How i make HOT percussion caps

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Another potential issue with the use of plastic toy caps and "some" home made caps is whether either could create more risk of chainfire due to being less flame resistant than regular percussion caps.
 
Ive notices caps with exposed priming media are the most sensitive or ones that have priming media that has broken up. This can cause the media to prematurely explode due to being rubbed against itself when pushing the caps onto the nipple. When making homemade caps i always make sure that my mix is wetted with a glue or glue mix and media stuck firmly to the bottom of the cap hull with no air space and that the priming media is always covered and protected and always have that protective barrier to act as a cushion seal that needs to be purposely struck with some force in order for the priming media to be reached. Thats why i leave the thin red paper on the "dots" when i make roll cap percussion caps. I always make sure paper side faces up. If im mixing H-48 primer (like Prime-All mix) i always place a paper disc (size 5/32 inches) over the primer then add a drop of acetone and Duco cement mix....the liquid glue seeps into the paper and priming compound and seals it to the bottom of the cap hull. This method insures that the priming compound stays put and doesnt crumble and cause hard crumbs that can rub against the rest of the primer mix causing a friction explosion...if that makes any sense. So if making percussion caps make sure to always place a protective cushion cover on your priming media, it will make your caps less sensitive but not so much that your guns hammer cant set it off.
 
Hi everyone The Kid and I have talked on another site about percussion caps. I have tried the idea of using Duco cement as a binder. I can say I'm impressed.I use it thinned down and dip stick a drop in the caps .I strip off the paper from the Gerrman caps. Lift the dots and put 4 to 6 dots in the cups. I also use the Prime all for many of my caps. My regular binder is shellac flakes dissolved in denatured alcohol. The Duco cement is a great discovery though. I don't know about you guys but the cap roles have gone away from WallyWorld. The Dollar General may still have them here.They are still German but smaller dots and cost more. I don't use any paper in the cups and have not had any problems setting off the caps. I used to long ago when using some older cap roles.
Blackjack Shellac
 
Thanks mr.black jack shellac for telling others about your experience! Glad it worked for you too. For those in texas you can get the caps at any H-E-B store and online at heb.com for under 3 bux a 2400 count pack. although corrosive they arent an aggressive fast acting corrosive...so long as you clean ur guns you will be fine..a lot cleaner than using the Prime-All mix. Its actually cleaner that regular store bought caps.
Here are a couple sites to order the caps..
https://www.heb.com/product-detail/imperial-toy-legends-of-the-wild-west-toy-roll-caps/1276994

https://www.toyguntown.com/toy-cap-guns-caps/c-100-two-packs-of-cap-gun-100-shot-paper-roll-caps
 
The HEB store is a great find and toygun town too.When using primeall. I use a scoop made from one of the little plastic cups that are from the ring caps. Cut down to about a third size and super glued to a wooden matchstick. I have found that this is all it takes to have the power needed. I also leave out the supplied binder as it has not worked for me. . The shellac or the Duco cement is far better. No crumbling no falling out. .This formula is cleaner when so little is used. I have also compressed the charge. I put a rod of the right size in my drill press and put the cup with charge on the rod and press the rod into the cup. . I use about 10 pounds of pressure on the handle so the rod is likely pressing 40 pounds or more. I always do this while the charge is still a little wet. It is thought that this makes for a dense charge. This can be done with the toy caps too but be careful they may be too sensitive to do this.. This compressing is only a option as they will work without it.
Shellac
 
Mr. Black jack shellac, i too am not a fan of the binder included in the prime all mix and i also agree that a smaller amount is all that is needed with the prime-all...some people overfill their caps and it makes for a very hot cap..although it is unnecessary and a lot more messy. I like ur idea of cutting down a cap to a third and gluing it to a matchstick as a way to get the perfect sized load per cap. I have to make me one of them. Duco cement tho...that stuff is great. Its my prefered glue for making caps and gluing up paper cartridges. Use duco cement gel as is or by mixing with acetone to make a thinner liquid glue
 
If you want a eye opener. Let your thinned down Duco cement and acetone dry out . I mix on a bottom of a coke can. If you let it dry it's easy to lift the thin film of cement. Light it off and you will be surprised. I expected it to burn but wow.
Shellac
 
Lol yeah ita highly flamable...thats why i think it helpa the percussion caps as a fuel but also due to sending small peices of burning glue through the nipple and into the chamber to the black powder. Its another reason why i keep the red paper on the roll cap dots...its a thin paper slathered in highly flamable glue that catches fire and shoots into the powder insuring ignition. Atleast thats my theory of what i think is happrning.
 
FWIW I wanted to make mine out of copper, so I tried .005" and found it too thick, it took too much power to drive the cap maker's punch with that. So next I tried .003" and that seems to work well. Too expensive? Yes, but I don't like the aluminum can material. I suppose having thinner material means the folded sides aren't squeezed as tightly.

Still waiting for my newest purchase to arrive from Italy, the Remington spur trigger pocket revolver, those Italians must really be taking the CCP virus thing seriously as it's been several months so far.
 
