safety carrying a Cap and Ball gun

[carbine]

im new to this site and just got in to C&B fire arms and ws wondering how did the mountion men carry their rifles when they were rideing or walking and still have them ready in case of need .were they capped and carried at half cock or were they un caped and caped as needed?
thank you for any info
carbine

 

[Pittsburghunter]

Hi! Welcome to the board. To start off around here when people use the term "cap and ball" they are usually talking about black powder revolvers but reading your post I realize you are talking about a percussion rifle so I will address that unless I missed something and you are talking about revolvers.

Half cocked is considered to be a "safety" for hunting although it is not a real safety that will prevent the gun from going off persay. You must be extra carefull hunting with an exposed hammer gun and not take chances doing silly stuff like jumping streams and fences without decapping the rifle.

A well made sidelock will hold fine in almost all cases but err on the side of safety if you have any doubts.

If you use an ATV or horse make sure you are unprimed (decapped). Climbing a tree stand same thing.

You get the drift common sense and using the ten commandments of gun safety and you will be fine. Good luck and wecome to a very fun sport.

PS your manual will give some specific guide for safely using your rifle.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

You could rest the hammer down on the cap and walk with it. Just dont jar it.

BTW us flinters dont have such problems

Most important, dont hold your hand over the muzzle like you see in the movies. Its a rifle, not a walking stick.

 

[Hawkeye]

You could rest the hammer down on the cap and walk with it. Just dont jar it.

Please do not do this! Resting the hammer on the cap is an accidental discharge just waiting to happen, and sooner or later it will happen, just hope the muzzle is not pointing at something you don't want shot when it chooses to go off.

The safest way to carry is to carry un-capped, of course that is not likely to be how you will carry in a hunting situation. Go ahead and cap, carry at half cock and be aware of where the muzzle is at all times. A modern lock is not likely to have the half cock notch fail unless the hammer is hit like when you slip and fall crossing that log or whatever, more likely is hanging up on something pulling the hammer back a little, just enough to get past the fly then the hammer gets un-hung and BANG accidental discharge.

A number of years ago I had a friend kill himself this way, he was hauling a loaded capped rifle up into a tree stand, we found him that evening shot in the head, with the rope he was using to haul the rifle still tied to the gun. Near as we could figure he tried to pull the rifle into the tree stand the hammer hung on something then let go.

We flinters are lucky, we can add an extra level of safery bu using a hammer stall. This is simply a leather cover for the frizzen which will keep the flint from touching the frizzen in the event the cock gets away. Oh well I hope you find this ranting usefull.

 

[Pittsburghunter]

DANGER!!! DO NOT CARRY IT WITH THE HAMMER RESTING ON THE PRIMMER EVER!!!!

JOHNNY IS WRONG WITH THAT ADVICE.

 

[quigleysharps]

I carry mine cradled in my arm with it at half cock and my hand on the hammer. As for carrying it resting on the cap...that hammer isn't going any farther down at that point and seems it would take quite a jar to set her off. I just never have carried mine that way.

 

[roundball]

im new to this site and just got in to C&B fire arms and ws wondering how did the mountion men carry their rifles when they were rideing or walking and still have them ready in case of need .were they capped and carried at half cock or were they un caped and caped as needed?
thank you for any info
carbine

FYI...you might want to consider "Kap Kovers"...see my post here...they provide a weather seal for the cal/nipple, and serve as a safety for a loaded percussion ML...used them for years hunting percussion rifles

http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/ubbthr...p;page=3#121006

 

[carbine]

thank you for the info,yes i ws talking about a percussion rifle.im still new to alot of the terms that are used,i got intersted in B/P fire arms after my first wife saw fit to take my modern fire arms in the div along with the house one of my dogs new truck and both my sons.
i like B/p fire arms be couse seem like alot of the gear can be homemade like bullet blocks and posabl bag and that seem to me to be a large part of the fun
thanks again for the help
carbine

 

[hobbles]

addie
ws wondering how did the mountion men carry their rifles when they were rideing or walking

Mornin,, If I may add a thought,, We don't have to worry bout bein attacted like they did in the old days, On horse back, leave it un capped,,

 

[2172]

Addie, the humorist Lewis Grizzard said that a woman that'd take your dog would cut you...you're better off..Hank

 

[carbine]

LOL Hank, my new wife got me a pit mix pup for Xmas last yr and i still have my wolf hi breed that the ex didnt/couldnt keep(she wouldnt stay at the ex house, every chance she got she came to my place so the ex just gave up trying to keep her) lol,new wife likes going to the range and going to gun shows so i have a keeper this time plus she came with her oun camping gear,i did save my camping gear when i got div plus my 3 dutch ovens(ex didnt think they were wearth takeing)she didnt camp or cook lol
addie

 

[Johnny Tremain]

DANGER!!! DO NOT CARRY IT WITH THE HAMMER RESTING ON THE PRIMMER EVER!!!!

