Finally figured out plastic caps

[MCgunner]

I'd tried the ring caps before, no good. I've been using them to clear nipples of oil and crud before loading, saves on percussion caps. There was a post a while back that claimed to put some powder in the cap and it worked. I tried that to no avail. Always open to suggestions, especially with the cap shortage. They're hard to find around here right now.

Well, cruising a hardware store in a nearby town a few weeks back, I found these strip caps. Mine are a different brand, but the picture below shows a similar 208 round pack. They fit the nipples a lot better than ring caps which seem a bit small. these strip caps fit near perfectly on the Pietta '58 Remmy and the ROA. They didn't work any better than the ring caps, but then I got to thinkin' about the powder under the cap thing. I dribbled powder directly into the nipple until I filled it and, WOW, it WORKS! I loaded 48 rounds total and fired 'em all this way with the strip caps over the nipple charged with powder. Also, unlike ring caps, I didn't need a pick to pick the plastic off the nipple, simply using my fingernail worked. AND, no cap jams seem possible. I never figured out what happened to the plastic over the hole in the nipple, though, seems to have burned up or something, maybe from the powder just below it.

Anyway, these strip caps cost $1,19 at that hardware store, so today I went and bought 10 cards of 'em, 2080 caps for 12 bucks.

I can use this powder in the nipple technique, too, with my caps made with my tap-o-cap tool and paper caps to insure good ignition even in the Pietta guns. Those caps work well enough on the ROA, but never worked well on the Piettas.

I've been shooting cap and ball for 40 years, but I'm always learning something new. I have more to learn, still haven't delved into making my own black powder. I guess I should do that. But, hey, NOW caps are NOT a problem.

 

[ROAshooter]

one point of question...are you using the toy caps to fire off real black powder...or the pyrodex/777...other synthetic bp?
from my experince with real black...the toy caps on the rings work just fine....and save my #11s for 777/purodex shootin

 

[Skinny 1950]

I had a chamber go off when capping with these toy caps...so it can happen. It was in a '51 on half cock, about 1/4 of the ball was shaved off and dropped on the bench, don't know where the rest wound up. It was headed down range so nobody got hurt. Never used them again.

 

[MCgunner]

one point of question...are you using the toy caps to fire off real black powder...or the pyrodex/777.

I fired 'em with Pyrodex P. Haven't seen a can of BP on a gun store shelf since the 70s. Pyrodex is far easier to find and purchase with no hazmat fees since I buy it at gun shops. Hazmat shipment and storage laws in the US killed BP in the 70s. It's simply too expensive to make any profit off of for small town gun shops. I've heard of shop in Austin that handles it, 150 miles away. Houston is the closest big city, 100 miles away and in a city of 4 million, I've yet to hear of where I could actually FIND BP. I could order the crap and pay haszmat fees for what the gas costs for a round trip to somewhere around Houston, anyway, especially if it's not on the west side, and the traffic is another matter. I make do with the subs.

 

[MCgunner]

I had a chamber go off when capping with these toy caps...so it can happen. It was in a '51 on half cock, about 1/4 of the ball was shaved off and dropped on the bench, don't know where the rest wound up. It was headed down range so nobody got hurt. Never used them again.

Thanks for the warning. I may take an empty cylinder and play with pressing hard, see how much it'd take to pop one by finger pressure. I load off the gun including capping. I know the safety Nazis think I'm trying to kill myself, but it works for me. Easier to get at and doesn't take much pressure to seat it. I have a press for loading, much faster than using the gun's ram and easier since my Remmy is a 5.5" and doesn't have a lot of leverage on the ram.

 

[MCgunner]

Well, I put several caps on nipples pushing with the max finger pressure I could muster and couldn't make one of 'em go off.

 

[Panzerschwein]

I shoot real black exclusively, GOEX FFFG for most of my needs.

It might be worth it to hunt for some real black, you might not even have to prime the nipples with powder if you use the real stuff. Look around, it is out there. I travel a lot on I-70 through MO and I pass right by Graf & Sons so they have all the black powder I could ever need for the best prices around, $16.99/1 lb of the aforementioned GOEX.

 

[MCgunner]

It might be worth it to hunt for some real black, you might not even have to prime the nipples with powder if you use the real stuff. Look around, it is out there.

Uh, no, trust me, it is not. Missouri is, what, about 1000 miles? I'll shoot pyrodex.

