What's the difference?

[Theolddog]

What's the difference between #11, #10 caps and musket caps?
I'm just getting back into black powder and can't find either #10 or #11 caps and someone just told me to switch to musket caps. I have a TC Hawkens. As bad as it may sound, I am lost!!

 

[TDM]

What's the difference between #11, #10 caps and musket caps?
I'm just getting back into black powder and can't find either #10 or #11 caps and someone just told me to switch to musket caps. I have a TC Hawkens. As bad as it may sound, I am lost!!

Size is the difference. #10 caps have a slightly smaller diameter and height than #11 caps. Musket caps are even larger diameter than # 11's and have a splayed foot. You would need a musket cap conversion nipple to use them on your TC. But it doesn't end there. The #10 & #11 cap dimensions vary among the manufacturers. I've found #11 CCI caps to be pretty much equal to Remington #10's. Most cap & ball revolver nipples use #10's. There is more technical data on the size differences if you do a search on it. Your likely only going to find #11's, which is what you want. If not, find a conversion nipple and get musket caps.

 

[bang]

It will need to have a short cone or a modified short. At least on my TC Hawken it does.

 

[Grenadier1758]

The chart in the following link has dimensions for some of the more common brands of caps and discussions of some of the available nipples.

I find it interesting that the #10 Remmington caps will fit revolver nipples better than the #10 CCI caps and while similar to the #11 CCI caps in dimension, the CCI #11 caps are loose on revolver nipples. One of the important tools that I believe should be in all of our toolboxes is the digital Vernier caliper. These are inexpensive, provide inside, outside and depth measurements with an accuracy that will help us obtain the best performance from our components.

http://guntoters.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Percussion-Caps-and-Nipples2.pdf
As previously stated, the Musket caps are much larger and require a musket nipple to securely hold a musket cap. Musket caps are far more expensive than the #11 caps, but if that is all that is available, then going through the process of fitting a musket nipple on a gun designed for a #11 cap may be necessary to keep shooting.

 

[new2bp]

Treading into dangerous land to say this but there are also conversion nipples to go to a 209 primer. The ones Ive seen online use a screw on cap above the primer with a firing pin built in kinda like the cartridge conversion cylinders for c&b revolvers