Pushing percussion caps on with wooden dowel....

[M. De Land]

I just remove the nipples , chuck them up in an electric drill motor on the threads and spin them against a diamond lap/file paddle until they fit the caps used. These diamond lap files leave the surface of the cone smooth without file scratches that don't load up fouling as bad.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

While not what the OP asked about, if you're trying to get the caps to fit, you might also be having cap jams. This guy has some good BP articles. This one involves modifying the nipples to help reduce those jams. While your filing them, you might as well made this mod too:

Blackie Thomas is awesome!

 

[toot]

a great informative video. thanks for posting.

 

[BullRunBear]

I also use a dowel or chop stick for final seating. I have big fingers that make handling individual caps 'interesting' to get seated properly, especially on the Remington 1858s. And for safety I prefer to use something besides parts of my body, which are all precious to me. It's worth the extra few seconds per cylinder to seat the caps securely.

Jeff

 

[toot]

also in your later years when ARTHURITIS sets in, a Dowell makes capping a must!