Thumb Blown Off??

[feyx0006]

I was at the range today when the range officer warned me about pressing my caps down too hard with my thumb (I didn't think it was very hard at all). He said he had seen a video of a gentleman w/ a cap and ball revolver do the same and blow part of his thumb off. Has anyone else seen this video? Has anyone else ever even heard of this happening with the relatively low force with which we cap our rifles?

I would really like to know as my job REALLY requires all of my digits.

 

[Zonie]

I suppose anything is possible but I've never heard of a cap detonating by simply placing it on a nipple and pushing it down to seat it.

If your really concerned about this there are several different designs of cappers that are made for capping revolvers, pistols and rifles.
This is Dixie Gunworks cappers but almost all of the suppliers found in the resources section of the forum carry them.[url] http://www.dixiegunworks.com/...45dc6979db52a13912c&keywords=capper&x=11&y=12[/url]

zonie

 

[feyx0006]

I guess I am not so scared that I feel like I need to run off and spend more money yet. However, I just wanted to feel this subject out a little bit after hearing about it (i.e. surgeons need thumbs, and I want to be careful).

 

[rebel727]

The gentleman in question is a SASS member. He was capping a 58 Remington when it happened. There was some tissue damage and it looks like a corner of his thumb is gone not the whole thing. I haven't seen the video but I've seen a pic of his thumb. It's the only case I've ever heard of and I have no idea how it happened. I do know I've used a pretty good bit of pressure on caps before with wooden dowels which are harder than a thumb and never set one off. I may be a dumba$$ but I'm not going to let it bother me.

 

[Robert an saa fan]

I have been shooting cap & ball revolvers and caplock rifles for over thirty five years and never had a percussion cap go off accidently while pushing it onto a nipple.

That said; given your occupation it might be worthwhile to use a capper as Zonie already mentioned.

I seem to remember author Elmer Keith writing about a cap going off while finishing loading an original Colt 1851 Navy .36 revolver... Keith said the cap and powder blast raised a big blister on his finger. Keith was writing about his experience as a youth in the early 1900's.

To reassure yourself, suggest the next time you are shooting, point your unloaded, but capped rifle downrange and tap the fully lowered hammer lightly with a wood stick until the cap fires... this will give you a good idea of what it takes to fire a cap.

Also, pre-loaded cappers make cold weather shooting easier when fingers are cold.

Hope this helps you. :thumbsup:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I'm wondering if the feller in question may have turned the cylinder with a cap not pressed on and squeezed it with the frame somehow?
I place the cap on firmly on my revolvers nipples and carefully while holding the pistol pointing downrange use the hammer to press the cap on the nipple, this ensures instant firing. so far no discharge has happened.

 

[rebel727]

I'm wondering if the feller in question may have turned the cylinder with a cap not pressed on and squeezed it with the frame somehow?
I place the cap on firmly on my revolvers nipples and carefully while holding the pistol pointing downrange use the hammer to press the cap on the nipple, this ensures instant firing. so far no discharge has happened.

I dunno Bliz. I've seen a pic of his thumb. I cant really see a cap doing that kind of tissue damage. What's funny about the whole thing is he was supposed to be seating a cap on a 58 Remmy but the thumb in question has the side next to his index finger damaged(right hand). Unless he was holding his hand upside down to seat the cap I can't see how he did it. I haven't seen the video cuz it takes too long to download but he does have a damaged thumb.

 

[Keppy]

I have reloaded center fire cartridges for 25 years and loaded sometimes as high as 200 rds a week when shooting the silhouette game. I have had a couple primers blow when primming in those years. I know they sting and have had others tell about a primers going off but have not heard of blowing finger off.I would think cartridge primes are hotter than caps. I press fairly hard when caping because they fit snug on the nipple. I would think it would take more pressure than that but I'm not willing to test it. :nono: I would like to know more info about this also. But anything is possible. I have seen some brain dead people on the ranges in my days, do some crazy things. My Opinion

 

[feyx0006]

Does anyone know thw URL to whatever site has this picture and especially the video (if available). I'd really like to see what this guy did and learn from his mistake rather than blowing it off (no pun intended) and repeating it myself.

