Home Made Percussion Caps Review

[Archer 756]

Life itself is tedious and time consuming but its worth it.

 

[MaterielGeneral]

Life itself is tedious and time consuming but its worth it.

Yes it is. But black powder shooting is fun, even with its drawbacks.

 

[ebsails]

Hmm, I was only able to produce 10 #11 caps with one mixture. Maybe I used too much mixture per cap, but I was spilling quite a bit. Need to find a tiny funnel. Thanks

Instead of a funnel, I made a scoop out of a coffee stir straw - the tiny stir sticks at the gas station - Cut a short piece, fold it over, and grip it with a pair of hemostats.

I'll post a pic later.

 

[user 48702]

Life itself is tedious and time consuming but its worth it.

Reminds me of an old song sung by Walter Brennan, he sings it like we say it down here, "Tee-Jus". I like the part about the old brown mule. Surprised he didn't throw in a verse about a broken ramrod.
"Life Gets Tee-Jus Don't It"

 

[Johnny Tremain]

I have sheet brass for making gas checks (what ever those are).
Its thicker than pop cans. I made 20 checks per 1/2 inch sheet.
The first batch of caps I got only 7 workable caps.
Have not got around to mixing the goo yet.

 

[Archer 756]

Black powder is always FUN

 

[Walkabout]

My results pretty much mirror the opening post. The caps I made worked splendidly, but the mixture fell out of a couple on my way to my shooting spot. Probably need to add more acetone or try something else to keep it in place. Thanks

 

[hapEcat]

I have one of the Sharpshooter 22LR percussion cap makers. In researching, pros & cons, and procedure, I found countless recommendations of using a drop of Duco Cement, as an extra binder, along with the acetone.

 

[MaterielGeneral]

I have one of the Sharpshooter 22LR percussion cap makers. In researching, pros & cons, and procedure, I found countless recommendations of using a drop of Duco Cement, as an extra binder, along with the acetone.

Several people have mentioned the duco cement. My question is what is duco cement? I have never heard of it before.

 

[Christophero]

I found this at my local Ace Hardware. Three Rivers Archery sells it online, also. Good to know I can fletch my feathers with this as well.

 

[docmel]

Sorry, but you are making this WAY harder than needed. You dont need powders or a mixing kit to make caps.

Make the cap with the die (Takes about 5 seconds).

Use toy cap gun ribbons instead of a powder mix cap kit, about 12 bucks for a 1000 cap roll. You use one per cap. I have had a ONE HUNDRED% success rate in my Pietta .44. Not one failure with about 50 rds fired

I agree, the caps don't look perfect, but they work, period, and very cheap and easy to make:

If you dont believe me, take a cruise on YOU TUBE on the subject

 

[hapEcat]

Several people have mentioned the duco cement. My question is what is duco cement? I have never heard of it before.

Duco Cement, by DuPont, was a model airplane glue. I used back in the 60's, not just modeling, but for lots of other things too.

 

[Archer 756]

It also was an arts and craft glue

 

[Johnny Tremain]

Have not thought about The sons of Will Sonnet in many decades, thanks
Thats one heck of a rock in that thar flinter

 

[Walkabout]

On Saturday last week was the local wine and beer festival. I strolled through and saw a vender who was pouring custom brew out of cans into cups for the crowd. I was an acquaintance of the fellows and asked if they would set about a dozen cans back for a project I am working on. After a stroll down to the local ice cream parlor (my drug of choice) and back the cans were bagged and waiting for my retrieval. Washing and cutting out the sheets took place that night in short order.

I sat at the table a couple evenings ago and punched out 350 two layer caps. Those added with the 150 2 ply caps from last week gives me 500 to prime at my leisure when needed. With the videos in the background on the computer screen it was a better use of my time than watching the tv. I am a bullet/boolit caster out of the desire to shoot. Plus, I look forward to loading just what I want to play with. This was more enjoyable than throwing slugs, and I've done that for 35 years when the stock is low. Is this a hobby that I dream to engaging in all the time? Absolutely not, but on varied occasions I'll take some time to keep the rifles shooting. It will take years to pop all 500 caps at the rate I shoot my mlzders, but I have them when I need them.

MaterielGeneral, Duco glue is your friend to assist keeping the primer in the caps. Double layering the aluminum sheet is another benefit, as well. Thanks for your write up.

Are there alternatives to Duco? I can't find any in my area. Thanks

 

[Grimord]

Are there alternatives to Duco? I can't find any in my area. Thanks

I use hair spray (Aquanet)

 

[Christophero]

Are there alternatives to Duco? I can't find any in my area. Thanks

3RiversArchery sells it online for about the same price as my local Ace Hardware does. I've bought the unscented hairspray but with Duco mixed in the acetone I feel it will bind it better throughout than the topical application of the spray only on top. Its what I've settled on. As they say; YMMV.

 

[colimr]

Have not thought about The sons of Will Sonnet in many decades, thanks
Thats one heck of a rock in that thar flinter

It's " The guns of Will Sonnet " A great series

 

[user 48702]

Have not thought about The sons of Will Sonnet in many decades, thanks
Thats one heck of a rock in that thar flinter

That photo of Walter Brennan is actually from a scene in "The Real McCoys" (1957) "Grandpa Sells His Gun" They refer to the rifle as a "Baker Flintlock". It is a great show and you can still find it on youtube and several streaming services. The McCoys moved from West Virginia to a farm they inherited in the San Fernando Valley of California, and have a hard time adjusting.

 

[gunnyr]

That photo of Walter Brennan is actually from a scene in "The Real McCoys" (1957) "Grandpa Sells His Gun" They refer to the rifle as a "Baker Flintlock". It is a great show and you can still find it on youtube and several streaming services. The McCoys moved from West Virginia to a farm they inherited in the San Fernando Valley of California, and have a hard time adjusting.

Thank you, I all but forgot about the McCoys, Got to find more episodes somewhere
gunny