How i make HOT percussion caps

Status
Not open for further replies.
I believe you can make your own glue with old film negative material and acetone. Thats how model airplane builders used to get the glue they used long before it was made commercially. It is supposed to be extremely flammable too.

There was a glue we used way back when called Ambroid and I'm pretty sure it was just acetone and celluloid mixed and put in a tube. If you have any old 8mm movies laying around you have a good source of glue.

If you don't want to order the Duco off the internet and need glue now check this out at your local hobby store. It should be close to the same thing.

https://sigmfg.com/collections/sig-glues/products/sig-sig-ment
 
Last edited:
I went ahead and got a 6 pack of duco. Im always tinkering ill use em I'm sure. So i bought the 11 cap maker from sharpshooter.22lrreloader. I was wondering what the turn around time is when ordering from them? Anyone have any experience?
 
PWC said:
My Nobler used the old orange Ambroid. Dried on fingers, chewed off later...LOL
Click to expand...

My dad had a Nobler. I flew a Ringmaster with a McCoy .29 on it. In 1979 I got my first RC model and never looked back. I just charged one up last night and hope to go fly this week weather permitting for the first time in over a year. I have been building models since I was 8 years old. I just turned 64 in March.

But to keep on topic there should be several ways to get the nitro glue outlawkid is using just in case you don't want to order on line. If I didn't have so many caps on hand I would be following his instructions to a Tee. Hopefully with the Remington plant back up and running caps will be back on the shelves in a short time.
 
My cap maker took about 6 weeks. Some people on another board took almost 3 months.
 
I guess its a good thing i have a few capss.this purchase is what i call a what if purchase. What if o have to make my own? I live in the appalachians.i have good. Friends and family included who live the traditional way. I know you can't count on electricity and the internet. One day it will be gone.
 
The cap maker works great. I have not had been able to get their prime-all to work. I have been making small batches to test them. One batch of 12 that I made, none of them fired. I have two more batches loaded using different procedures. I hope that at least one of them work.
 
Blackpowderwarrior said:
I went ahead and got a 6 pack of duco. Im always tinkering ill use em I'm sure. So i bought the 11 cap maker from sharpshooter.22lrreloader. I was wondering what the turn around time is when ordering from them? Anyone have any experience?
Click to expand...

I ordered my cap maker from Sharpshooter on January 1. I got it February 1 after a couple days in transit. I haven't read anything recently regarding their current backlog, but that's a somewhat recent datapoint.
 
Hi Lyle Can you tell us about what you do to measure the powders out and mixing them? Are you using any binder?The wrong binder or if it's too thick will stop the cap from firing.Been there done that.We are here to help. Many here have been doing this for years. The information out there now is the best there ever has been.
Black Jack Shellac
 
The cap maker lists instructions to fill the cap completely. I followed the instructions on the prime-all on mixing the primer compound. The first batch I filled the cap and added acetone. 4 out of 12 fired only 2 set off the powder. I had a lot of loose prime compound. Second batch same procedure only sprayed hair spray was added after the caps dried. 0 out of 12 fired. Third batch filled cap, compressed primer compound, added one drop of alcohol, compressed again, let dry. I put them in an empty cap can and lightly shook them, loose primer compound in the can. I have not shot them. I saw your post on using glue. The 4th batch filled cap and added one drop of the glue you recommended. Nothing else. I have not shot them.
 
Here is what I have done. Mix the powders as instructed. In my opinion filling the cup is way too much. I use less than half that amt.. Once the powder is in the cups,I lightly compress them. Note You can really use a lot of pressure here if wanted. Light pressure works well though. If using Duco cement mix that ,one drop in a tablespoon of acetone maybe two drops. I use a dipstick ( wooden matchstick) to place a drop in each cup. Let dry and go shoot. This works really well. No crumbling and falling out. I have also used one drop of elmers white glue in a teaspoon of water.Shake the crap out of it in a small bottle. Mixing with a stick didn't work nearly good enough. Use the dipstick to place the drops.Let dry and go shoot. The elmers does not sound like it would work but,I have had all of them fire even shooting pyrodex.
Black Jack Shellac
 
I look forward to trying my hand at making caps. At any time i try and keep enough supplies to last a long while. Learning this skill could be the crucial thing that helps you and your family survive. You see whats going on around us in this ol' world. Im in the world but sure aint of the world.
 
Blackpowderwarrior said:
I look forward to trying my hand at making caps. At any time i try and keep enough supplies to last a long while. Learning this skill could be the crucial thing that helps you and your family survive. You see whats going on around us in this ol' world. Im in the world but sure aint of the world.
Click to expand...
I have a small supply of caps. My concern is that If I shoot them I may not be able to replace them. I will make a new test batch today.
 
Last edited:
Black Jack Shellac said:
Here is what I have done. Mix the powders as instructed. In my opinion filling the cup is way too much. I use less than half that amt.. Once the powder is in the cups,I lightly compress them. Note You can really use a lot of pressure here if wanted. Light pressure works well though. If using Duco cement mix that ,one drop in a tablespoon of acetone maybe two drops. I use a dipstick ( wooden matchstick) to place a drop in each cup. Let dry and go shoot. This works really well. No crumbling and falling out. I have also used one drop of elmers white glue in a teaspoon of water.Shake the crap out of it in a small bottle. Mixing with a stick didn't work nearly good enough. Use the dipstick to place the drops.Let dry and go shoot. The elmers does not sound like it would work but,I have had all of them fire even shooting pyrodex.
Black Jack Shellac
Click to expand...
I will try your system.
 
