How do you Cap a revolver

[Afy]

Being new to this... I can honestly say I dont know.

Typically use #11 CCI or Dynamit Nobel caps... read here to pinch them so they are tight. Dont have more than one or two misfires per/30-40 shots.

I just use my fingers.... am I doing something dangerous?

Would love to see pictures of the right way to cap a BP pistol... with and without a capper. Also what is a dowel?

 

[Plink]

I'm not sure there is a right and wrong way, as long as the way you do it is safe. I've just used my fingers for years. A while back I bought a capper and opened the nipple slots a bit so it will fit. I've had good luck using Treso nipples and Remington caps, so I don't need to worry about cap tightness. A dowel is a thin round piece of wood like you'd find in a hardware store. You can use a short piece of it to seat your caps. I just use my thumb.

 

[hildo]

Does not make a difference how a revolver is capped. Important is that the cap is on and will stay on the nipple when the gun is fired to prevent chainfires from sparks. If you just push it on and it stays on tight it's ok. If it is loose and falls of easily or falls off during shooting you can pinch them so they will clamp to the nipples better. Or use a smaller cap (#10) if that is a better fit.

Personally I have much more than just two misfires in 30 or 40 shots and I use Dynamite Nobel 1075 and CCI#11 as well.. Maybe my caps are too high on the nipple or my hammer not hitting the cap hard enough. I'm still thinking about that.

 

[dwave]

I use Remmy #10 caps myself. I very rarely have misfires with my pistols, once or twice every 100 shots.

 

[kid_couteau]

I always used a piece of antler to push it on

Heard about a guy used his thumb and pushed too hard and now has a hole in his thumb

Kid

 

[Starter52]

I tried a capper and didn't like it. I use my fingers. No holes so far.

 

[pohill]

The CCI #11 caps that I bought recently fit more like a smaller #10. I switched to the Remington #11 and found them to be bigger and easier to push on.

 

[Franco2shoot]

caps and tightness

I have two revolvers, a Colt Open top 1860 by Pietta and a 1858 Uberti Remington. I list these because different manufacturers means slightly different nipples. I started using #10 CCI caps and never had a misfire on the Uberti, but always had half the cylinders on the Pietta not go off. I mean NO bang whatsoever. Read lots of suggestions here and thought the problem was the cap size... WRONG...

From my observation, the cap needs to be very snug since two things have to happen. First and foremost, enough sparks need to travel down through that pin hole to ignite the charge, be it BP or a pellet. On the Colt the nipples were not being pressed down hard enough for this to happen on the first strike, but usually would occur on the second hit. SECOND and very important, when the cap ignites, it needs to destroy itself in the process. If it is loose and merely squished to keep from falling off what happens is that a lot of energy slips out past the sides of the nipple, and you have a partially deformed cap that may or may not have ignited the charge. This is going to, at best , stay on the nipple, at worst it will fall into the mechanism and gum up the works. I found the latter out and it was a miserable day pulling off spent caps, re-capping and trying to clear the cylinder.

So what's the best? For my two pieces, I found that #10 CCI caps explode and splinter to such a degree that pieces of copper spit out. On pulling the hammer back the few remains drop out and do not cause any hanging problems. Firing problems on the Open Top were largely due to the cap not being pressed HARD onto the nipple. This was overcome by taking a wooden dowel about 3 inches long and then making a depression in one end with a Dremel grinding stone. The caps center in this depression and can be firmly pushed down onto the nipple. Using this dowel made every hammer strike from the Colt fire the cap, something that did not happen when I tried using my fat thumb.

I have heard that Remington caps are better than CCI's and if I can find a source for them will let everyone know what my experiences are, but for now the combination of a small dowel and #10's seems to work very well.

Hope this helps you..

KKKKFL

 

[pohill]

I bought the Remington caps at Walmart. They charge too much when they first put them out for hunting season (in NH anyways) - over $6. But, at the end of hunting season, they mark them down to $2.50, so I grabbed a bunch.
The Remingtons seem to be a thinner material and not as long as the CCI, but wider.
Also, one of my guns, a Colt 1861 .36, has never ever had a cap jam, misfire or drop into the innards, and this gun has a mainspring/hammer strike like a mousetrap on steroids. The caps get squashed, then when they reach a certain point in the cylinder rotation, they get spit out. I wish all my guns did this. I think the strong hammer strike is the key.

 

[English Bob]

Fingers, well thumb to seems to work fine for my 1858, tried an in-line capper but found it a pain to use. As long as they fit nice and tight use whatever suits you.

 

[Phillip Allen]

If you intend to keep it loaded for a while after capping make sure you have clean fingers...grease from loading on the nipples of inside the caps will cause misfires

 

[Boom-stick]

I bought an inline capper only to find it doesn't work with my mini revolver
Took it back and swopped it for more caps