 

[rebel727]

It was posted on the SASS Wire awhile back but it's been too long ago to find now. SASS deletes posts after a couple of weeks.

 

[Bob Riegl]

:hmm: I fully agree with the possibility of injury to your thumb or whatever by manhandling a cap that will not seat properly. I would suggest that you do not in any way try to force a cap on a nipple; whether by your thumb or some implement---such as a dowel etc. How much injury you will sustain I couldn't predict---blowing off your thumb---I doubt it. But, that being said, you might lose a chunk of your thumb in the process. I have a friend who did lose a chunk of his thumb when trying to force a cap on the nipple of his revolver. So BEWARE! :nono:

 

[JEB/Ms]

I always liked the Ted Cash cappers but felt that I really didn't need one, I had been capping for years with just my fingers and had no problem at all. A man on another forum (for some reason, I think he used the name "Cuts Crooked" but I may be wrong, this old age sucks, ya know) posted a picture of his thumb and the story of how a cap went off while he was placing it with his fingers, discharging his rifle. The blowback through the nipple and the cap fragments really created some ugly results. I have since bought several cappers and use them exclusively. I'm not a surgeon but my thumbs are important to me. There are certain spots in the human nose that only a thumb will reach.
JEB/Ms

 

[paulvallandigham]

I still don't understand why owning a capper- in-line, or box- is such a big deal? The cappers make it much easier to cap a revolver, or any long gun I am aware of, particularly in the field when you have cold hands, and a case of buck fever! I bought one with my first percussion gun, as a matter of safety. I never expect a cap to go off during priming, or capping, but then, I don't want to sacrifice a part of my finger or thumb, either! :youcrazy: :surrender:

 

[Bountyhunter]

I'm with you Reb. Thing is, if this was happening with any regularity, there would be shooters running around all over the place with dinged thumbs. There would be articles in all the slick magazines about "cap thumbs". They would make it sound like the "M1 Thumb" that ya got from loading clips in the Garand.

In this neck of the woods, life revolves around rodeos. It is common to see men in the store, or on the street that have no right thumbs at all. When they rope a steer, and set the rope, they then dally it around the saddle horn, and if they catch their thumb under the rope, when the steer hits the end of the rope, it cuts their thumb off.

I have not met a black powder shooter yet that has a thumb damaged by a cap going off while loading. If it were all that common, the guys that really shoot would have notches blown in their thumbs, sorta like carpenters missing the ends of fingers from table saws.....or rodeo cowboys that are missing thumbs.

I am missing the end of a finger from a table saw, but I have not had a percussion cap go off while loading. I believe it could happen, but the likelyhood is about like your chances of winning the lottery.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I carry a straight-line (I suppose it's called?)capper for use with my rifles #11 nipples. #10 caps aren't very secure in it and get jammed-up. are there cappers made for #10's?
just saw Zonie's post about cappers, I'll check.

 

[rebel727]

Cappers don't work well with 58's. I've been shootin c&b for 38 years. I never had a cap blow up. Not saying it can't or won't happen but I think it highly unlikely. Put me on your Darwin award list if ya want but when I get home this evening I'm going to load a cap(sans charge) and get a wooden dowel and see if I can make one blow up.
Hey Bounty, wanna hold my beer while I do it?

 

[paulvallandigham]

The Straight line, or in-line capper has always done the job on my 58 Remington replica revolver, so I don't understand your comment. As to using #10 caps, I have used them in a .36 c&b revolver and only had to pinch the spring wires a little to get them to hold the caps. Yes, sometimes a cap would turn sideways in the stick, but that could be fished upright with the point of my pocket knife.

 

[Old40Rod]

For you it should be purely a risk/benefit analysis. Plunk down the $20-$30 and buy yourself a nice capper. Why risk it for that kind of money? I don't know if anyone has done any testing on the effects of a cap going off while being pressed by a capper vs. a thumb, but I suspect the capper would give you some protection. If you chose not to use a capper and you have an accident, at least no one can accuse you of being a surgeon who is all thumbs. :haha:

 

[rebel727]

I've never used a capper but that's what I've heard a lot of people say that have.

 

[tg]

I would suspect the odds are much higher of sustaining a serious cut while messing with a flint.Still something to think about.