Old Caps

[lostsmenfive]

I dug out a plastic tin on No 11 caps HI caps by Hawthorne.Their most likely 40 plus years old. Haven't tried them. Anyone have any information on them, I getting back into BP with a 1970's TC Hawken I built , barrel ID K67850. doesn't say black powder only. 50 cal. Sorry for the pic size first time

 

[Indy Durtdigger]

I've got some of those in my late uncles old stash of BP items. They've been stored properly and still go bang but for sentimental reasons I don't use them. I'd have to go look but there are three tins of them, and I think all three are a different color.

 

[sheriff john]

Old caps tend to be more "disappointing" than "devastating". I, too, accumulated a cache of old caps over the last 50 years. Besides not going off at all, some are quite weak. Others will be of the same diameter, but too long to work in revolvers. Really old ones are corrosive. In the early 70's, writers told of "those hot Italian caps", but I forget which specific brand it was. Fun stuff, for sure.

 

[user 48702]

I haven't had any of the old caps that were duds so far. It all depends on how they were stored. I probably have 15 or so cans left and all were bought in the early to mid 1970s. I've been trying to use all of the old ones up for plinking and target practice. I don't have any sentimental attachment to them as I bought them back when I was a teen. I would rather burn them up before I depart this Earth so none of my folks have to ask someone if they are O.K. to shoot. I'm sure the old tins or plastic containers will be worth something to a collector some day, heck, the wife still gets on to me for not throwing empty dip cans away, got to be a use for them some day. In addition to fish hooks and sinkers, the dip cans make great targets, why some are even reusable.

 

[earlwb]

The old caps if stored OK will still work. But hard to say for sure until you try them.

Black Powder or a black powder equivalent such as Pyrodex or 777 for example.

Do not try smokeless powder or else really bad things will happen.

 

[sheriff john]

Those Italian caps in the yellow tin are some I'm using up lately. Another interesting thing has been the Remington caps that have/had a paper band stating the size. Once I open/lose the paper band, gotta open the pesky critters to see what's inside. Some are organized, label stuff. Not me.

The same inventor of the metal percussion cap can must've invented the 5-gallon plastic bucket. Cap can lids are sometimes as hard to open as plastic buckets are to pull apart. Especially if it's cold or you're in a hurry.

 

[Bad Karma]

Those Italian caps in the yellow tin are some I'm using up lately. Another interesting thing has been the Remington caps that have/had a paper band stating the size. Once I open/lose the paper band, gotta open the pesky critters to see what's inside. Some are organized, label stuff. Not me.

The same inventor of the metal percussion cap can must've invented the 5-gallon plastic bucket. Cap can lids are sometimes as hard to open as plastic buckets are to pull apart. Especially if it's cold or you're in a hurry.

The RWS cans are really trying at times…

 

[Uncle Miltie]

I used those caps when just starting out in muzzleloading, around 1976. They are Spanish caps I think and I remember them to be somewhat corrosive. They always worked.

 

[TexiKan]

Ever so often I would come up with a tin of old caps and I would put them into the shooting box and use them for the first cap fire of the day just to make sure the nipple is clear. Hit and miss and as previously mentioned, I have had a number of them sound rather weak. I am sure how they were stored also has an impact.

 

[Art Caputo]

I still have tins of DN caps from the 70’s that work, and, more importantly, fit perfectly on some of my rifles/pistols. They have always been stored/sealed in a cool, dry environment.

 

[SamTex1949]

Just because it doesnt have "Black Powder Only" stamped release one from doing the right thing, First generation TC BP rifles didnt have it stamped in to barrel. Came later as there probably was someone who used the "wrong" black powder and tried suing TC.

 

[Anvilboy]

Does anyone collect old cap tins? Somebody collects everything...

 

[user 51067]

I dug out a plastic tin on No 11 caps HI caps by Hawthorne.Their most likely 40 plus years old. Haven't tried them. Anyone have any information on them, I getting back into BP with a 1970's TC Hawken I built , barrel ID K67850. doesn't say black powder only. 50 cal. Sorry for the pic size first timeView attachment 195668View attachment 195668View attachment 195669View attachment 195668View attachment 195669

Made by Fiocchi in Italy. Very good caps that are comparable to the highly prized RWS 1075's.

 

[dracer]

I have some Rem that are not marked , that I must have bought by mistake in the early 70s , since I have not found any number 10s I went threw my number 11s and found these that fit my pietta nipples nice and tight and so far they all go Bange

 

[Whitworth]

Does anyone collect old cap tins? Somebody collects everything...

I like to grab stuff to go with a display or cased set. Check EBAY, lots to look at just for the education.

 

[Belleville]

Percussion caps. I still have a few cap guns and caps. Don't recall shooting any of them in this century. Flintlock only.

 

[lostsmenfive]

Percussion caps. I still have a few cap guns and caps. Don't recall shooting any of them in this century. Flintlock only.

Thanks guys, good information. I'll give them a try. Guns all cleaned up ready to go. Just need some powder. I have one film canister from the same time frame. good for a couple of test fires.

 

[bat119]

Does anyone collect old cap tins? Somebody collects everything...

I do some are from the 1890's the two on the left are sealed I tried some of ones without labels old but still worked cap sizes came in a lot of different sizes #8-#14 some are split on the sides I was told it was so they could used on any size nipple

 

[lostsmenfive]

Nice collection !

 

[ADK Bigfoot]

I have some older Musket caps that do not have the flanges (hat caps) they just look like oversized #11s. I prefer them for hunting. Only have a couple of hundred left. I have some RWS caps from the 1970s that are perfectly functional.

ADK Bigfoot