Musket Cap Conversion for GPR Hunter...

[systemamfry]

Hi all, I took delivery of my 54 caliber great plains hunter a few weeks back and have an ignition question for you. I am contemplating converting the rifle to use musket caps with a new spitfire musket nipple. Is this recommended? What are the pros/cons of doing this?

Thank you for your input.

 

[Zonie]

The musket caps are quite a bit larger in diameter and length.
This can cause the hammer on some of some of the BP rifles out there to not line up with the larger nipple very well and could give you inconsistant ignition.

The caps cost quite a bit more than #11 Magnum caps and while most places that carry black powder guns will have #11s they may not have the larger musket caps. This could make a difference if your out hunting miles from home and need to buy some caps to replace the ones you dropped into the river.

The musket caps won't give you much better ignition than standard #11 Magnum caps will.

I would recommend saving your money and investing in some RWS caps or Magnum caps.

 

I agree with Zonie, and I've had better luck with "Hot Shot" nipples then with the Spit Fire's!! :results:

YMHS
rollingb

 

[Rebel]

For your Great Plains i would suggest forgetting about the musket cap nipple and just get a Hot Shot nipple and some CCI#11 magnum caps.

 

[Ohio Joe]

I agree... Hot Shot Nipple, and RWS or CCI Mag Caps... Are you having trouble with ignition? Is this why you were thinking conversion?

 

[systemamfry]

I have not yet had ignition problems but my dad just had a hangfire the other night when dropping the hammer on a trophy 12 point illinois whitetail and it got me to thinking about ignition problems. I appreciate all the advice.

 

[Ohio Joe]

Here is another thought you may want to consider. I carry a Nipple Primer with me when using a percussion rifle to hunt with. It will throw a small amount of 4fg Goex into the cone of the nipple before capping it. It's just a security backup so to speak, and I only do it if it's really humid out, or snowing. It has also rained on me in a December hunt...

You can get one of these from; Dixie Gun Works (www.dixiegunworks.com) part# HP0503 Nipple Primer... It list for $10.50 in the 2004 catalog.

Cabela's and Track Of The Wolf has them too I believe. I think just a good hot cap is all that may be needed, but if in doubt give the Nipple Primer a try. :thumbsup:

 

[wtilenw]

I put musket cap ignition on both my TC Hawken and my GPR. I had to do some modifications to the hammer on both guns to get it to strike perfectly. They advertise 700 degrees hotter than standard #11 caps and that is why I thought I need to do that. This was also before I discovered muzzleloading forum and sound advise around here ( Southern Idaho ) seems to be hard to find. I have really good luck with mine now but if your uncomfortable with manipulating the hammer strike, I would stay away from it, especially on the GPR. It didnt seem to have a very centered strike to begin with and it was quite involved ( for me ) to get it to strike perfectly left and right and with the correct pitch. The #11s are a lot more forgiving. In fact, I had a gun Dept. employee at Sportsmans Warehouse call Lyman and they dont recommend the conversion. I would assume that is because they dont set the tolerences close enough to ensure that every gun for every customer will work with the musket caps?
Idaho PRB :m2c:

 

Hey Reb - have any of you tired an accuracy test between hot-shot nipples and standard ones?
: I did just that with the 14 bore rifle and it preferred the standard, while my buddy's Greeen River .54 Hawken bl. preferred the hot-shot.
: The difference was in the 1" range at 50yds.- shooting off the bags, of course.
: The hot-shot nipple was nice, in the way it would split the cap, while the standard wouldn't always do that, due to the low pressure of the sub 100gr. charges for close target work with the .69. With hunting charges, the caps split just fine.

 

[Rebel]

Daryl, in the . 50 cal Lyman Great Plains caplock i had, i used a Hot Shot Nipple and with 90 grs of Pyrodex RS, a .495 Hornady rd ball, and Wal-Mart blue and white striped pillow ticking lubed with Crisco, i got 4 shot groups that averaged 1 1/8: center to center. Course this was a few years ago when my eyesight was better. Not sure i could do it now.

 

[harryo]

Hi all, I took delivery of my 54 caliber great plains hunter a few weeks back and have an ignition question for you. I am contemplating converting the rifle to use musket caps with a new spitfire musket nipple. Is this recommended? What are the pros/cons of doing this?

Thank you for your input.

In the FAQ on their web site, under the Muzzleloading Rifles section, Lyman specically states that they do not recommend using musket cap nipples on their rifles. I'm not sure why you would want to do so. My caplock GPR fires everytime, with standard CCI caps, using blackpowder.

 

[Plains99]

MSM musket caps (through Cain's) are shorter and work a bit better on side hammer conversions. Makes a real hot number out of most side hammer rifles. Girlie boy Italians and their ultra conservative notions!

 

Girlie boy Italians and their ultra conservative notions!

"MORE" of sumpthin, doesn't always make it "better" , or we'd all be shoot'n 500 gr. powder-charges behind 1500 gr conicals. :crackup: :crackup: :m2c:

YMHS
rollingb

 

[harryo]

I have not yet had ignition problems but my dad just had a hangfire the other night when dropping the hammer on a trophy 12 point illinois whitetail and it got me to thinking about ignition problems. I appreciate all the advice.

When new, the nipple on my GPR was a bit too large in diameter and CCI caps fit very tightly and you couldn't press them on till seated on the nipple. Sometimes the first hammer strike would not fire the cap but would drive it further onto the nipple and the next strike would fire it. I remedied this by chucking the nipple into a drill, taking care to wrap the threads with electrical tape to protect them, and using a small file to reduce the diameter of the nipple. I filed it down till the caps fit completely on, but are still tight enough to not fall off. When I cap the nipple, I lower the hammer back down on it and push the hammer tang down, making sure the nipple is firmly seated. This stopped any misfire problems.

 

[Rat]

Systemamfry:

A miss fire or hang fire will be the result of something gone-wrong with cleaning or loading procedures. Your father-in-law's miss fire was not the result of the #11 cap not being hot enough...there was oil or fouling somewhere between the nipple and the main charge, or possibly in the nipple it's self.

Follow the advice of the other posters on nipple and cap selection and you will be fine.

Use real BP, and not any of the substitutes if you want to increase or maximize reliability.

Before loading the rifle for a hunt, spend VERY much time "dry cleaning" the rifle, bore, breech, and flash channels, and the nipple. If you just run "a couple" dry patches down the bore, and then snap a cap or two before loading...YOU, may exeprience a miss fire! That's fine for at the range, but a ML rifle requires a lot of care when being loaded for hunting. When you load the gun for the hunt, don't snap caps...dry those areas out by hand.

Use enough care loading the rifle, and use real BP, and you can expect 100% reliability. This will all pay off far better than going to a musket cap.

Rat