Finally figured out plastic caps

[ivankerley]

MC, whatever keeps ya shooting and works for ya is a good thing, aside from friendship I ain't seen real bp anywhere local to me, been running my ancient gifted to me tub of pyrodex, has gone bang the last 120 times I needed it too, ain't tried the caps for range ignition
thanks for sharing the results of yer tests
gene
ps after I use up my old pyrodex I have some equally old triple seven to burn through
been itching to try it

 

[MCgunner]

A guy gave me this link. Guess I ain't the first to prime a nipple, some guy came up with a TOOL for it. It's only 12 bucks, think I'll order it, not that doing it the way I've been doing it is any hassle. Really, i think this tool would be more handy if you load your cylinders on the gun. It's could save a little time, I guess, off the gun, but not much.

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/4/1

 

[DD4lifeusmc]

caps nipples ?

I'm an old codger and get cornfused easily.
Are you all talking about different commercial contraptions / inventions to use to clean out a nipple before shooting? Thus the old fallacy of popping off a few percussuion caps before shooting the gun, and now these "plastic" caps?
IMO you all are being wasteful and overthinking this.
Clean the gun as you normally would (I mostly use rubbing alcohol).
Lube as you normally would when done and then store it.
But plain old brake or carb clean will clean the lube from the chambers flush out the nipples and one can will likely last a year or so, if not longer,
However, I don't do any of that stuff, didn't do it when I first started shooting BP back in the 70's and none of these fancy plastic caps or whatever were around then.
I clean the gun thoroughly and verify everything is clean and dry before reassembly.
I do not lube the chambers or inside of nipples at all. They are not going to get surface rust here in Wyoming because as soon as I am done, I load with paper cartridges. The paper insulates the powder from chamber so no corrosion there, and with the bullet lubed and seated no air entry that end
I very carefully apply a dab of home lube to nipple where when seating cap the edge of the cap pushs the lube down forming a seal. No air entry there either. I go through this only when they are going to be loaded and then store for a long term, before next shooting session
Otherwise I omit the lube nipple part.
An unloaded gun is a useless gun.
In 35+ years doing it this way have never had a misfire except for the case of a dud cap which happens.
But I guess some people just have more money to spend on the next latest and greatest thing. When done properly the old ways work just fine!

 

[MCgunner]

Actually, your method is wasteful of brake cleaner.... I prefer to fire a cap over each nipple before loading, but HAVE just used my air compressor and air gun to blow the nipples clean before loading. That works, too.

I actually am using the plastic toy caps to FIRE my revolvers, though, works fantastic for 1/10th the current cost of percussion caps IF you can find them to purchase, AND, I find the plastic strip caps fit better than any cap I've tried in sizes 10 or 11, so I fear chain firing less with the plastic ones, one benefit I haven't mentioned, not that I've ever had a chain fire, just sayin'.

And, for the authenticity nazies, did Wild Bill have break cleaner or an air compressor?

Do how ya wish, though. There is no wrong way so long as it goes bang every time.

 

[DD4lifeusmc]

caps tried quick reply didn't appear to take.

I was inferring while out at range or hunting where air compressor not available.
But if one would clean as I do, you would not have to worry about debri or what not blocking the nipple.
Why not just remove the cylinder, eyeball it to nipple end.See good sunlight? the nipple is clear. a dedicated nipple pick, needle or paper clip works great
and no wasted cap. Especially if you live where percussion caps are hard to comeby.
Did you leave an oil residue in chamber? pull the cylinder and wipe it with a patch or a qtip and rubbing alcohol,
Save you caps for when you want the gun to go boom!

As to wild Bill. He couldn't of used Plastic cap gun caps even if he wanted to.
Plastic hadn't been invented yet!
But I do try to be a purist in my BP shooting.
No photo gray or sun glasses. Use period style smoked over a fire or a match to darken. No tennis shoes, just leather boots.
Dress with natural fibre materials etc.
But I likely have a better range than many of you. Walk out my back door and just shoot. or drive a few miles up the road to wide open country and do my LONG distance shooting with the Sharps.
But each his own I guess.

 

[MCgunner]

After cleaning with hot, soapy water, I shoot WD40 into everything to get the water out, including the chambers, before lubing with Corrosion X. I always look for daylight in the cylinder, but firing a cap, especially a plastic one, isn't that expensive. The plastic ones are $1.29 I think, for 208 caps. That's about 1/10th the current price of percussion caps around here when you can find 'em. I have switched to the plastic caps for shooting, saving my stash of number 10 and number 11 caps. So long as the plastic caps are available, too, saves me the time spend making caps with my Tap-O-Cap tool.

 

[Crawdad1]

I shoot WD40 into everything to get the water out

Yep, hot soapy water then blast it with WD40. Never had a problem. And my revolver doesn't smell like Ballistol.