[Misfire99]

Hi all
I have a 54 cal gray wolf from CVA. I had shot it many times in the past but it has been sitting for a very long time. I took it out again to shoot it and it took many times to set off the cap. After some inspection I found that the old cap had stuck to the inside of the hammer. I cleaned the hammer and fired. It popped the cap right away but the remains of the cap was stuck to the inside of the hammer. This happened over and over. It doesn't just fall out either. I have to dig it out. This had never happened in the past. How would you guys fix this problem? I thought about stippling the inside of the hammer to make it an uneven surface but this might effect firing of the cap. Any ideas guys? I think I should mention this happens without a powder charge. Only the charge of the cap. Maybe the reason it never happened in the past is the pressure coming out of the nipple blew the old cap away but I don't know for sure.

[AntiqueCollector]

Try different caps.

[Chawbaccer]

I find the German caps pretty much disintegrate when fired. You might be able to bore out the hammer a bit so the caps cant get a grip on the walls.

[Old Dragoon]

Is there any play in the hammer? even the minutest amount of play will have an effect on the firing of the caps. Check that.
Do you weld? I have, in the past, welded up a hammer(the inside cup) to make it flatter and less cupped.
Also check out the alignment between the hammer and the nipple when it is down on the nipple, for some reason it may not be a parallel (read Flat) fit and this will pull the cap off the nipple before it fragments and cause it to lodge in the hammer.

[sundance44s]

I always cut a small V shape in the front of the hammer cup , but not too deep don`t go over half way to the hammer face ,This stops the caps from getting hung up in the cup ..and if they still hang a little it makes it real easy to free them .( thumb nail will do it )

[Misfire99]

Thanks all for your help. I do weld but I suspect brazing would be better, less heat. Also it already has a V notch but the cap is more to the rear of the V.The V being toward the muzzle. I did try different caps. One was CCI and I forget the other but they come in a red plastic "tin." I think the first thing I will try is changing the nipple and see if that makes a difference. I will do that first because it's cheap and has less chance of screwing it up.

[sundance44s]

The cup around your hammer may be a bit small ..another thing I`ve done is used my dremel tool and a small stone bit and made the cup walls a little thinner on the inside , that way not as much material there to grip the caps..some are a little on the thick side.

[Misfire99]

Sundance44s said
The cup around your hammer may be a bit small ..another thing I`ve done is used my dremel tool and a small stone bit and made the cup walls a little thinner on the inside , that way not as much material there to grip the caps..some are a little on the thick side.

If the new nipple doesn't get the job done I will do this next. I wonder if I removed the "cup" of the hammer face altogether if I would have a problem. Do you think that gasses would come back and hit me in the face??

[sundance44s]

They might hit you I wouldn`t go that far there`s a lot of pressure there cap pieces could fly every where ..you can try the dremel on the inside of the cup walls..and if the V cut is towards the front you can also make the V cut a little wider ....I`ve had to do all of the above on different make front stuffers ...nothing like a little tweaking on these black powder guns .