JOHNNY IS WRONG WITH THAT ADVICE.

I am never wrong, You may disagree.

Ya know guys, Ive been doing this for years. NEVER have had it go off. When one is out in the bush, its ok. When one is anywhere around people, DONT.

Better than 1/2 cock out in the woods by far.

Put a cap on yer rifle and bang the butt lots, see if it goes off.

 

[JackAubrey]

Hello Addie,Roundball has it right on! I have put those KapKovers on my GPR,GPP and my double shotgun,I swear by[url] them.In[/url] the old days they at times took risks either through necessity or good ol' human lack of common sense.Unsafe practices w/a firearm is never acceptable.I like to keep mine capped when hunting and the KK allows that,otherwise I would'nt.Best Regards,Jack.

 

[laufer]

Capped all the time in the woods with hammer on it. Never had any msifires or accidents.
:results:
Arround people, never capped, never!!! :front:

 

[robinghewitt]

This little boxlock is fairly typical in not having a half cock notch. Just out of curiosity I put a cap on it (unloaded) lowered the hammer and carried it around for a few days. It didn't go off, but nobody would expect it to.

Wasn't long before I stopped thinking about it. I don't think accidental discharges were a worry in the 19th.

 

[Pittsburghunter]

All you would need is a branch or a briar to pull it back a little bit and have it fall back on the cap and boom. your half cock should remain on until the hammer is pulled all the way to full cock then the trigger would have to be pulled for the gun to discharge. I just checked two weaponds to see if there was enough spring energy to fire a cap before half cock and the answer is yes. Then I checked to see if the half cock holds when the hammer is jarred back like being pulled by a tree branch ect... and every time the half cock held. Every manual that has come with my percussions guns tell you not to carry it with the hammer all the way down on the primmer and to use the half cock and check it's function regulary.

BTW I have had my hammer pulled back on me in the woods around here and I sure am glad it was half cocked.

 

[roundball]

All individuals can do as they personally please of course...me personally...I won't even trust half cock positions...I use those Kap Kovers on percussions and Hammer Stalls on flintlocks.

Wasn't too many years ago there was an article in the news about a hunter who shot himself in his treestand while pulling his sidelock percussion up by a rope tied around the muzzle.

It was tragically stupid for him to pull a loaded muzzleloader up towards himself by it's muzzle...but more to the point, the hammer on this capped sidelock could only have been in one of three positions: sitting on the cap, or at half cock, or at full cock.

The hammer or trigger somehow interacted with the tree or a tree step and discharged...the point is that "$%#@ happens" and some form of good safety like a Kap Kover or some alternative probably would have saved his life.
:m2c:

 

[sidelock]

I have some round rubber discs (appr.1/2" dia) cut from gasket material that I place under the hammer and over the cap when I am in a no shooting situation.I can't make it fire in this position. ALLWAYS BE SAFE FIRST :results: :m2c:

 

[Rebel]

I have a thick piece of leather on a thong tied to the trigger guard that i will sometimes put over the capped nipple and lower the hammer down on. You can cock the hammer and fire it with that leather in place and it won't go off. I know because i had a shot at a buck once and pulled the hammer back and didn't check to see that the leather had fallen out of the way. Pulled the trigger and nothing. Then noticed the leather had stayed in place and blocked the hammer from hitting the cap. Live and learn. ::

 

[Don]

Another way that a capped gun can be carried safely is by placing a spent pistol cartridge over the nipple and lowering the hammer down on it. The spring pressure holds it pretty securly. Kind of the same idea behind the Kap Kover. Still, when I've carried this way I'm still very aware of what I'm doing and where the muzzle is, no system is fool proof.

Don