I started making my own caps about a year ago. I finally found a recipe that works. Now I have 99+% success. I usually load my caps one week and shoot them the next. Five months ago I decided to see how long I could store them and still work. I went shooting today and shot six of those caps. All six fired, one needed a second strike to fire. I have had this issue with my homemade caps as well as commercial caps. I think that I don’t have them properly seated. My plan is to shoot six of these older caps every time I go shooting and report the results. I will use this thread for all of the reports for easy comparison.
Longevity of homemade caps
- Thread starter Lyle
- Start date
Blackpowderwarrior
Member
What nipples do you use brother
I use Prime All from Sharpshooter. I don’t order individual components. One order of Prime All will make about 2000 caps. Who do you order your chemicals from?
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https://www.skylighter.com/account/login
That is the home page. You don't need an account.
The lady there, Marina, is a wealth of information
Sulphur 1 lb$5.30
Potassuim Chlorate 1 lb $11.90
Antimony trisulfide (325 screen)1 lb $40.00
" More bang for your $$$ "
Use the same scoop and ratio as you do with the PA.
On a side note I have used the PA packets and did not get anywere close to 2000 percussion caps.
When you omit that small white/pale baggie from the PA it is the H42 mix listed above.
That is the home page. You don't need an account.
The lady there, Marina, is a wealth of information
Sulphur 1 lb$5.30
Potassuim Chlorate 1 lb $11.90
Antimony trisulfide (325 screen)1 lb $40.00
" More bang for your $$$ "
Use the same scoop and ratio as you do with the PA.
On a side note I have used the PA packets and did not get anywere close to 2000 percussion caps.
When you omit that small white/pale baggie from the PA it is the H42 mix listed above.
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Blackpowderwarrior
Member
@Pocket thank you brother
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When I spoke to Marina, she also was the supplier for the PA. She was familiar with what these were used for.
And no hazmat fees
View attachment 1063246
View attachment 1063248
When I spoke to Marina, she also was the supplier for the PA. She was familiar with what these were used for.
And no hazmat fees
View attachment 1063246
View attachment 1063248
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I went shooting yesterday, nice say about 75 when I got to the desert. To be sure that no cleaning oil or lubricant was in the nipples or cylinder I fired two cylinders before I tested the caps. All six fired and ignited the powder. I couldn’t notice any difference between the six month old caps and the new ones. I should have enough caps to continue the test until May. I plan to post updates after each test.
N555
Member
The prime all seems to be a modified H48 mix where you add some gue to hold it together and they will continue to work for as long as the free sulfur hangs around.
You can replace the sulphur with lead thiocyanate and your primer mix will be good for 100+ years. Last time I checked lead thiocyanate was about $70 for 100gm.
The lead thiocyanate hangs around. 100 grams will makes oh around a few cases of primers.
If anyone needs caps I'm in eastern new Mexico and would sell all my commercially made #11 caps as I use musket caps. Obviously I can't ship them so any deal would be in person and in cash.
You can replace the sulphur with lead thiocyanate and your primer mix will be good for 100+ years. Last time I checked lead thiocyanate was about $70 for 100gm.
The lead thiocyanate hangs around. 100 grams will makes oh around a few cases of primers.
If anyone needs caps I'm in eastern new Mexico and would sell all my commercially made #11 caps as I use musket caps. Obviously I can't ship them so any deal would be in person and in cash.
Darth-Vang
Member
Or you can synthesize your own if you know how to “cook.”
N555
Member
Yeah photography finishing chemical ammonium thiocyanate plus almost harmless lead acetate.
Would be ideal for caps because the byproduct ammonium acetate would evaporate away. May corrode aluminum caps until it all evaporates away.
What I would like to see is a head to head accuracy test of the homebrew #11 v commercial caps. Just 5 shots each isn't sufficient, I want to see 10 five shot groups from each holding all other variables constant. If the accuracy is the same or better, I'm in
I tested the old caps today. I popped a cap on each nipple then fired one cylinder using my normal load. Using my normal load with the old caps, they preformed the same as the new caps. So far it seems that the old caps are just as reliable as new ones. My shooting season will be ending in 6-8 weeks. By June it is usually over 105 and I don’t go to the desert when it is that hot. I will continue to store my ‘old’ caps and restart the test in September or October after it starts to cool down. These caps should be about a year old when the test restarts. The test has been interesting.
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HisSoldier
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This guy outlines how to get chemicals (A different video, same guy) for his mixture he calls H20, plus videos show how he loads the cups which should be the same for percussion caps minus the anvils.
https://rumble.com/vhrrmf-homemade-primers-mass-production-of-primers.html
https://rumble.com/vhrrmf-homemade-primers-mass-production-of-primers.html
HisSoldier
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Here is a good selection of Aardvark's primer recipe; https://aardvarkreloading.com/aaprimers.html
Since I'm a competition shooter, my definition of "reliable" is very different from the average plinker. Have you done any accuracy testing against factory caps?
No Dave I have not. I am a plinker, I go to the desert and set a tin can at about 10 yards. When the cylinder is empty I pick up the can and bring it back to be shot at again. Reliable to me means 99% of the caps ignite the powder. Also no slow fire where you hear the cap explode then have the change go off.
HisSoldier
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Plus, FWIW, if the powers that be outlaw firearms they eventually get to BP guns too, and maybe commercial percussion caps will mysteriously disappear, , oh,,, they have!
N555
Member
The perchlorate mix is pretty hot.
It’s time to reactivate this thread. The temperature is now under 100, the shooting season is ready to start. The weather man says 90’s for the next 15 days. The caps that I started the test with are now one year old. I plan to go to the desert next week and continue the test. It’s been a long summer and I have missed shooting.
Mark_Mark
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90 for 15 days??? wow, were are you at
Phoenix AZ
Beautiful sunny day today, it was about 82 when I got to my shooting place at 8:30 this morning. I had 7 caps that were 13 months old. I dropped one in the dirt, the other 6 fired normal. I shot 6 caps that were 12 months old and they worked fine. So far my test has shown that my homemade caps work fine after being stored for a year. I still have some old caps and I plan to test them. I think I will do the testing once a month to try to extend the storage time.
Miguel Loco
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If they last in Phx....they'll last anywhere.
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