?? From a guy with too much time on his hands!

[4570tc]

How did gunmakers drill that Little Tiny hole thru a nipple?? That is a rough for a modern machinist! And

EDM were not around yet!

 

[Johnny Tremain]

Air pressure release.
When the hammer comes down, with some caps the air pressure may snuff out the flame from the cap.

 

[4570tc]

Air pressure release.
When the hammer comes down, with some caps the air pressure may snuff out the flame from the cap.

And that is the answer to how they drill the hole thru a nipple back in the day??

 

[Sorry Dude]

Sometimes I ask my wife if there is any pork left? She will say "We are having chicken for dinner". She just answered a different question.

 

[Sam squanch]

Some original nipples I’ve seen had a larger flash hole than we use now, most musket nipples had a huge cone in the barrel side, they counted on a heavy mainspring to not only hit the cap but “seal “ around it to minimize gas leaks. They wanted the powder charge up into the nipple and cap, they needed the gun to go off, if we have a misfire, oh well. If the old guys had one they either lost a meal or died.

 

[nchawkeye]

By the time percussion guns came around locks, nipples, powder and percussion caps were readily available in hardware stores.

 

[Sam squanch]

If an old time smith saw the flash hole on a nipple we use today, he would laugh and drill it larger. I think smaller flash holes were just used on target rifles.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
I don't think drilling the hole down through the nipple was much of a problem in the early 19th century. I suspect they drilled bar stock through as deep as they could and cut several nipples from it. They may have turned the cones using simple lathes and then filed a square block at the base. By then they had better drills as well as some machinery and the hole did not have to be that precise as long as it connected the nipple anvil with the flash chamber. Gun makers had been drilling tiny precise holes for over a century before percussion. Just look at the touch holes on flintlock turn off pistols, which are fairly long and have to hit a small powder chamber accurately. Same thing for a real Nock breech. The technological challenge for nipples was making them of the right material so the anvil did not mushroom after use and the hole was right diameter so the gun fired reliably but the back pressure on the cap was not excessive.

dave

 

[Rich44]

The question is not how did they drill that tiny hole, but how did they make that tiny drill that drilled that hole? Very carefully I guess.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
Remember, skilled craftsmen had been making clocks and watches for almost 2 centuries by 1800. They had drills, gear cutting wheels, and small lathes, and worked to very high tolerances. Drilling nipples during the 19th century probably presented no problem whatsoever.

dave

 

[russellshaffer]

A spade bit is pretty easy to make. They don't drill nearly as fast as a twist drill but they work fine.

 

[ronaldrothb49]

It isn't that hard to make a nipple. I needed longer nipples for my under hammer and mule ear guns. I used a small cheap drill press, a couple of drill bits, a couple of files, a die and some sandpaper. You don't need a machine shop to make anything on a muzzleloader.

 

[45man]

Long ago some drill company said they made the smallest drill bit ever. It was sent all over and came back from Germany with a hole drilled through it.