No 10 or 11 Caps as Pistol Primers?

Scowboy · Mar 7, 2021

Ok...we all expect (hope) supply shortage will end and Uncle Joe will be unsuccessful in blocking our right to have fun on the range and in the woods. So large pistol primers (and all the other kinds) should be cheap and available again. But, people used to say the supply of 12 ga would never dry up, yet here we are.

So, just in case.....

Can BP caps like #10, #11, or musket caps be used as pistol and shotgun primers? Or is there a good DIY solution? I can't tell if some of the stuff on YouTube is a good or bad idea.

No, I don't want to at all. I rather like using the right tool in the right application, and really don't want to have to make things I should be able to buy cheap.

But just in case....

Thanks!

DocRock · Mar 7, 2021

Not in Boxer primed ammunition, at least not effectively. A Berdan primed case might work as you would need the internal anvil. As to reliability?

And percussion caps aren't growing on trees.

Pat Riot · Mar 7, 2021

No...you’ll put your eye out.

jdavis123 · Mar 7, 2021

The percussion caps are different in diameter and too tall to fit flush in the cartridge primer pockets. Percussion caps are made of thin copper that is supported internally by the nipple and made to blow apart on hammer impact. The nipple acts as the anvil does on the primer. I don’t see this as a viable solution. There are YouTube videos showing how to reload primers. I have successfully done this but it is a tedious process.

ThomasT · Mar 7, 2021

Right now caps are as hard or harder to find than primers and stupid expensive if you do find some. And no they won't work anyway.

derek45 · Mar 7, 2021

nope nope nope

Speedo66 · Mar 8, 2021

Assuming you could cut down a cap and get it to fit, they're basically made of foil, probably not strong enough to contain the explosive gases produced when a cartridge goes off.

You'd probably experience a bunch of hot gases coming back at you.

Scowboy · Mar 8, 2021

Bummer. Was worth a try.

Sigh.....

Thanks!

Dave T · Mar 8, 2021

If you have percussion caps you'd be better off trading them to a cap 'n' ball shooter who has a stash of pistol primers.

Just sayin',
Dave

Pat Riot · Mar 8, 2021

Dave T said:
If you have percussion caps you'd be better off trading them to a cap 'n' ball shooter who has a stash of pistol primers.

Just sayin',
Dave

Best suggestion ^^^^^
@Scowboy This is probably your best solution. :thumbup:

Carl N. Brown · Mar 8, 2021

I compared standard #11 percussion caps to small pistol primers and to unprimed .32 S&W Long (small pistol primer pocket) and .30-30 rifle (large pistol primer pocket) casings.

The percussion caps are larger in diameter and much taller than small pistol primers and won't enter a small pistol primer pocket. They are smaller in diameter than large rifle primers and fall out of the large rifle primer pocket.

I also suspect that if a BP percussion cap were loaded in a centerfire case, the impact of the firing pin would be as likely to knock the priming compound loose without igniting it as to actually fire it.

milsurpguy · Mar 8, 2021

You're better off reloading spent primers.

No 10 or 11 Caps as Pistol Primers?

Scowboy

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DocRock

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Pat Riot

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jdavis123

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ThomasT

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derek45

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Speedo66

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Scowboy

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Dave T

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Pat Riot

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Carl N. Brown

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milsurpguy

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