Cap making question

[ofitg]

Oh wow...that sounds simple. Never thought of using elmers. Im suprised the water doesnt affect the fa-42/H-48 mix...i always thought water would ruin it...but ur tests show otherwise. So thats great news! I wonder if maybe some gum arabic can be used since the mix works with water.

I saw something today that surprised me..... Try this : place 1cc of that tan "mystery powder" from the PRIME-ALL kit into a test tube or some other tiny cup. Next add 1cc of water and stir it up.

It makes you wonder "What were they thinking, instructing customers to use acetone or alcohol?!"

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Wetting a H-42 or H-48 mix and allowing it to dry makes it more sensitive and reliable.
It will still go off wet.
The good thing about H-42 and H-48 is its got plenty of power to light off a powder charge even in tiny sub grain amounts.

I always figured moisture would ruin it...kinda like other primers that once wet with water wont work....even after being dried. When i make my primers i use acetone and if i dont allow them to dry they wont go off or i get fizzles and no pop. I wonder if water is different? I need to do a few experiments...cuz now im curious.

 

[Black Jack Shellac]

Water does not seem to affect the Fa-42 or 22 reloader powders . Same with the toy pistol caps. Once dry they all work. I now use water when mixing the powders . I think you get a more complete mix that way..Much safer than working dry. Mix it up to a grainy paste and put into the cups.. . Tamp into the cup and let dry and then use one of several binders. I used to have the old Chinese toy pistol caps. I found that I could soak the caps and lift off the thin cover paper to expose the dots. These dots were not like the german ones .It's like these dots were loose powder. I could scoop them up on a knife and put into the cups still wet. 10 or more to a cup. When dry they worked and were powerful. I did not come up with the Elmers idea but I did have to develop a way to use it.If you make it too strong your charge will not work well.
Black Jack Shellac

 

[milsurpguy]

Alcohol is always going to have some water in it.
If you make say 33 grains of primer mix, only a few tenths or a few 0.1s of a grain should be binder.
For my shellac I was going to 0 my grain scales, put tenths of a CC on there and let dry till I get the scale to settle at 0.1 grain. I think straight out of the can will give a satisfactory amount.
Then I will know I have to use less than say 1 or 2 cc of shellac per 2 grams of primer mix, so water it down. Only want 2% shellac or glue by weight max.
It's always supposed to work right out of the can all the time but I want to know exact amounts because that's just how I am.

Oh and for a black powder cap a dried mix of H-42 or 48 compound at 0.3 grains should be plenty. And 0.5 grain is probably a little over kill. Going up to and over 1 grain I bet you will start having inconsistency problems and accuracy will suffer, based only 209 muzzel loader primer test back in the day.
The gun shot good with actual black powder 209 primers but when I tried to use smokeless 209 primers the gun was shooting all over the place. And I know that smokeless 209 primers use around 1.2 grains of primer compound and black power 209 primers seemed significantly weaker than smokeless 209 when fired by them selves.

 

[Onty]

TAP-O-CAP, to make #11 cups:



More https://www.forsterproducts.com/pdf/instructions/Tap-O-Cap_TC1000-001.pdf .

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Hmm since water will work i wonder if dextrin can be used as a binder.

 

[ofitg]

There is one experiment to decide if the off white small bag stuff in the kit is glass. Put a small amount of it in a spoon. Add water and stir a little. Let dry completely. If its glass powder it will still be powder when it drys. If it looks like a dried glob of glue ,It's likely dextrin. Hi Kid nice to see you back. Oh I have a new binder for you guys to try. It is working very well for me.
Black Jack Shellac

Black Jack Shellac, that’s good advice – Bravo!
I added water to the “tan mystery powder” and let it sit overnight in an un-capped plastic vial.





I pulled this “plug” of material out of the vial this morning. The top end of the plug (exposed to the air overnight) is rigid. The bottom part of the plug is still “rubbery” - flexible, compressible. I plan to let it air-dry a few more days, I expect the plug will be entirely rigid after the entrapped water diffuses out.
I’m still not sure what this “mystery powder” is…. Dextrin? Gum Arabic? Powdered Gelatin? Or ????

 

[TheOutlawKid]

The dextrin i got was waaaaaaay finer. I dont think its dextrin. Most likely a gelatin or that gun arabic...which i have never handled so im not sure. But great post!

 

[TheRodDoc]

Sounds to me like it might be Sodium silicate. Waterglass.

 

[ThomasT]

Sounds to me like it might be Sodium silicate. Waterglass.

I have read you can buy Waterglass at Walgrens for around $18 a jar and its enough for a lifetime. At least you could compare and see if its the same stuff.

 

[milsurpguy]

Wow that seems like a lot of binder.