Inspecting Percussion Caps For Reliability

[Cpl. Ashencheeks]

I was wondering if there is any way to tell how reliable a cap could be by visually inspecting it.

I don't know how many here get cap failures, but if it happens it is certainly annoying and if you are hunter it could be dangerous.

Aside from obvious issues to a bad cap, I would figure looking at the internal medium and see if there is any chipping, or possibly checking caps with a depth tool or micrometer.

I would just like to find out the best way to separate the good from the bad and choose out only the best caps to go with me in certain situations, then use the lesser caps for things like plinking or varmint shooting.

Is this possible, or just a carp shoot in hoping that every cap would be a good one?

 

[azmntman]

I have kept tins in the truck and found many years later. They worked just fine BUT the ones where the lil green stuff fell out didn't work (saw a few lil green rounds and assume its the explosive stuff). So make sure the green stuff (or what have you) is in there and should be OK. For hunting a FRESH tin of caps goes where I go. At the range a bad cap will at least show ya if yer flinching or not? :hmm:

For "carp" shooting I always use flintlock, more sporting ya know and them carp can be kinda dumb :rotf: :blah: :shake: :surrender:

 

[Black Hand]

I think caps are reliable and that in most cases, it is operator error that results in failure. When I had failures, it was usually because the cap wasn't sufficiently seated on the nipple. The first strike of the hammer would seat it and the second strike would cause it to go "BANG".

I addressed this by chucking my nipple in a drill, reducing the diameter slightly with a file and polishing it with some fine sandpaper. After this treatment, the caps would seat fully (if I did my part) and go "BANG" at the first go.

I then eliminated the problem altogether by building flint guns. I haven't looked back or regretted my choice...

 

[mooman76]

The only caps I ever had problems with and it wasn't because they were old, were with some CVA caps they used to make many years ago. They were a brass cup, fairly thick and didn't fit well and when you did get them to go off, you literally had to pry them off. Other than that I can't remember ever having a cap that didn't go bang. Maybe one didn't set my charge off but I don't believe it was the caps fault.

If you are concerned I would get a bran new tin before you go out hunting and try a few first. you could look yours over and separate any that look odd but other than that, there are no absolutes.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Yep those CVA caps were junk...I think I still have half a tin of them...

CCI caps are virtually flawless...errors are self inflicted. Either the operator handles it wrong or stores it wrong.

 

[Jim C]

I have in the past used dozens of tins of caps in the 10 to 20 yr old range and I can't ever recall a single one not going pop.

 

[azmntman]

Nobody else have the lil filament or charge thingy come out? You can see the ones they came out of, the inside of the cap is shiny as the outside.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Once.... years ago with Remington caps but I was squeezing them to fit the nipple....went back to CCI.

 

[BrownBear]

.... years ago with Remington caps

Yup. Same here long ago. Bought a bunch cheap, and when I opened the first tin, saw some loose pellets. Sorted them (and all the other tins) and used them for practice. Never trusted them for hunting, but never had any FTF's once they were sorted.

 

[Cpl. Ashencheeks]

As far carp shooting, this was a play on words; it is legal here to shoot them with a bow, but as far as I know the only legal way to shoot them with a flintlock would be you'd have to own the barrel and be in legal place to shoot.

I don't think I have ever had a failure from CCI magnums or RWS. I have had some dud Remingtons a very long time ago but not anymore, and regular CCI caps have had a few failures on cap & ball.

Homemades are another story all together, unless the cap is fortified with a tiny bit of black powder between the paper caps they are not always reliable.

But for the specifics of this thread I did mean the manufactured caps.

If I did have a cap failure at the range, most times it was definitely the cap and not how it was seated. Repeat the hammer strike on those few failures and it still did not go, replaced the cap and it would fire.

 

[Kansas Jake]

I have a tin of Remingtons that started to corrode and some of the priming fell out too. As others have said, those are range caps and I examine them and discard any with corrosion or missing the priming.

BTW, I still have some of the old (30+ years) CVA's that still work well on some of my guns.

Newly purchased caps have been trouble free for the most part if they fit the nipple properly. Some work better on one gun or another.

 

[Grenadier1758]

For the most part and in the vast majority of cases, if the cap has the pellet of explosive, it will fire. There were some caps many years ago that had problems. Recent production caps by RWS or CCI are reliable.

I did have a recent run of failure to fire (FTF) in a pistol. The frame had a hammer stop that allowed the hammer to strike the cap but stop short of the nipple. It would fire magnum caps with a little more explosive in the cap, but not regular caps. Problem was solved in that case by taking a longer nipple, turning it down and shortening it to the proper length that allowed it to fire.

Other failures to fire are identified as the two strike to fire that are associated with a mushroomed nipple.

I did have one of those poorly constructed cap guns with a soft mainspring that you could watch it fall. Needless to say there were lots of FTFs with that gun.

When you do a visual inspection, expect the cap to fire if it has the pellet of primer.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I closed my ml gunshop in 1976 and am still using some caps from that inventory. As long as they are kept dry they should keep. The brands I have are mostly Italian and Spain imports but most are Navy Arms and those are my favorites. Some of the imports have size issues (e.g. #10.75) and don't fit most nipples but that is not pertient to your question.

 

[ohio ramrod]

It has been my experience that visual checking will determine if the "primer" has fallen out. As far as I know there is no other visual check other than checking for corrosion (a sign the cap has been exposed to excessive moisture ). :idunno:

 

[Cpl. Ashencheeks]

Thank you for all the input.

General thoughts on FTF seem to be improper seating on the nipple or soft hammer strike, barring those problems on the cap itself would be to check for corrosion which would be a sign of moisture affecting the caps, and then check to see if the explosive medium is loose or has fallen out either partially or all together.

I guess the best way to avoid cap failure is use new tins.

It may have seemed like a dumb question, but it is not really. It just another way to inspect equipment for reliability and efficiency.

 

[Cowboy]

There are no dumb questions here. If you don't know just ask. That is the only way you are going to find out what you want to know and that is what this forum is all about. Good people helping one another out.

 

[Bear Rider]

If you use a Ted Cash capper, inspection is almost automatic. You have to make sure that all the caps are laying face up before you close the lid, and any that are missing the priming compound should be obvious.

 

[Vaino]

This is really a non-issue....have been shooting caps since 1977, have not had a failure to fire ever and I don't inspect the caps I use. Mostly use CCI caps and evidently their quality assurance dept. is doing its job. Shooting a caplock rifle is a simple procedure if the flash channel isn't clogged w/ debris or isn't flooded w/ WD40 or one of the runnier so called "rust inhibitors".....Fred

 

[BrownBear]

Remington's caps put me in the habit of checking. They're famous, or would that be infamous, for shedding priming pellets from the caps. I've had as many as 10 in a tin of 100 without priming, as loose pellets are rattling around in the bottom of the tin. Never seemed especially safe to me, so I refuse to carry their tins, though I'll use their caps in a capper.

Never, ever had any other brand of caps do that, but I still check them as a matter of course.

 

[hanshi]

Even decades ago I experienced the same thing with their caps. And, like you, I had no problem with other brands. Haven't used a Rem cap in a long time.