I got an old eye drop bottle that i use as a "dropper", i think it was generic Visene. I put very little Duco cement and lots of acetone. This is what i use as my binder. The Prime-All mix is decent...never had a problem with the mix but i dont use the binder they provide. I only use the 3 main ingredients. I no longer use the kit as i purchases the ingredients in bulk...but the kit never gave me problems. Make sure the white powder is crushed very well before mixing. I actually mix the sulfur and antimony together very well before i mix in the potassium chlorate. I use a tooth pick or small plastic spoon to mix it well. DO NOT DO THIS MIXING METHOD IF YOU HAVE MIXED IN THE WHITE POWDER (POTASSIUM CHLORATE). I use index cards to mix the powders. I fold them in half , length wise ,and just pour them back and forth till its mixed really well. I fill the primer cups about half way or a little less...i actually use a scooper i made from one of them plastic red ring toy roll caps. I just cut the little cup out of the ring and super glued it to a bamboo scewer that had been sanded to havena flat tip to glue to cup. The cup is cut down to about half size and it scoops up the perfect amount of primer mix. This is strong stuff so a little goes a very very long way. No need to fill your cap hull or even more than half filled. I feel that if its made too powerful that it will negatively affect the performance of your cap. It will be too much for the cap to handle and wont concentrate and guide much spark/gasses into the nipples combustion chamber..it will just explode on the outside. In my opinion (again my opinion and just a theory) i feel that the cap and hammer help guide and seal the gasses into the nipples chambers for a split millisecond...but if the cap material is too weak and/or the primer too stong then most the explosion isnt contained and is wasted outside of the nipple chamber. Also too strong of a mix will make more cap "shrapnel" fragments that can jam up the gun....i like to keep my caps as complete as possible.
 
Black powder caps can be made too strong. I found that out ola long time ago when I tried to use regular 209 primers in place of muzzel loader 209 primers. Yeah, regular shotgun 209 primers are way stronger and mess with accuracy.

Blackpowderwarrior said:
I went ahead and got a 6 pack of duco. Im always tinkering ill use em I'm sure. So i bought the 11 cap maker from sharpshooter.22lrreloader. I was wondering what the turn around time is when ordering from them? Anyone have any experience?
Click to expand...
I ordered the primeall mix just to examine it and it took about 2 weeks.
 
The Kid is right about not making the cap so strong. Firing caps made with the 36gauge .005 copper on my tester .The cups flatten out to a disk upon firing. I have not made any with the brass sheet. A double layer pop can actually fares a little better on the tester. In all cases a least half of the power shoots down the outside of the nipple.I may reduce my charge more to improve this. A over charged cap will use up your powders faster and gunk up your revolver quick.. To all who use the cap maker from sharp shooter . Are they working well? Mine came with problems. Lots of flashing around the punched out holes.This made it hard to slide the metal over for the next punching. Also lots of little metal bits coming out with the cups.. I have made it better by expanding the teeth outward and putting a sharp edge on the teeth. I also polished the funnel part and the center hole the cup gets pushed through.. It now works better.Less hangups and easy to push through.
Black Jack Shellac
 
Black Jack Shellac said:
The Kid is right about not making the cap so strong. Firing caps made with the 36gauge .005 copper on my tester .The cups flatten out to a disk upon firing. I have not made any with the brass sheet. A double layer pop can actually fares a little better on the tester. In all cases a least half of the power shoots down the outside of the nipple.I may reduce my charge more to improve this. A over charged cap will use up your powders faster and gunk up your revolver quick.. To all who use the cap maker from sharp shooter . Are they working well? Mine came with problems. Lots of flashing around the punched out holes.This made it hard to slide the metal over for the next punching. Also lots of little metal bits coming out with the cups.. I have made it better by expanding the teeth outward and putting a sharp edge on the teeth. I also polished the funnel part and the center hole the cup gets pushed through.. It now works better.Less hangups and easy to push through.
Black Jack Shellac
Click to expand...
I have the same problem. Please post pictures of how you improved the cap maker.
 
Lyle Getting pictures is a problem for me right now. Do you have a way to measure the punch dia. and the hole dia? Mine is .005 apart. Zero clearance would be ideal. I could only make the punch teeth bigger around to help get a better shearing action. I got a couple of ground steel ball bearings from the hardware store 3/8" and 7/16". I set the punch upright on my bench vice. Set the 7/16" into the end of the punch. I then gave the ball a firm tap with a hammer. In measuring I saw that the teeth had moved outward,but needed more . So a few wacks moved the teeth to almost the full dia.I wanted. I stopped at that. Say did you get your caps working?
Black Jack Shellac
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

D
  • Locked
Percussion Cap Metal Material Preferences
Replies
8
Views
4K
Lyle
Lyle
Oohrah!
  • Locked
Tap-O-Cap product review
Replies
8
Views
1K
Oohrah!
Oohrah!
raa-7
  • Locked
Making my own caps
2
Replies
39
Views
4K
ofitg
ofitg
Gatofeo
  • Locked
I Wish They'd Make ...
Replies
11
Views
844
Crownvicman
C
Gatofeo
  • Locked
Felt wads in cap and ball revolvers
Replies
4
Views
4K
Old Fuff
O
Back
Top