The shape of BP cones

After the first recoil, the unfired caps may fall off. In fact if they all stayed on after firing, then they wouldn't fall into the works.

Rich1939 said:

I don't think they would fall off anymore than they do with straight sided cones. If the cone forces a cap to widen as it is pressed on the fit would be better/tighter then pinching a loss cap.

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But not as good as a properly fitting cap on a properly fitting cone. Same reason why tapered rifle cases extract easier than straight walled cases.

ETA: but cones are called cones for a reason. They are all tapered to some degree unless they've been messed with.

They are cone shaped.
I've never seen straight walled nipples/cones

The taper on (quality) aftermarket nipples is lesser than the OEM ones, but it's still there - they are not cylindrical. IMHO, the best caps I have used are the 4.0 mm ones from Sellier & Bellot - compared to Remington's, CCI and RWS 1075, they are made of slightly thicker copper and are not ribbed. Quite rarely I have separation pieces, that could fall into the action - they usually just "blossom" on the nipple and fall outside the pistol with cocking. And they don't seem to flow so bad in the safety recess on the hammer of Colt pistols. But like I said - that is just my oppinion...

Wish they sold sellier and bellot here in the united states....that way i could give them a try. Unless any of you all know where i can buy some? It really is too bad that nipples and caps dont come in a universal size. That would make things a lot easier for shooters

TheOutlawKid said:

Wish they sold sellier and bellot here in the united states....that way i could give them a try. Unless any of you all know where i can buy some?

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You won't find them for sale in the US and you can't even find any Americans talking about them.
They have a US corporate headquarters in Minnesota if you want to contact them toll free with questions about importing them. --->>> https://www.sellierbellot.us/contact/

Mizar said:

The taper on (quality) aftermarket nipples is lesser than the OEM ones, but it's still there - they are not cylindrical. IMHO, the best caps I have used are the 4.0 mm ones from Sellier & Bellot - compared to Remington's, CCI and RWS 1075, they are made of slightly thicker copper and are not ribbed. Quite rarely I have separation pieces, that could fall into the action - they usually just "blossom" on the nipple and fall outside the pistol with cocking. And they don't seem to flow so bad in the safety recess on the hammer of Colt pistols. But like I said - that is just my oppinion...

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Mizar, I wanted to know more about them but from previous searches, there's wasn't very much written about them even on European sites.
Are the S&B 4.0 caps a little bit tight because of the thicker copper?
Can you compare their size to any US caps or to RWS?
Which stock nipples do they fit good on for you?
I recall one guy posting that they were a little too tight for his nipples, while others gave them 5 stars for being the best caps.
I read that they also make 4.7's which were said to be very much over-sized.

Thanks mr.articap!

arcticap said:

Mizar, I wanted to know more about them but from previous searches, there's wasn't very much written about them even on European sites.
Are the S&B 4.0 caps a little bit tight because of the thicker copper?
Can you compare their size to any US caps or to RWS?
Which stock nipples do they fit good on for you?
I recall one guy posting that they were a little too tight for his nipples, while others gave them 5 stars for being the best caps.
I read that they also make 4.7's which were said to be very much over-sized.

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Hi Arcticap, I would put them on par with RWS 1075, but since I don't have gauge rods to properly measure them I can rely only on feeling. Smaller then Rem. #10 and CCI #11 caps, but nothing extraordinary. I'm using them on unmodified TRESO bronze nipples - they fit snug and secure with just a tiny amount of pressure (really tiny amount, unnoticeable), they fit well and on the TOW nipples for Ruger Old Army. As for stock nipples - I find Pietta ones to be quite different from batch to batch. On one set of nipples they fit good, on others - not so well, but with gentle filing of the top (about .004") they can be made to fit, and at the same time there are nipples that are just too small and cannot be adjusted, because they will end up too short for reliable ignition... But, as a general rule, I think that most of the times those caps will fit loose on both Pietta and Uberti stock nipples.
The real problem with S&B caps is unavailability - even in Europe it's hard to find them sometimes. But if you find some and the price is right, do try them - although, don't expect anything extraordinary like an instant cure for cap jams... I just find them a little bit better, that's it.