I now have the 22 sharpshooter cap maker .I bought it just to see what can be done with it(I already have two cap makers). I am dismayed at the very loose fit of the punch to the die body. The die body has a hole of .4455 and the punch .436. This my friends is very loose. Its a wonder that it can cut the copper or aluminum. It does leave a raised area around the punched out hole.Sometimes making it hard to slide the metal to the next place for punching. Any of you guys measured your cap maker?I will measure my Forrester made set today. My home made set has zero slop. It was made with a slight friction fit. I have to lightly oil or grease it to avoid galling. That's ok as I have made thousands of cups with it.
I am now in the process of attaching my sharpshooter cap maker to a drill press.NO I don't turn it on,I'm just using it like a press. I'm not done but have tested it some. It's going to work and work well. Very easy to operate the handle. Production should be very fast.You do it right and 800 per hour will be easy. I have used the .005 copper and two layer pop cans. Both easy
Once done maybe I can get some pictures of the setup.
Black Jack Shellac
 
HisSoldier said:
FWIW I wanted to make mine out of copper, so I tried .005" and found it too thick, it took too much power to drive the cap maker's punch with that. So next I tried .003" and that seems to work well. Too expensive? Yes, but I don't like the aluminum can material. I suppose having thinner material means the folded sides aren't squeezed as tightly.

Still waiting for my newest purchase to arrive from Italy, the Remington spur trigger pocket revolver, those Italians must really be taking the CCP virus thing seriously as it's been several months so far.
Click to expand...

What brand of copper sheeting and is it pure? Because i use .005/36 gauge copper sheeting from Hobby Lobby, K&S brand, and my cap maker from .22 reloader works just fine on it and with 2 layers of aluminum. Perhaps the copper you are using is a stiff alloy?
 
I need to buy this equipment. Looks like a great way to kill time productively, especially since I have no primers to load metallic cartridges with right now...this will scratch the itch and help with a critical area of supply.
 
Gentlemen,
Thanks for all the input. After much thought and consideration i purchased one of rhe cap makers from 22lrreloader.com. this is definately a good prep item and when im a store if they have cheap roll caps i try n pick up a few packs. Next purchase is a big one, Duco cement :)
 
JMHO- if you have a percussion
ignition rifle you use for hunting,
you should have one of those nipple
primers in your shooting bag anyway.
Sure helps way out in the sticks if
you have a misfire for any reason.
I've had one of those a long time.
( I'd say shotgun too. .)
 
Ranger99 said:
JMHO- if you have a percussion
ignition rifle you use for hunting,
you should have one of those nipple
primers in your shooting bag anyway.
Sure helps way out in the sticks if
you have a misfire for any reason.
I've had one of those a long time.
( I'd say shotgun too. .)
Click to expand...


My firend i live WAY out in the sticks :) ill use my store bought caps for hunting until i get the homemade cap mixture down. Once i run out of store boughts ill sure be glad i made this investment.
 
The Duco cement is not pricey at $3 .That's at the high priced hardware store. The only problem with its use is using it up. You use so little that the tube can dry up first.Thinned fingernail polish is said to work also. Many ways to bind this into the cups.
Black Jack Shellac
 
TheOutlawKid said:
Ive notices caps with exposed priming media are the most sensitive or ones that have priming media that has broken up. This can cause the media to prematurely explode due to being rubbed against itself when pushing the caps onto the nipple. When making homemade caps i always make sure that my mix is wetted with a glue or glue mix and media stuck firmly to the bottom of the cap hull with no air space and that the priming media is always covered and protected and always have that protective barrier to act as a cushion seal that needs to be purposely struck with some force in order for the priming media to be reached. Thats why i leave the thin red paper on the "dots" when i make roll cap percussion caps. I always make sure paper side faces up. If im mixing H-48 primer (like Prime-All mix) i always place a paper disc (size 5/32 inches) over the primer then add a drop of acetone and Duco cement mix....the liquid glue seeps into the paper and priming compound and seals it to the bottom of the cap hull. This method insures that the priming compound stays put and doesnt crumble and cause hard crumbs that can rub against the rest of the primer mix causing a friction explosion...if that makes any sense. So if making percussion caps make sure to always place a protective cushion cover on your priming media, it will make your caps less sensitive but not so much that your guns hammer cant set it off.
Click to expand...
Do you wet the Prime All with alcohol or acetone before you place the paper disk on top? What is your ratio of acetone to Duco cement?
 
When i ise H-48/A-42 primer mix, such as prome all, i put the primer mix in the cap hill and add one drop of my binder. I use duco cememt mixed with acetone. Its very very thinned out duco cement. Its about a 1:10 or 1:15 ratio, i dont really measure as i just eyeball it..but its very very diltuted. After the drop has been absorbed by the primer mix i wait about 3-5 minutes , this makes sure the glue is semi dry and the primer isnt so "mushy" and wet, and place a paper disk on top and put slight pressure down. Then i add one more drop of binder mix. This ensure the paper disk stays put.
 
I believe Duco cement is a nitrocellulose glue...but i read somewhere that you can technically make nitrocellulose glue by using a smokeless powder and acetone. I have never done this...but it might work.
 
I skipped ordering the prime all mixture and instead just got a bunch of rolls of the legends of the West caps an ordered Duco cement. This will be an investment that may pay off one day. Either way I have the tools necessary to manufacture my own percussion caps if it comes down to that. I appreciate everyone who's added to this thread their own personal experience, knowledge and tips & tricks it has been very helpful to the community at Large. Thank you all - black powder Warrior
 
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