Making your own Percussion Caps

[user 52142]

Read this article about making your own #11 Percussion caps. Wondering if anyone here has tried it.

https://www.outdoorlife.com/gear/11-precision-cap-maker-review
With caps getting harder to find, might be an option if it really works.

 

[Gun Tramp]

Check Search; in it, there are ten pages of posts on the subject "making percussion caps"

 

[user 52142]

Check Search; in it, there are ten pages of posts on the subject "making percussion caps"

Thanks Gun Tramp

 

[Erwan]

Ok for the Tap O Cap, this isn't new, but for the primary explosive which is inside, it will not be easy to manufacture some if this one comes to miss: I don't see people making lead azide or other mercury fulminate in their wife's kitchen...

 

[Nobade]

Ok for the Tap O Cap, this isn't new, but for the primary explosive which is inside, it will not be easy to manufacture some if this one comes to miss: I don't see people making lead azide or other mercury fulminate in their wife's kitchen...

I use Frankfort Arsenal '48 mix in mine. Potassium chlorate, antimony sulfide, sulfur, and ground glass. I get the glass out of my blast cabinet, everything else is available on Amazon and most of the pyro supply places. A pound of each is more than a lifetime supply of caps, and not expensive or hard to do.

 

[user 52142]

According to the article, the company that sells the tap o can, also sells a priming compound that is used in the cap.

https://22lrreloader.com/products/prime-all-repriming-compound

 

[Erwan]

I use Frankfort Arsenal '48 mix in mine. Potassium chlorate, antimony sulfide, sulfur, and ground glass. I get the glass out of my blast cabinet, everything else is available on Amazon and most of the pyro supply places. A pound of each is more than a lifetime supply of caps, and not expensive or hard to do.

The most difficult thing for us is to find potassium chlorate: totally forbidden to be sold, even in weed killers........
We could make mercury fulminate, but we also need mercury and nitric acid, both banned and not available outside the professional circuit. I can't even make collodion anymore: I can only buy cotton, but not the rest.

 

[n.h.schmidt]

Erwan Where is Absurdistan? You can make the potassium chlorate if you are willing. Some use the toy pistol role caps for their cups.I used to lift the dots right off the paper and put ten in a cap cup ,press it down and use a binder.Sometimes hair spray. I use other binders now though. Ten dots is enough to work well in sidelock rifles and real black.

 

[cynthialee]

well if you are going to use cap gun caps, I put a pinch of fine powder in the nipple right before I put on the cap, fires about 90% of the time

just tried it out for curiosity sake, no shortage of caps in my shooting box, but it can be made to work and I know from first hand experiments

also cap gun caps are a bit small so you have to work it down on the nipple and stretch the plastic a bit to get it to fit, the priming compound at the bottom of the cap has to be right up against the nipple

PITA
Been thinking of getting a tap-o-cap for years.

 

[Grimord]

Erwan Where is Absurdistan? You can make the potassium chlorate if you are willing. Some use the toy pistol role caps for their cups.I used to lift the dots right off the paper and put ten in a cap cup ,press it down and use a binder.Sometimes hair spray. I use other binders now though. Ten dots is enough to work well in sidelock rifles and real black.

I use 3-4 roll cap blisters in a cap. Seat them down with an appropriate sized dowel or match stick, then seal the cap with a light spray of hair spray. I generally get 95-99% ignition of real black powder using a Knight "red Hot" nipple. Never tried a substitute powder to see if the spark is hot enough to ignite the substitute powder. I suspect it may not be hot enough.

 

[deerstalkert]

best bet is to supplement your percussion battery with a flintlock! best of both worlds.

 

[pwbsmokey]

Erwan Where is Absurdistan? You can make the potassium chlorate if you are willing. Some use the toy pistol role caps for their cups.I used to lift the dots right off the paper and put ten in a cap cup ,press it down and use a binder.Sometimes hair spray. I use other binders now though. Ten dots is enough to work well in sidelock rifles and real black.

I believe that it is the French speaking province in what used to be the free country of Canada. Erwan is probably mandated to wear a mask because he is "speaking" with you. I'm sure that he doesn't comply

 

[Erwan]

Erwan Where is Absurdistan? You can make the potassium chlorate if you are willing. Some use the toy pistol role caps for their cups.I used to lift the dots right off the paper and put ten in a cap cup ,press it down and use a binder.Sometimes hair spray. I use other binders now though. Ten dots is enough to work well in sidelock rifles and real black.

Look at a world map, see if you can see an absurd country between Germany and the Atlantic Ocean, if you see it you will have found Absurdistan also called Macronia...

 

[deerstalkert]

pouvez-vous dire la France? aka Absurdistan.

 

[Erwan]

pouvez-vous dire la France? aka Absurdistan.

Just google : "France+Absurdistan" or just "Absurdistan"...

Never talk about politics on a forum, but since five years this country became the absolute Absurdistan...

 

[Osnixpero]

The most difficult thing for us is to find potassium chlorate: totally forbidden to be sold, even in weed killers........
We could make mercury fulminate, but we also need mercury and nitric acid, both banned and not available outside the professional circuit. I can't even make collodion anymore: I can only buy cotton, but not the rest.

Replace the potassium chlorate with perchlorate. Much more stable and more reactive. Works better.

 

[Osnixpero]

well if you are going to use cap gun caps, I put a pinch of fine powder in the nipple right before I put on the cap, fires about 90% of the time

just tried it out for curiosity sake, no shortage of caps in my shooting box, but it can be made to work and I know from first hand experiments

also cap gun caps are a bit small so you have to work it down on the nipple and stretch the plastic a bit to get it to fit, the priming compound at the bottom of the cap has to be right up against the nipple

PITA
Been thinking of getting a tap-o-cap for years.

The "tap-o-cap" device works very well. Makes very nice caps out of aluminum soda cans. Just takes some practice. And keep the thing oiled.

 

[Osnixpero]

Read this article about making your own #11 Percussion caps. Wondering if anyone here has tried it.

https://www.outdoorlife.com/gear/11-precision-cap-maker-review
With caps getting harder to find, might be an option if it really works.

Have it and use it. Don't know of any short comings. Does take some practice. And you will get a few bad ones. But overall, it makes some very nice #11 caps.