magnum caps????

[123joe]

I have ran out of #11 caps and was looking on line at the ones offered.

I came across some caps made by the same company in #11 and #11 magnum. I am "assuming" that the dif. is a hotter cap. Is there any other dif. that I should be aware of. Why would anyone not want the hotter cap, if my "assumption" is correct.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[E Poffinbarger]

Okiejoe:

Even though I use 777 in one and PyrodexRS in the other, I like and use CCI#11 mag caps on both my .54 PRB and .54 bullet rifles.

I agree, with the constant variables of temperature and humidity, I've never understood why anyone would want less than the hottest cap available.

Osage

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Your assumption is correct! The reason someone would want the non-magnum version could be several: 1. Usage on a revolver with real BP and don't need the extra "bang" to possibly cause cap fragments to come back towards the shooter. 2. Using on a caplock with a modified hammer surface for the same fragment reason. 3. Using the same cap in a previously developed load to maintain very extreme consistancy so that one's shot groups don't print higher/lower, etc. 4. More stories are possible, such as some folks feel that the magnum primer blasts too much flame into the middle of the charge, thus needlessly raising the breech pressure too soon and thereby causing more recoil than is wanted by the shooter using a big charge for hunting, etc.

Hope that this helps.

Dave

 

[123joe]

Dave and Osage,
Thank you very much. :bow:
Just what I needed to know.

 

[Larry Pletcher]

Okiejoe:

Even though I use 777 in one and PyrodexRS in the other, I like and use CCI#11 mag caps on both my .54 PRB and .54 bullet rifles.
I agree, with the constant variables of temperature and humidity, I've never understood why anyone would want less than the hottest cap available.

Osage

My friend is a serious bench gun shooter. Changing caps changes the size of his groups. Sometimes it moves the groups. In his gun the standard CCI caps work better than the CCI Mags. It might be the otherway around for others. The gun tells you what to use.

Regards,
Pletch

 

[spottedpony]

For me Remingtons give the best consistancy and most accurate groups, Standard CCI's shoot almost as well as the remingtons but i get an occasional misfire.
CCI magnums, and RWS both open up my groups considerably with about 10% misfires. In all fairness to the RWS though i think they're a bit undersize and require considerable pressure when seating them on the nipple. when ive concentrated on that the number of misfires has dropped considerably & i just havnt taken the time to turn a nipple down a little for further testing. The CCI mags for me are at the bottom of my list due to the misfires and worse accuracy.
Oh and ive shot all 3, real black, 777 and pyrodex, and the remingtons or cci standards give good ignition with all 3.
Every gun is different though & the main thing is one finds what works best for that particular one.

 

[bpbrs]

If you really are out and it is all their is in stock buy a tin. Otherwise it is not worth the extra money. I've shot all the loose wanna be powers and found no difference in ignition.

That's my .02c and I sell the things.
bpb

 

[paulvallandigham]

Take your gun out at night, and in the dark have some fire off a standard cap, and then one of the magnum caps. Stand to the side to watch how much flame comes out the barrel. There is not enough difference to justify the higher cost, IMHO. The magnum caps are designed to be used with the subs. With Real Black Powder, the standard caps are all that are needed.

FYI, Paul Matthews, the dean of the .45-70, has recently found historic literature indicating that the original target ammo made for the long range shooting teams for the army used a small pistol primer to ignite the 70 grains of powder in that casing. He has tried it under controlled conditions, and has found both in his lab, and at the range that he gets more consistent accuracy and a lower SDV using a small pistol primer, rather than the Large Rifle Primer the cartridge is designed to take. He had to find some washers to fit into the primer pockets so they would hold the smaller pistol primers, but he set up 100 casings, and used them in his testing. He is shooting Black Powder loads for these tests, not smokeless.

 

[roundball]

I switched from CCI to the CCI magnum when it came out...all I've used since they became available...excellent caps.

 

[rabbit03]

You fellows keep takin the words right out of my mouth! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

rabbit03

 

[123joe]

Pletch,
when you say "change the size of his groups", how much are we talking?

 

[Larry Pletcher]

Pletch,
when you say "change the size of his groups", how much are we talking?

The gun in question is a sealed ignition, round ball bench gun weighing between 40 and 50 lbs. Caliber is 54 I believe. He told me this morning that mag style caps will increase his groups by 1/2 inch. This sounds like nothing, but when shooting this style of gun in National competition it is huge. He has used a number of different brands and likes the standard CCI's best.

If your choosing caps for an offhand gun I doubt if it makes any difference. I'm not good enough to tell the difference. I think it does make a difference for shooters using round ball bench guns at championship levels. Personally I think it would take a bench rest and apeture sights to tell the difference.

Regards,
Pletch

 

[123joe]

Thanks Pletch.
You had me worried for a little while.

Joe

 

[Rat Trapper]

I use the CCI #11 mag caps with Triple Seven 2F in both my 50 & 54 cal TC Hawkens, and they work great!

 

[rkeltner]

you will find that your loss of accuracy with 'magnum' caps sometimes happens because the hammer is lifted, in some minor way, and allows shot to shot variations in chamber pressure. i have used small rifle primers and aquarium tubing, cut to appropriate length, with some degree of success. the tubing is strong enough to hold up through two or three firings, and thr primer almost always stys on the nipple!

 

[Blizzard of '93]

if you are doing what I hope you are you are using a small rifle primer on the muzzleloader nipple? what size nipple and do you pry the anvil out of the primer?

 

[paulvallandigham]

Do not remove the anvil from the primer. It would be better if you bought the conversion device that allows modern pistol primers to be used instead of percussion caps, even though it requires a fitting to be screwed on and off to remove a spent primer, and replace a new primer. They are available from several mail order suppliers.

If you remove the anvil from the primer, its chance of actually firing go down tremendously. I do not recomment using pistol primers on top of nippled. The flame is a lot hotter, and you are going to erode your nipples more quickly, for no substantial gain.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I have that mod on one of my .50's. does indeed go 'bang' each strike. never a misfire. somewhat of a pain to reload tho but usually the pressure of the slug/prb blows the spent primer out.