Flash Cup?

[TLanoy]

Does a flash cup around the nipple protect the area of the nipple/bolster and lock better from fouling?

Do they fit any percussion rifle?

 

[crockett]

They are supposed to but I've had mixed results, sometimes you still get scorched wood. I put tape over the wood and then remove after shooting- but I am a neat freak. I'm getting better, things are made to be used. Sometimes I act more like a museum curator with my stuff.

 

[necchi]

They're all aftermarket items and need to be bent around a bit and sometimes filed a bit for hammer fit..
My experience with them,, is the expected results are a little over rated. The cup still gathers a bunch of junk/garbage and installing/removing for cleaning is just as much of a pita as cleaning the gun without one,

 

[hanshi]

I've found they do help some. The main advantage to using them in my experience is to protect the shooter from cap/nipple spatter. And THAT, those little cups do quite well.

 

[TLanoy]

Thanks for the responses. I will give it some more thought before going ahead. :thumbsup:

 

[CKeshen]

My William Parker .50 pistol came with one from the factory. My Le Page .44 did not (I don't think you could fit one to the gun because of the shape).

The Parker stays considerably cleaner when I shoot it. But as mentioned, you then have the chore of cleaning the inside of the cup. It does catch a lot of residue.

But the nice thing is if it gets too cruddy over time, the cup can be replaced for just a few dollars.

 

[Brokennock]

Go for it. They're cheap enough so if you don't like it, get rid of it, no big deal. Myself, I love the one on my .45 Blue Ridge. As Hanshi said, protects ya from spatter, and I'd rather clean that little brass cup with a couple q-tips than get all that same crud out of the joints and crevices where lock, barrel, and wood all meet.

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

I have one and like it. No big deal to clean around it. Saves the shooter from junk blowing into the face and eyes. :thumbsup:

 

[MacRob46]

I had one early on and found it a bit of a problem to deal with. Had to fit it to the gun then it still didn't work all that well. Now I am down to one percussion rifle - everything else is flint or modified snaphaunce - and consequently have not used it in years.

 

[Rokon]

I've found just the opposite. Unmodified flash cups tend to direct gas back into the shooter's forehead. They also don't allow the nipple to completely seat in the threads so that fouling accumulates in the lower threads of the nipple seat.

I found that filing out a semi-circle shaped notch on the outside of the cup to vent gas away from the shooter's face remedies problem #1.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I will give it some more thought before going ahead

That's the problem. :shocked2: Thninkin' about it. :wink:
Just buy one and try. You don't like it, toss in a box of ml 'stuff'. You need to accumulate a big box of unused 'stuff' before you can call yerself a real muzzle loader. :grin:

 

[Toomuch51]

As several others have mentioned, the purpose of the flash cup is not to prevent any kind of fouling but to protect the shoter's face from flying spatter.

Toomuch
.........
Shoot Flint

 

[mooman76]

I tried it and liked it at first but I found it to be a pain to clean around well and also to remove the nipple. Had a hard time getting the nipple wrench on it good. It would probably benefit longer shooting sessions where you get more buildup. I usually shoot 20-30 rounds max per gun. Like Rifleman1776 said try it and you aren't a real Muzzle loader until you get a box of stuff you don't use any more.

 

[hanshi]

Are you sure you didn't have it on backwards?

 

[Coot]

Another idea (or use it in addition to a flash cup) came (I think) from a Dixie catalog: Cut a piece of scrap leather maybe about two inches wide to almost fit around the gun at the nipple, punch a hole for the nipple (or a bit bigger hole for the cup) to stick thru & a few holes at the ends & lace it on. I used one before going over to flint & when I sold my percussion rifle, it had no trace of char or discoloration of the wood near the nipple even after many shots. I have seen more than a few old guns that had considerable char of the wood near the nipple that could have easily been avoided.

 

[Zonie]

All of the flash cups I've tried to use needed to have the edge closest to the hammer filed away or they would interfere with the hammer.

It's not a big deal to modify them but when all was said and done I decided it was another bit of froo-fraw I didn't need.

 

[TLanoy]

I am thinking of the piece of leather around the nipple idea. Just got to find a thin enough piece and give it a shot.

 

[M. De Land]

I finally gave up on them and had to do some experimenting before finally coming up with a design that redirects backflash away from my arms, this on an underhammer gun.
The flash cups just funnel it back out around the hammer nose instead of out the sides. Mike D.