With a tin of caps going for around $5 at wal-mart that cost maybe a quarter to manufacture,tomorrow I am going to try the plastic caps for kids toy cap revolvers.@ 320 for $1 I am hoping they work. I'll be using a Spiller & Burr replica.Anybody here ever try them? I'll post my results.
cap gun caps instead of percussion caps
- Thread starter zerstorer
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songsofreedom
member
I don't think they will work. My son has a few cap guns, and we play all the time, half the time, the caps don't even go off, not even on the 2nd or third try. That makes for a dangerous set up, you will have a difficult time remembering which chambers fired and which ones didn't. I know for a fact that the cap gun doesn't produce enough flame to ignite powder consistently, you may get one or two shots off, but if there is even a little humidity in the air, it will not work. If it does, let me know, I'll be amazed!! I'm just worried about a slow ignition, which would lead to a potential accident, god forbid. Also, it depends on the nipple size for your gun.
it would be kind of interesting to see if it worked (From a strictly SHTF standpoint or TEOTWAWKI)
looking back at the days when I played with cap guns (before my mom found them and smashed them infront of me and my friends while spouting about the evils of guns and violence in the world...) the problem wasn't so much the caps as it was a poor fit between the cap and the nipple that the cap went on, and the hammer being made of inespensive pot metal which would eventually deform or have weak spring pressure.
what we used to do was take the little black circles out of the caps and put three or four of them into each cap... made a bigger bang.
looking back at the days when I played with cap guns (before my mom found them and smashed them infront of me and my friends while spouting about the evils of guns and violence in the world...) the problem wasn't so much the caps as it was a poor fit between the cap and the nipple that the cap went on, and the hammer being made of inespensive pot metal which would eventually deform or have weak spring pressure.
what we used to do was take the little black circles out of the caps and put three or four of them into each cap... made a bigger bang.
Yankee John
Member
Here is a great thread about making your own percussion caps.
http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,14929.0.html
I have posted in it about the caps that I have made. Still have to find the time to do a range test.....
John
http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,14929.0.html
I have posted in it about the caps that I have made. Still have to find the time to do a range test.....
John
There's a thingy (Tap-O-Cap) for making your own percussion caps from aluminum cans. You use toy caps to prime them with. Most of the folks who have tried it say that it takes a stack of caps to ignite the powder and that it's unreliable at best. I'd take that as an omen when it comes to using toy caps for muzzleloaders.
langenc
Member
As noted above Sinclair make a 'do it your self' aluminum can/cap gun cap device. Think it is for what you are discussing.
It's been a while since I shot cap guns, but I seem to recall that, when I was a kid, my cap guns got a LOT of corrosion from fouling. A LOT!
I wouldn't want that crap anywhere near my Spiller & Burr replica. Caps aren't that expensive.
BTW I used to see slightly cheaper corrosive caps. I haven't lately. Don't buy them!
The thing about a BP revolver is that cap fouling gets everywhere. Sometimes you don't want to clean the mechanism every time you shoot it. With noncorrosive caps, you can do a wipe down with Hoppes and maybe a little CLP or something on the inside of the back half of the frame, on the hammer, etc.
With corrosive caps, you'd better tear the whole thing down, take out every internal part, and clean the hell out of it, every time, right away! Any money you save on caps, you spend on extra cleaning fluid and lubricant anyway.
I wouldn't want that crap anywhere near my Spiller & Burr replica. Caps aren't that expensive.
BTW I used to see slightly cheaper corrosive caps. I haven't lately. Don't buy them!
The thing about a BP revolver is that cap fouling gets everywhere. Sometimes you don't want to clean the mechanism every time you shoot it. With noncorrosive caps, you can do a wipe down with Hoppes and maybe a little CLP or something on the inside of the back half of the frame, on the hammer, etc.
With corrosive caps, you'd better tear the whole thing down, take out every internal part, and clean the hell out of it, every time, right away! Any money you save on caps, you spend on extra cleaning fluid and lubricant anyway.
wile326
Member
I have one of those things somewhere. Dixie Gun works used to sell them. I got it years ago at an auction with a lot of other black powder items. Thinking about it, and the price of caps now, I am going to look for it and try it out.
AntiqueCollector
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If you're good with chemistry you could mix your own cap priming chemicals cheap, though I don't know if there're any laws that might apply...regardless, I wouldn't, very dangerous stuff, one mistake and poof...
I do recall seeing an old cap and ball revolver, that had a special attachment on it, that used a paper roll of dots of priming compound, like the modern cap gun rolls, only they were much more powerful like a plain percussion cap. Don't believe anyplace makes the rolls anymore, and the cap gun rolls are too weak really. In a pinch, maybe you could use cap gun caps, but I'd rather stockpile percussion caps or buy a flintlock...
