Cap Frustration!

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tpelle

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I have two Pietta 1860's which I just outfitted with Treso nipples, thinking that would solve my cap issues. Well, no such luck!

I have close to 1000 CCI #10 caps that are just too darned small. I went to Wal-Mart this week and picked up 300 Winchester #11 Magnum caps (which I gather are the same as CCI #11's), and they are too loose - I had to use a dowel to seat them and one still fell off when I cocked the hammer. I really prefer to NOT pinch the #11's to keep them on, but that may be what it comes down to. At least I can always buy a tin or two each time I'm in Wal-Mart (presuming they are in stock), and not have to pay a HazMat fee!

I did just now bust 6 of those Winchester Magnum #11s, and I have to admit that those puppies are LOUD!

So what cap will fit on a Treso nipple, anyway?

(As long as I've been in this hobby - probably 20 or so years, I guess - shooters have been bellyaching about cap fit! Why can't the industry, on an issue that's so essential, simply get its act together?)

The next thing that has me frustrated is that it is nearly impossible - no, actually it IS impossible - to find any caps on-line! Everybody is out of stock all the time!

I guess I understand people in a panic buying up all of the 5.56 and 9mm and .390 ACP......but percussion caps? Are the manufacturers just not making the things? Are people in the Peoples' Republiks buying cap-n-ball pistols to use for defense because they aren't permitted to buy anything else?

What is a shooter to do?
 
I assume you used the CCI 10s successfully before you changed to the Treso nipples? I noticed that when the CCIs didn't fit, you tried a #11, proved too big, then another 11 was also too big.
My replica Remington with the original Pietta POS nipples likes Remington #10 caps. May I suggest you try another brand of #10 cap?
 
feeling your pain

just ran to bass pro (hahaha, depressing) and a little mom and pop gun store, no caps of any variety and the mom and pop store told me they havent had any in 3 months, also theyre having trouble getting primers of any sort...
Heres hoping i find some at friendship
Gene
 
I just tried to order CCI #10's at Jedediah Starr but they didnt have any (tho they have #11's if anyone needs them). Customer service told me he had asked CCI and they said it was partly a lack of materials (brass, etc) on the market and also because of a huge government order for primers and all their manpower is taken up with that. He asked why they didnt tool up for higher cap production and was told that they were worried that after the rush, it will go flat again, and be stuck with the extra tooling and manpower, etc. Seems to me like it might be worth it. Not sure how true all those reasons are, but thats what was stated.

If i were you, though, with 1,000 #10's, i would go back to the original nipples (or get Cabelas/Piettas replacement stainless steel nipples) as they take CCI #10's perfectly.

OR............sell them to me! Lol!
 
I think you all are going about it the wrong way. I been shoot cap & ball
Revolvers for over 50 yrs. Have had about every kind and model. Never had a problem with caps. You see, I always fit the nipple to the cap, not chasing caps
To fit the nipple. I chuck the nipples up in a drill and turn them with a file, then
Polish ending up with 600 grit paper. I finish them just so the cap I will be using
Can be pushed on with your little finger. This method has worked for 55 years.
All my nipples in all my percussion guns for the last 30 years are set up for CCI
No. 11 standard caps. Got 24,000 to use up.
 
"I always fit the nipple to the cap. To fit the nipple. I chuck the nipples up in a drill and turn them with a file, then polish ending up with 600 grit paper."


Now that is a great intelligent idea and thats why i come on here! Thanks kwhi43! I am with you all the way! Hadn't thought of that!
 
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I tried a little experiment - actually, a couple, today. First, I tried swaging the Winchester #11s that I can source locally at Wal-Mart down a bit using a 4mm socket. Didn't seem to work, although maybe adding a taper to the socket, and dedicating it to only that purpose, might be an option.

I tried forcing the CC #10s on to the Treso nipples. They could be forced on there with a LOT of pressure from a 1/4" wooded dowel, but the poor things looked like a snake trying to swallow a pig. Can't see that as a long-term solution.

Tomorrow we are going on an expedition to Gander Mountain in Columbus, OH - their "Firearms Superstore" - and see what's available up there. Maybe, just maybe, if I cross my fingers and hope to die, they'll have some Remington #10 caps (Hah!).

If that fails, I think I may get out the original Pietta steel nipples and, using a drill motor and a fine file, try to turn them down to fit the CCI #10s that I already have a carton of.

We'll see how that goes.
 
Must be a regional thing. I walked into LGS today and asked. All he wanted to know was "do you need 10s or 11s", and Remington or CCI?
 
Im just happy i can find everything.

Sure it would be nice if everything was perfect and the gun shot the bull every time i pull the trigger but i seldom have anything that works like i want it to.

Like i said im jsut happy i can find everything i need. Balls, powder and caps i can get everything locally and im thankful for that.
 
Just got back from Gander Mountain. Bought 200 Remington #10 caps - two tins! Also picked up a pound of Triple-7 FFG, plus a jug of corn cob media for cleaning my newfangled brass cartridges.

It's a big gun store - one of the employees told me it's the biggest in the state of Ohio. It's the size of a typical sporting goods store like Dick's or Dunham, but three of the four walls are lined with long guns, with typical counters for handguns and accessories such as optics in front of the long gun racks. The center of the store is mostly for displays of hunting clothing, targets, and such. About 10% of the floor space is ammo - lots of ammo - including ammo cans of 5.56. They had two metal drums of 7.62x51 - 7400 rounds, if I remember correctly, for $6999!

Good thing I live over a two hour drive away.

Edit to add - The Remington #10 caps fit the Treso nipples perfectly. Now I've gotta hoard them until this winter, when Remington promises to crank up the production line again!
 
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Several years ago I called our Gander Mountain to see if they had Rem. 10's. The guy went and checked and came back with a "Yes, we have a lot". I drove 15 miles to the store and all they had were 11's. Wasted gas.
My lgs has had Rem. 11's and CCI 11's, but not a single tin of Rem. 10's that he can remember. It's almost as if 11's are the "standard" in my neck of the woods.
 
Pancho said:
tpelle, are you talking about the Gander that's on the outskirts of Columbus? I've been to a smaller Gander just North of Canton,OH. I'll have to make a point of stopping there the next time.
Click to expand...
Yes! It's listed as being in Reynoldsburg, next to I70.

My company has several projects going on in Columbus, in West Virginia, and in PA. I've asked a couple of the guys who travel up that way (all gun guys) to stop in and pick up any more that they find in stock.
 
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