Bad Caps Or Bad Hammer?

[Cosmoline]

I've been having troubles with an otherwise nice Rogers & Spencer. Using mostly CCI caps it ignites 2/3, but on about 1/3rd it hits the cap which then falls apart and spits its dusty stuff into the nipple. So I have to pull the cap off, try to clean out the dust, and recap. For two chambers it wouldn't even ignite at all. So I'm not sure if it's the caps or the gun. I took those home for inspection and the two nipples were unobstructed , the main charge exposed. Yet on the firing line with three or four caps in a row, there was no ignition. No cap pop and no main charge boom.

But why would the caps be falling apart like that? Is it possible to have a hammer hitting hard enough to dismantle the caps but not hard enough to ignite them? Could the problem be the nipples?

Thanks

 

[BowerR64]

This is the exact same problem i was having but only with 1 of the 6 in the cylinder. The one nipple i had issues with i noticed it was a tad to short and the hammer was pushing the cap down further onto the nipple but wasnt "pinching" it enough to fire the cap.

Mine did the same as yours leaving a little white dust inside the hole on the nipple and all around the top of the nipple but wasnt firing it.

Its like the hammer is pushing the cap down and scraping all the powder in the cap off.

You may need the same fix i did. I havnt shot mine yet but i think a little washer under my nipples fixed mine.

 

[Cosmoline]

Yup I just saw that thread. Looks like you may have found the solution. I'm going to measure my nipples tonight.

I've noticed the R&S hammer spring is .. odd. It's unlike any firearm I've encountered, and has a strange stacking pull as you cock it and a weird feeling impact. Maybe this, combined with the design that keeps the cylinder separate from the lockwork, leads to this problem cropping up.

 

[BowerR64]

What i did was move the cylinder to one of the other chambers/nipples and let the hammer fully rest. Then i put some tape on the edge of the hammer.

You can back the nipple out a turn at a time then the tape line will show when the hammer is then making contact with the nipple.

 

[kituwa]

Check your nipples out like the others are saying and if you dont find anything wrong there, it may be your main spring is weak. Does the R&S have a set screw to tighten it like a remington does? Does your hammer only feel like the spring has good tention when all the way back but is weak when it gets to the nipples? It really should feel about the same all the way back as you cock it. Also it could just be that the caps you are useing do not fit the nipples right.One of my guns was like that. The caps went on snug without pinching them but the skirt on the caps were long so the caps were not seating the mix in them against the nipples so when i fired the gun it had to knock the caps down but it was also busting up the priming mix before it seated.Those were Dynamit Nobel 1075 caps. I tried remington number 10's and the problem was solved.Even if one persons pietta 1860 works well with Rem #10's does not mean the same brand and model will like the same caps. Seems like the nipples are not very standard on these guns.

 

[Patocazador]

If your caps don't fit flush with the top of the nipple, you'll get misfires. See if they seat all the way down. Push the cap down with a popsicle stick or wooden block.
You didn't say what size nipples you are using. If using # 11s, try some # 10s. My Ruger Old Army only works with Remington # 10 percussion caps. None of the others seat properly.

 

[Cosmoline]

I'm switching to Remingtons for the next session. They always seem to work better for me than CCI caps.

 

[Jim K]

Unless the caps are duds, that "powder" indicates the hammer is hitting the cap hard enough to break up the priming compound, but not hitting solidly enough, or hard enough to ignite it, I suspect the former.

With the gun unloaded and no caps on it, try inserting 4 strips of printer paper over the nipple, and snapping the hammer. The hammer should mark the paper. Then reduce the strips to two; the hammer should not mark the paper. In a properly set up c&b revolver, there should be just enough gap that the cap will fire but the hammer will not touch the nipples.

If the hammer is not coming down far enough, the answer is not longer nipples, but adjusting the hammer or the hammer stop in the frame (the factories did the latter, with a file).

Jim

 

[kituwa]

Jim you are right, that is how the guns SHOULD be set up. That is not how they normally come from the factory though.I thinks its like the short arbor thing. The short arbors and the nipples being set up right would require hand fitting on each gun. If they did that, then we wouldnt be buying one for $229 at Cabela's. They do what it takes to make the gun fire in most cases and some other things that make them safe and leave it at that so they can keep the prices down.Some of us that doesnt bother because we dont mind a little tinkering and tuneing, but some others just are not able to do some of those things and i hate that because they get frustrated and give up on them.One great thing is sites like this where people are more than glad to help diagnose and talk some of them through on how to fix some of the quirks on their guns.They really are great guns and especially the ones made in the last few years since they have CNC machines.