I do recall seeing an old cap and ball revolver, that had a special attachment on it, that used a paper roll of dots of priming compound, like the modern cap gun rolls, only they were much more powerful like a plain percussion cap. Don't believe anyplace makes the rolls anymore, and the cap gun rolls are too weak really. In a pinch, maybe you could use cap gun caps, but I'd rather stockpile percussion caps or buy a flintlock...
No.
Remington, CCI, and RWS caps are non-corrosive, and reliable, too. That's part of what you're paying for.
There used to be some cheap Italian caps that were corrosive and also spewed mercury vapor, but I haven't seen them anywhere lately.
If you don't mind buying 1000 at a time, they're under $5 a tin.
Yeah, that's not cheap, but then again BP rate of fire isn't nearly as fast as a semiauto pistol or something. It'll take a lot longer to blast through $50 of ammo than with a 1911, anyway.
I just hate to think of a nice BP replica looking like the cap guns I shot as a kid, with massive corrosion all around where the caps fired!
Remington, CCI, and RWS caps are non-corrosive, and reliable, too. That's part of what you're paying for.
There used to be some cheap Italian caps that were corrosive and also spewed mercury vapor, but I haven't seen them anywhere lately.
If you don't mind buying 1000 at a time, they're under $5 a tin.
Yeah, that's not cheap, but then again BP rate of fire isn't nearly as fast as a semiauto pistol or something. It'll take a lot longer to blast through $50 of ammo than with a 1911, anyway.
I just hate to think of a nice BP replica looking like the cap guns I shot as a kid, with massive corrosion all around where the caps fired!
songsofreedom
member
I would just save all the trouble and get remington 1,000 tin. Cheap, reliable, etc... If you are shooting 1,000 rounds, I think the caps are the last things to worry about cost wise!!
im not sure its worth the damage that will be caused to the gun, and the unreliableness of cap gun capts just to save a buck or 2. a tin of caps for me and my dad last us well over a year as we dont shoot a heck of a lot. but i plan to start shooting more (as il have my own instead of using his rifles). and i honestly still dont see myself shooting a tin of caps in under a month. so $5 for 2-3 months is a rather cheap investment. if you eat out once a week your spending more than you are on a tin of caps. they are really quite cheap compared to some things in this world.
Yankee John
Member
It's not about the money, It's about the experience of "rolling your own" so to speak. Making it yourself can be very rewarding. Thats why I also make combustable paper cartridges; It saves time at the range, but it takes longer to make them.
Heck, That's why I fiddle with blackpowder guns in the first place- Doing it yourself is fun!
John
Heck, That's why I fiddle with blackpowder guns in the first place- Doing it yourself is fun!
John
Steve499
Member
Just wait till you get a tang sight on it, Aries. $$$$$
Steve
Steve
Exactly.
It's not about not making your own. I'm all for that. (Beeswax mixed with authentic 18th-Century Crisco, for example, makes a useable bullet lube.
On the other hand, I don't actually keep my own bees. The condo association would gas them anyway.)It's about not making your own in a way that, if you've ever looked at the metal on a well-used cap gun, seems dumb.
If you want the experience of making your own caps, then make your own caps. Find a good formula and a binder, and go to it (safely, of course).
But don't go to a toy store and buy some corrosive Chinese crap off the shelf, punch out the sides of Coke cans, and think you're getting a 19th Century experience.
All you're really doing is damage to a nice gun.Yankee John
Member
No offense intended, but I always clean my guns after shooting.
I don't know of any kids who cleaned their cap guns after a day at the range- I sure know I didn't .
John
P.S. I have heard that matchheads soaked in acetone make good caps- Still trying to find more information on that.
I don't know of any kids who cleaned their cap guns after a day at the range- I sure know I didn't .
John
P.S. I have heard that matchheads soaked in acetone make good caps- Still trying to find more information on that.
Me too.
However, it is nice to have the option of not completely disassembling the gun, scrubbing out all the parts and springs, and sonic-cleaning the nipples every single time. And there are lots of nooks and crannies both at the nipple end of the cylinder and inside the frame, on a New Model Army.
With nocorrosive caps, I can do an effective cleaning in less than half the time. Sure, I take the gun apart now and then, when it needs it, but with the newer BP cleaning solvents, I can get the gun cleaned and oiled pretty quickly, so it won't rust, and I can go to sleep.
The quicker I can clean and protect my gun, the more often I can shoot it.
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