How i make my caps

[stank]

I might try your mixture

 

[Cannonman1]

Everyone here is likely already aware of my 3d printed caps but I figured I'd show how I go about making my compound for them, which is the FH42 compound. I start with potassium chlorate, sulfur and antimony trisulfide.
View attachment 301893
Then I use a scale that has very fine measurement and also measures in pretty much all different units but I use grains.View attachment 301894
I start by measuring out 47 grains of the chlorate, 30 grains of the antimony and 21 grains of the sulfur and dump them together in a little glass dish.

Now this is where I differ a bit from everybody else because this is actually quite a bit of compound but I add isopropyl alcohol to it until it is all just wetted. Now that's it all soaked it can be mixed together quite judiciously as it's inert in this wet state. This is also when I add about 6 drops of Duco cement. When I get a uniform gray slurry it's ready to transfer to the caps.View attachment 301895
I use a toothpick to grab a round glob and drop it into a cup, and repeat until I have a bunch filled.View attachment 301896
They look full when the compound is still wet but they will dry to where they can be tamped down with a tool that i made.. it's dual sided for 10's and 11's.View attachment 301897
Using this method is fast and easy and can supply yourself with all that you can shoot. They also don't require anything to retain them as the wet mix with the glue forms a solid puck inside the cap. And if anyone isn't doing this yet, you're shorting yourself on a pretty easy task, and it's fun too!

When the mixture dries inside the cap hull and you compress it down, doesn't that break it up as it is already set?? I am piacing these in a tin, loose and wondering if the mixture will withstand that without crumbling and falling out?
Do you wait until it is bone dry or damp when you compress it down and can you put less in the cap hull than totally filling it?

 

[Josh Canuck]

Quite interesting.

 

[BeardedGunsmith]

When the mixture dries inside the cap hull and you compress it down, doesn't that break it up as it is already set?? I am piacing these in a tin, loose and wondering if the mixture will withstand that without crumbling and falling out?
Do you wait until it is bone dry or damp when you compress it down and can you put less in the cap hull than totally filling it?

I should have been more thorough in my write up. I wait about an hour after I've put the compound in my caps to tamp them down. They're not fully dry but they're not soaked anymore either. They'll tamp down into a hardened puck that absolutely does not break loose once fully dried. Ive been carrying them in a tin like I would regular caps and they don't break up or show loose powder.

 

[Cannonman1]

That makes total sense.. BTW.. I went on tinkercad and made up a model for the #10 cap.. Easy to use and mastered it in a couple hours. This will be fun.. Thanks for your ideas and willingness to share them.

 

[TDM]

Well done @BeardedGunsmith.

 

[BeardedGunsmith]

That makes total sense.. BTW.. I went on tinkercad and made up a model for the #10 cap.. Easy to use and mastered it in a couple hours. This will be fun.. Thanks for your ideas and willingness to share them.

Glad to help. I honestly hope that everyone takes advantage of the ease of this so they can stay shooting.

 

[SwampBilly]

Do you find that no ground glass is necessary?

 

[BeardedGunsmith]

Do you find that no ground glass is necessary?

I've not used glass or sand and every single cap has gone bang.

 

[Cannonman1]

Considering the consistency of the ingredients mixed with alcohol... Couldn't you load a syringe with it and load the caps that way? The alcohol wouldn't evaporate that way and one could easily. meter it. Your thoughts??

 

[BeardedGunsmith]

Considering the consistency of the ingredients mixed with alcohol... Couldn't you load a syringe with it and load the caps that way? The alcohol wouldn't evaporate that way and one could easily. meter it. Your thoughts??

That's actually pretty ingenious.

 

[Cannonman1]

That's actually pretty ingenious.

Is the Prime All mixture the same as yours... I have some on hand and would use that

 

[BeardedGunsmith]

Is the Prime All mixture the same as yours... I have some on hand and would use that

Pretty much the same thing but slightly different ratios and I don't use the ground glass.

 

[Cannonman1]

Oh I understand your hesitation. I still get the Willie's when I'm mixing up my compound but it doesnt bother me so much once I get past making the slurry in my bowl. Honestly I've come to enjoy making caps as part of the hobby and it's quite gratifying to be able to put them on my guns and shoot just fine. Then there's the part of knowing that I'm not reliant on stores being in stock, plus I can make ALOT of caps in a short period of time. I think I made 50+ last night in about 20 minutes after my compound was mixed up.

I think I will start by putting an amount of alcohol in my bowl and adding powder to that, keeping things as safe as possible. Using a syringe to fill cups will require a certain level of liquidity that is going to be experimental but there are some unique syringes that will handle a thicker mix. More alcohol is just going to mean more drying time to the point of compression and final drying.
I will use large pistol primer empty trays and do them that way.. Kind of like cake decorating ..LOL

 

[BeardedGunsmith]

I bought another 3d printer. This one prints really fine detail and it made the caps even thinner walled. I actually went shooting the other day and took my 1858 Remington with both my 3d printed caps and a tin of Remington 11's. I had one failure to fire with the remington caps and all of my 3d printed ones worked perfect.

 

[TDM]

Dang @BeardedGunsmith! You are a revolutionary inventor! I love it.

 

[BeardedGunsmith]

Dang @BeardedGunsmith! You are a revolutionary inventor! I love it.

Thank you. I'm going to start making a kit with 500 caps, a scooper for just the necessary amount of powder and a double sided tamp for the 10 and 11 size caps. I'll post them on my Amazon store.

 

[TDM]

Thank you. I'm going to start making a kit with 500 caps, a scooper for just the necessary amount of powder and a double sided tamp for the 10 and 11 size caps. I'll post them on my Amazon store.

Excellent! I’ll be a customer.

 

[BeardedGunsmith]

Well, I made a kit and added them to my Amazon store. It might take a few days to post there. They are on a tear away sheet that makes it easy to handle and load them. Also a tamp an scooper that puts just the right amount per cap. Hopefully this will help some folks out.

 

[Gtrubicon]

Well, I made a kit and added them to my Amazon store. It might take a few days to post there. They are on a tear away sheet that makes it easy to handle and load them. Also a tamp a scooper that puts just the right amount per cap. Hopefully this will help some folks out.View attachment 305731

This is really awesome! Thank you for your efforts in this.