Firing a Cap Before Loading

[jd45]

One cap? I pop about 5 and dry patch the bore, then load it. Then a lightly natural lubed patch on top of the bullet. Never had a misfire in 25yrs. And it stays loaded for a year sometimes.

 

[Art Caputo]

I have never found Flintlocks confronting in any way. They do seem particularly amenable after a tickle with a pipe cleaner.

Personally I always pop a cap.

+1

 

[Justin.44]

You "swap out the bore?" Well I guess changing barrels would eliminate any oil, assuming the new barrel is clean.

Back when I muzzleloader hunted (at least 13 years ago) I'd charge the barrel at home, put the weapon into its case, and put that into the trunk of the car. I did this the night before. I only capped when I reached my still hunting location.

Swab!

 

[Rob Dinwiddie]

The current cap shortage makes me less prone to pop a cap. It Also makes me appreciate the flinters I own. I can shoot flinters for the remainder of my life. But when the caps run out I'm going to be back in ersatz territory like the early 1960s. Pure alcohol swab to dry out any remaining oil. Also seems to improve accuracy since often hunting I only get one shot. Ball and patch seem to grip barrel better on loading. I can feel it as I press the ball home.

 

[watopeka]

Totally agree with carbon6, if you clean it really good you don’t need to shoot a cap, used to do that to until i did plug it and i had to change the nipple, now I’ve learn to clean it good and a com pressure is the best nipple cleaner

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I was taught to snap a percussion cap before loading for the first time to clear any moisture out of the barrel. I was thinking about this today in terms of hunting (it’s my first year hunting with a ML). I park at the landowners house, and I really don’t want to fire a cap in his driveway or in the field before I load for the morning hunt. I also don’t want to take a chance with a misfire due to wet powder. What is the general consensus on this practice?

It depends in part, I think on how the breech is set up, and how you store the rifle, plus what you use as a rust preventative. It's not to clear moisture from the "barrel" but from the pathway from the nipple to the main charge, and that can also mean oil. Some of the guys have come up with a compressed air and alcohol method that works for them. When I started using caplocks there wasn't any canned air for cleaning personal computers ('cause there weren't no PC's) and I didn't have an air compressor at home either.

So I've always popped a cap, and the only time when I've had problems are the times when I didn't. I also don't leave the rifle or shotgun loaded when I leave the field, as until very recently the law didn't specify that an uncapped or unprimed rifle or gun was legally "unloaded" in my state.

Put in your ear plugs and pop a cap inside your car with your muzzle pointing into an empty tin can on the floor, after you make sure the firearms is indeed empty (keeps any chance of sparks from messing up the carpet and prevents you from blowing a hole in the bottom of the car)

LD

 

[Idaho Ron]

I store my guns muzzle down. When I go to load I put a jag on the rod and run a patch to the bottom of the barrel. Then I pop at least 2 to 3 caps. I take out the patch on the jag and look it over.



If it is not burnt I don't load. In most cases the patch is burnt and I resume loading. I dump the powder in and lean it to the snail side and tap it multiple times to settle the powder into the snail.
These steps have proven them selves over the years.

 

[mooman76]

I use to and it worked for me out west where humidity is low. I've tried it lately and it hasn't been working for me so I will have to reevaluate how I do my first shot.

 

[Sparkitoff]

One cool thing about my Side Hammer (Mule's Ear) is that once loaded in the barrel I can use a tiny pin to clear the nipple and actually feel the powder behind it. No so with a top hammer sidelock where the nipple is in a drum or snail.

 

[oldwood]

Used to shoot percussion , but w/ easy to remove drum clean-out screw. This simple 8/32 drum cleanout screw would allow a little powder to be inserted into a dirty flash channel to keep the gun shooting. Quit making percussion rifles for folks because started getting drum and nipple guns back w/loose , or over tightened drum threads. Lead bearing barrel steel is not made to have the drum removed for cleaning or other reasons that wear the threads out. Just moved on to flint rifles.........oldwood

 

[Notchy Bob]

Just one more opinion...

I learned early on to check with the rod to ensure the firearm is not loaded, then pop a cap with the muzzle pointed at a leaf or blade of grass on the ground, downrange or in a safe direction, obviously. If the leaf moves, you know all is clear and you're ready to load. This has always seemed to be standard procedure with percussion shooters in the relatively few matches I have attended, and we always did this before loading for hunting.

Notchy Bob

 

[Long monday]

I have not found the need for alcohol myself.
clean the barrel With boiling water (no nipple on) the barrel is then hot enough that after a drying swab all the moisture Evaporates then lube the barrel. The last thing I do is heat the nipple on the stove or over a flame (to remove any moisture) then let cool and reinstall.
Admittedly, I still pop a cap most times. (I have occasionally seen small game upon arriving and just gone after them without popping a cap and never had a problem.

 

[Long monday]

Oh. Thanks for the barrel down idea. Had not thought of that.

 

[Carbon 6]

M.A.P. also works very well for cleaning before you load. Since I carry M.A.P. for swabbing between shots and final cleaning, it's a no-brainer to use it before loading the first shot.

 

[reloader4410]

pop a cap with barrel close to a leaf to see if leaf moves always worked for me

 

[Billy Boy]

Like I mentioned in a previous discussion on this same topic, I push a soft flannel patch down into the ‘chamber’ area before I pop the cap. That patch catches all the manure blown loose. Without the patch, it just gets pushed back down the bore during loading.

 

[SDSmlf]

What do the cap poppers do with cap and ball revolvers? Fire off 6 or 12 caps before loading?

 

[Walkingeagle]

What do the cap poppers do with cap and ball revolvers? Fire off 6 or 12 caps before loading?

Not required. Cap n’ball revolvers are inline ignition. Oops, did I just say that?? Anyhow, easily picked clean.
Walk

 

[SDSmlf]

Not required. Cap n’ball revolvers are inline ignition. Oops, did I just say that?? Anyhow, easily picked clean.
Walk

How do you pick oil out of a nipple or chamber?

 

[Howard Pippin]

You "swap out the bore?" Well I guess changing barrels would eliminate any oil, assuming the new barrel is clean.

Back when I muzzleloader hunted (at least 13 years ago) I'd charge the barrel at home, put the weapon into its case, and put that into the trunk of the car. I did this the night before. I only capped when I reached my still hunting location.

I'm quite sure that most don't put a cap on their hunting load until they are in the field. I put a cap on, put my little leather thing on top of the cap and lower the hammer on it when I'm in the field. When I pull the hammer back the fish line attached to the leather pulls it off the nipple and I shoot. The worst miss firing I ever had was when I reloaded my percussion after missing a shot at a white tail doe. I reloaded using my friends homemade patch lube made of mutton fat, needs foot oil and what ever else and didn't see a suitable deer for three days. Then that giant Whitetail Buck stood up at 50 yards and all that shot was the cap. After trying three more caps, I gave up, and being I didn't have a nipple wrench with me, it was a long trail back to get one. Remove said nipple put in a few grains of powder, reassembled and of course it shot. Two lessons, second shot doesn't always work and beware homemade patch Lube without a separator between ball and powder.
Squint