I've been using one of the commercial "kits" to make percussion caps for about a year now. I admit to only making a few hundred until now. I was just using them at the range while continuing to use store-bought caps in the field. For the time being, there are no store-bought caps to buy. Additionally, I hit some snags with my caps. For the first time, a few caps did not explode (at a range session). I do not know if it is because they were loaded poorly, 6-months old, or some other factor. Introduce a new rifle. This rifle shredded the caps. Previously I was getting quite a deformed cap upon firing, but this rifle apparently has a sharp nipple with a lot of taper. Some of the caps ended up with the nipple coming through and the cap remains down on the nipple, like the nipple punched a hole in the cap. Actually, some fail to fire caps did end up with a hole in them.
I've changed a few things and made a big improvement. I bought the thinnest brass and copper sheets I could find at the francise Art stores. They all ended up too thick. I went back to the good old soda can, but instead of a single ply, I folded the strips and made double-ply. These are much more rigid caps. They stay together and some could be re-used (not that I'm going to use them). I had concerns about the two layers separating but that has not happened.
I mix the priming compound in a glass dish. I began using an "Artistic" paint brush with "real hair" to mix and fold the 4 ingredients in the glass dish. This brush is about 5/8 wide. It allows me to get all the fine powder into one spot and fold it over and over. It easy to move around and separate the priming mixture throughout the glass dish.
For putting the priming mixture into the caps I was just pouring it in there from the little scoop that comes with the kit, or a teaspoon. I got some little plastic funnels from the doctors office. They go on the thing they look in your ears and nose with. The tip of this fits in the percussion cup just right. I use the amount of mixture I want in a little scoop and pour it into the funnel. The wider part of the funnel helps get it in there without spillage. Then I ease up the funnel and the mixture stays put in there.
I was mixing Acetone and Duco in a little cup and trying to drizzle it into the percussion cup. Now I just put a small amount of acetone on a teaspoon and squirt in a few drops of the Duco. Using a wood stick, I mix it right on the spoon and then "walk" a drop off the end of the spoon using the wood stick, and into the percussion cup.
One rifle has nipples that are apparently a slightly different size or configuration than my others. These home-made caps go on kind of loose, they are too open to close around the contour of the nipple. I take the nipple and hold it in a pair of pliers with rubber ends. Then I put each cap on that nipple and give it a little squeeze to form it to the nipple. It will twist back off. Of course, use safety precautions. These caps still work on the other nipples because they will expand when I push them down onto the nipple, so no problem there. It worth a few minutes at home to form-fit the caps than to do it one at a time on a nipple that is installed on a loaded rifle.
WIth a few changes, my caps are more durable, more reliable and better fitting. Always open to learn another way to make the caps even better! Who knows when they're back in the stores and how long you have to stand on your head - or in line - to buy them.
I've changed a few things and made a big improvement. I bought the thinnest brass and copper sheets I could find at the francise Art stores. They all ended up too thick. I went back to the good old soda can, but instead of a single ply, I folded the strips and made double-ply. These are much more rigid caps. They stay together and some could be re-used (not that I'm going to use them). I had concerns about the two layers separating but that has not happened.
I mix the priming compound in a glass dish. I began using an "Artistic" paint brush with "real hair" to mix and fold the 4 ingredients in the glass dish. This brush is about 5/8 wide. It allows me to get all the fine powder into one spot and fold it over and over. It easy to move around and separate the priming mixture throughout the glass dish.
For putting the priming mixture into the caps I was just pouring it in there from the little scoop that comes with the kit, or a teaspoon. I got some little plastic funnels from the doctors office. They go on the thing they look in your ears and nose with. The tip of this fits in the percussion cup just right. I use the amount of mixture I want in a little scoop and pour it into the funnel. The wider part of the funnel helps get it in there without spillage. Then I ease up the funnel and the mixture stays put in there.
I was mixing Acetone and Duco in a little cup and trying to drizzle it into the percussion cup. Now I just put a small amount of acetone on a teaspoon and squirt in a few drops of the Duco. Using a wood stick, I mix it right on the spoon and then "walk" a drop off the end of the spoon using the wood stick, and into the percussion cup.
One rifle has nipples that are apparently a slightly different size or configuration than my others. These home-made caps go on kind of loose, they are too open to close around the contour of the nipple. I take the nipple and hold it in a pair of pliers with rubber ends. Then I put each cap on that nipple and give it a little squeeze to form it to the nipple. It will twist back off. Of course, use safety precautions. These caps still work on the other nipples because they will expand when I push them down onto the nipple, so no problem there. It worth a few minutes at home to form-fit the caps than to do it one at a time on a nipple that is installed on a loaded rifle.
WIth a few changes, my caps are more durable, more reliable and better fitting. Always open to learn another way to make the caps even better! Who knows when they're back in the stores and how long you have to stand on your head - or in line - to buy them.
