Percussion caps manufactoring change ?

[nilo52]

I was out at the range today and a guy I met told me that he had heard that caps are corrosive. I'd never met him before but he seemed very sure about this. It has always been my understanding that they are not. Has something changed that I don't know about ? I always clean my guns after every session at the range so corrosion has never been any problem for me and I am sure I am correct about caps being non-corrosive, but then again I don't know every thing (don't tell my wife) and I'll admit I could possibly be wrong. Just wondering. :hmm:
nilo52

 

[Don]

New one on me. Far as I know the chemicals used havn't changed but maybe someone else knows better.

Don

 

[necchi]

Nothing has changed, caps as far as modern manufacture, has been the way it is for decades.

Just like it's always been, the junk caps throw is hygroscopic and just like other powder residue can cause rust.

Probably some hype he read promoting 209's in a modern type ML.
(not that marketing would ever skew the facts!)

 

[Loyalist Dave]

OR...,

He's one of those folks who gets information "crossed" or spoke to some such..., and is confusing older, modern, corrosive primers with caps for caplocks.

LD

 

[tiger13]

I have always thought fulminate of mercury was corrosive, and that's what I thought caps were made of.

 

[aeatwood]

Fulminate of mercury is corrosive to brass cases. Perchlorate primers were corrosive to steel, and (mostly) harmless to brass.

IIRC. YMMV. grain of salt, and all that.

 

[Zonie]

Fulminate of mercury was the basis for the first percussion caps and it is very corrosive.
Potassium Chlorate was also used as an oxidizer in the early caps and the potassium chloride that resulted caused severe rusting.

These have not been used for years because of the damage they cause.

In most primers made in the US lead styphnate has been used since the 1930's and it is still in use today.
It is non-corrosive although, as was mentioned above some of the residue can collect water which can result in some rusting.

Basically, no changes have been made for 80 years and in my opinion if any changes are made they certainly wouldn't be in the direction that would cause more corrosion than the current compounds.

 

[nilo52]

Thanks Zonie, as always you know the facts. :bow:
nilo52

 

[garry robinson]

probly something he read on the internet and you know how that lyin thing is

 

[Leatherbark]

I always thought those brass Italian caps we used to get back in the 70s were corrosive. Seems the old CVA guns back then would have an odd type of pitting all around the drum and nipple area.

If you remember when the brass Italian caps would have to be pried off of the nipples with a knife you are an old muzzleloader like me.

Bob

 

[tiger13]

Thanks Zonie for clearing that up for me. I was always thinking they never changed them.

 

[BEP]

I always thought those brass Italian caps we used to get back in the 70s were corrosive. Seems the old CVA guns back then would have an odd type of pitting all around the drum and nipple area.

If you remember when the brass Italian caps would have to be pried off of the nipples with a knife you are an old muzzleloader like me.

Bob

Back then, Dixie had their own house brand of caps that they said were made in Italy - they were supposed to be hotter than the domestic ones. I bought a thousand of them. As I remember, they were corrosive, or at least seemed to be more so than the Remingtons of that time.

And I do remember prying the spent caps off with my knife. So I'm no spring chicken either.

 

[aeatwood]

I had some old CVA branded caps that I finally shot up the last box of about a year ago. They were corrosive.

 

[rickystl]

I'm sure glad I read this thread. A double thanks Zonie. Rick.

 

[mhb]

Mercury fulminate, while it was one of the common components of early percussion caps, and later, priming compounds for metallic cartridges, is not corrosive. The corrosive element in priming compositions has historically been potassium chlorate.
Early non-corrosive priming formulae often were based on mercury fulminate, but eliminated the chlorate. While this did eliminate the rusting of the bore and other steel parts of the arms, it introduced another problem: the metallic mercury produced by decomposition of the fulminate attacked the brass by amalgamating with the copper, weakening the cartridge case and making it unsafe for reloading.
So non-corrosive priming compositions may be mercuric, but modern ones are (and are advertised as) both non-corrosive and non-mercuric.
mhb - Mike

 

[10_point]

I had a gun shop give me some no.11 caps made by Richland Arms Co. in Blissfield Mi. these were some of the dirtiest caps i have ever shot, they would turn the whole area around the lock and the barrel and stock green , and they would blow apart and hit you in the hand and arm, I shoot Remington and they are so clean and not blow up on you. I know they were corrosive and i pitched them real fast.

 

[mhb]

I still have most of a can of the percussion caps which came with my Numrich H&A pistol around 1962.
It's a green can of Alcan G12F caps, marked as made in France. I don't know whether they are corrosive or not: it doesn't say on the can, I didn't use many of them and always cleaned with water.
The reason I didn't use many of them is that they absolutely would NOT split or voluntarily come off of the nipple when fired - they had to be scraped-off with a knife after each shot.
In a way, they remind me of Ned Roberts' comments on the French 'GD' caps of long ago - many old time shooters liked them because they gave the weakest ignition (!) and were cheaper than better quality caps. He said their unreliability caused some speculation on the meaning of the 'GD'. I'm willing to say that at least as late as the early 60's the French were still making caps that would cause one (me) to call them 'those GD French caps'.
mhb - Mike

 

[arcticap]

These are the CVA Italian brass caps that some may think are corrosive:

I have also heard that some old Fiocchi
caps may be corrosive but I don't know
if the ones in these tins are or not, or
if the tins would even look the same.
But unlike the CVA caps above, I was told
that these Fiocchi caps are good and hot:

 

[mhb]

FWIW, the Alcan French caps are in a can which is painted green overall, and the label definitely states that they are made in France (I checked).
mhb - Mike

 

[Dphar]

Hot caps are not always a good idea if BP is used.

They can also be very difficult to get off the nipple after firing. The material they are made from is too thick and strong.
I bought one tin of them back in the 1960s and never bought another. Looked just like the green tin above. Think the box is still out in the shop someplace.
Have not seen them in years. I don't miss them at all. If I can remember they were a PITA for 40 years after one box, they were a PITA.

Dan