 

[elhombreconnonombre]

McBrides in Austin generally has real bp...nothing exotic, generally plain ol Goex fffg maybe ffg but call ahead, ask for David in reloading.
I wouldnt know who in Houston has it. Perhaps worth asking about my next tríp there around Thanksgiving to see the granchillen.

 

[Patocazador]

I just order real black from Graf's when I need some. Either 5 or 10 lbs. at a time. Nobody I know of around here uses holy black except me or I'd get together with them and place a bulk order. The price could go as low as $16/lb. including the hazmat fee.

They had a special on a couple of months ago and only charged a $21 hazmat fee.

 

[ROAshooter]

real black powder is not that hard to find...it certainly has not been unavailable since the 70s...and pyrodex has always had ignition issues...if caps are weak/nipples clogged.....and missouri is not "1000 miles" from texas.....and my local basspro has real black...but you have to ask the right associate....to get it from the powder safe in the back...it is not advertized to be in stock..and the run of the mill/partimer...prolly does not know it is in stock

"Powder Inc" in Clarksville Ark....is a distributor of blackpowder....online or in person.....not hard to find....

 

[MCgunner]

McBrides in Austin generally has real bp...nothing exotic, generally plain ol Goex fffg maybe ffg but call ahead, ask for David in reloading.
I wouldnt know who in Houston has it. Perhaps worth asking about my next tríp there around Thanksgiving to see the granchillen.

Well, last time I was in Austin (I'm a libertarian Aggie, the place sickens me ) was in the 1980s to race my motorcycle on the city streets in the Austin aquafestival road races. I've ridden at 120 mph on Riverside drive and not been stopped by a cop. Of course, it was a race situation.

McBrides is the only place I've heard of in Texas with BP. It's about 150 miles NW of me, hate city traffic, and I won't go there unless forced by the wife at gunpoint. Now, the wife went with her friend up there today for a quilt show, but I stayed home. She didn't force me at gunpoint.

There's a gun shop in El Campo, 40 miles away, no BP, plenty of pyrodex. There's a little shop out in the woods north of Columbus about 25 miles away, no BP. There's a gun shop in Shiner, 35 miles, no BP, plenty of AR stuff if that turns ya on. Actually, there's a new little shop in Sheridan, about 5 miles from the house. The name of the place is "Southern Tactical". Do I need say there's no BP there? Plenty of "tactical" hog hunting stuff. LOL Victoria is a 60 mile drive, 3 gun shops, no BP. I bought my ROA at that shop over off 87 north, "Don's Firearms" when he was "getting out of BP stuff because it doesn't sell." It was used in great shape, still is in great shape, $97.50. He REALLY wanted to get rid of it. This was 20 years ago, but it was still a steal. I almost fumbled my wallet pulling it out of my pocket so fast.

I gave up a long time ago, but I DO intend to play with trying to make my own. Bookmarked Brushhippie's vids on it. I have the screen, the ball mill (Harbor Freight rock tumbler), need to get to that and order the chemicals which can be had, I THINK, without the hazmat fees. And, there's PLENTY of feed stores with livestock treatment chemicals around here, being a rural area. I'd probably have to go down along the sandy creek bottom to find willow for good charcoal production. I'm a gonna get a rountuit.

Anyway, meantime, pyrodex may not be perfect, but it keeps me shooting. I don't blame the shops around for not carrying BP. it's a royal PITA to comply with regulations and for what? It won't sell. Don't work real well in a .223 caliber AR which seems to be the only thing that sells anymore. But, I'll end the rant. I think MAKING BP will be the ultimate answer. So long as I can get lead for casting, the chemicals for making BP, and some form of toy cap to set it off, either roll caps for my Tap-O-Cap or the plastic ones, I'll keep shootin'. And, heck, the stuff is more available and, now days, less expensive than .22!

Today, just to prove i could, I loaded a light load and patched RB down my cheapo CVA Plainsman, dribbled some Pyrodex RS into the nipple, capped it with a plastic cap, and it went off as a centerfire would. Only thing with that gun, once fired, it had a little plastic in the nipple I had to use a pick to get out. Didn't have to do that with the revolvers as the hole is smaller. The rifle has a large hole and a restrictive hole down in the bottom of the nipple, so that sliver of plastic couldn't fall down in the rifle or anything. I don't shoot that rifle all that much, it hangs over my fake fireplace. Yeah, I have a fake fireplace to go with my fake black powder substitutes.

