in that time had a few score of friends that also shot c&b revolvers. i have never seen a chain fire. could happen but i ain't gonna lose sleep over the possibility.

I'm with you. Somebody has a slow motion video showing the amount of fire from the cylinder gap as compared to the cap and the loose cap wins. If a ball is so tight that it shaves a ring on seating I cant see how any fire from the adjacent chamber can get past it.

 

[wb78963]

get in a dimly lighted spot and pop a cap you will be amazed at the ball of fire. just the cap makes You don't notice it in the daylight but wow!

 

[Dude]

You don't need to double the aluminum to make a double thickness cap. Punch one out, but stop half stroke. Move the sheet over for a new hole and punch that one all the way through. The two will combine and you'll have a double thickness cap.

 

[Brokenbear]

You don't need to double the aluminum to make a double thickness cap. Punch one out, but stop half stroke. Move the sheet over for a new hole and punch that one all the way through. The two will combine and you'll have a double thickness cap.

I did not know that ...probably a lot easier on the punch die to boot!

 

[Dude]

Yeah - easier on the die, and you too. I started out punching cat food can aluminum - a lot thicker stuff. Not as soft either. Those were a strain, and in fact, bent some of the teeth. Straightened and sharpened it back up so now it's fine - but I learned my lesson.