 

[MCgunner]

and missouri is not "1000 miles" from texas.

Well, it's about 350-400 miles from the here to the Red River, just thinkin' about it. I KNOW my buddy's farm north of Waco is 175 miles because I just ran up there for opening day of dove season, like I do every year, and used the trip meter to find that out. Even if I took my KLR Kawasaki up there on a BP buying expedition, it'd be more gas than just paying the hazmat fees. And, I'd have to overnight in a motel.

 

[blackhawk44]

The next time you are near San Antonio, check with Don's Gun Shop for real black. While you are here, you can go on to the Powder Horn. Both keep real caps in stock.

 

[MCgunner]

The next time you are near San Antonio, check with Don's Gun Shop for real black. While you are here, you can go on to the Powder Horn. Both keep real caps in stock.

Thanks for the tip. I'll google it. Been several years since I went to SA, but it's preferable to the traffic in Houston or Austin....believe it or not. Wife's kin folks live 9 miles east of Seguin and we visit there often, not far from there into SA. This one I can check out eventually.

 

[Crawdad1]

What's with Austin???? Everyone from Texas on this board says they hate Austin.

 

[MCgunner]

What's with Austin???? Everyone from Texas on this board says they hate Austin.

Traffic is miserable there. And, then, there's the hippies. All they do is smoke dope and smell bad.

 

[dagger dog]

I guess living close to the city does have some advantages, BassPro salvaged a shopping mall that was going under and built a store there, that was about 10 yrs ago.
They handle Goex even had FFFFg for flintlock priming, but doesn't carry percussion caps ???

Cabela opened a store across the river in Louisville, they carry plenty of caps 10's 11's musket, Winchester, Remington and CCI, but they don't handle BP ???

Our local Wal-Mart in Corydon handles Winchester # 11's.

Do you have one close, you might get them to ship some to your nearest store using their web sight.

 

[Malachi Leviticus Blue]

MCgunner, so what is the brand you ended up with that is better than the ring caps you tried before?

I picked up some ring caps to try out. I have a real Tingle 40 cal, and some ASM "Tingle" copies that I thought might be good and safe candidates for testing.

 

[BullSlinger]

I have used kids caps when I had totally run out of and could not find any percussion caps anyplace. I tried on both subs and real bp. Only works on the real deal.
I am not going to get involved in the real men only shoot black powder thing. I use both and would use cow/dog poo if it set off the gun.

 

[TRX]

If you have a local club, see if you can get a bunch of guys to chip in for a group order. Then the hazmat and shipping charges get split by the number of people.

Just make sure you have everyone pay their share up front, to eliminate slow payer problems.

 

[MCgunner]

MCgunner, so what is the brand you ended up with that is better than the ring caps you tried before?

They are labeled "tootsie toy supermatic strip caps".

I'm sure the ring caps I have will work, too, by priming the nipples with pyrodex. Haven't needed to try, but I'll get around to it. By priming the nipples with powder, I if it pops, it'll go bang. Even works on my sidelock CVA Plainsman rifle. What I like about these strip caps over the ring caps is they seem to fit the nipples of my guns better. The ring caps seem a tad small and have to be forced on with more finger pressure. These slide on as if they were made for the purpose.

 

[MCgunner]

If you have a local club, see if you can get a bunch of guys to chip in for a group order. Then the hazmat and shipping charges get split by the number of people.

Just make sure you have everyone pay their share up front, to eliminate slow payer problems.

Only clubs around here are goose hunting clubs. There's a walmart 40 miles away that has shelves stacked with 10 gauge 3.5" steel T shot. But, they don't know what a percussion cap is over there, let alone black powder.

 

[MCgunner]

I have used kids caps when I had totally run out of and could not find any percussion caps anyplace. I tried on both subs and real bp. Only works on the real deal.
I am not going to get involved in the real men only shoot black powder thing. I use both and would use cow/dog poo if it set off the gun.

Thank you very much. We are in total agreement. Only thing, as I explained about priming the nipples, it does work with Pyrodex.

 

[elhombreconnonombre]

FYI
The toy caps made in Germany and Italy are much better than the Chinese caps. On the package back they sometimes print the grain amount. I have seen any where from .002 to 2.0, more typically. 04 grains. Mind you these caps are pretty much perchlorate, and red phosphorous sand, so be sure to religiously clean your shooters after use as this stuff is highly corrosive.