New Nipples For Pietta 1860s - Slix Shot?

[tpelle]

I have a couple of Pietta 1860s and experience the usual problems of caps seating properly on the nipples. Sometimes it requires a second strike to set them off, and sometimes the blown cap falls off into the action. I'd like to update both of my 1860s for improved reliability.

It used to be a common thing to replace the factory nipples with Treso nipples, but now there is that new brand from Slix Shot that went on the market a year or so ago.

Does the community have sufficient experience with the two brands to decide which is best? So, what's the verdict? Or is their a third possibility?

I know that this has been discussed at length in the past, but with the new Slix Shots on the market I thought an update might be in order.

 

[BCRider]

I'm going to finally get some new nipples for my own "fleet" of 4 guns so the current thinking on this interests me as well.

 

[EljaySL]

Just judging from prior forum threads people seem to like them, but I find it hard to get too excited by the details when all of the aftermarket nipples work so well.

 

[tpelle]

I'm wondering about one thing about the Slix Shot nipples, though, and that's the vent hole out the side. I understand that it's for the purpose of venting some of the gas from the main charge that comes back through the nipple to prevent blowing the cap off. But why doesn't it also vent the ignition gasses from the cap, thus preventing the cap from setting off the main charge?

 

[Prairie Dawg]

My pard Colorado Coffinmaker just started shooting cap guns.
I have shot them for many years & have always used Treso nipples.
My actions are light & they work fine.
My main match guns have Manhatten Conversions (cap guards) done by Rowdy Yates.
My main concern is caps coming off & lodging between the cylinder & frame.
I just got a new set of 5.5" Pietta Armies back from Rowdy--I now have 3 sets with Manhatten (cap guards), a pair of 3" snubbies, a pair of 5.5" Armies, & a pair of 8" Armies.

So.........As Coffinmaker was just starting out & had purchased Slix nipples, here was my question & his response:

Me:
Shot my new 5.5" 1860s yesterday.
Rowdy Yates action work & cap guards worked as advertised.
Only glitches were spent caps getting between cylinder & bottom of frame, which only required a wrist flick to dislodge.
In your experience, do slix nips hold spent caps better than Treso nips?
Might be worth a try.

Coffinmaker's response:
Flip a coin.
I've had the same problem with mine.
The cap stays put till it gets to the bottom of the cylinder rotation then catches on the frame.
Had one made it past the frame but stuck on the cutout for the butt stock.
Locked the gun up tight.
Took it home to take apart and found the cap.
I've shoot the Treso and the Slix side by side and I really think its "flip a coin."
I think ignition is a bit better with the Slix, not that Treso is bad.
Just a mite closer to "instant" with Slix.

So, I'll stay with Treso nips cuz I've got a ton of 'em.
Just bought a dozen more off a seller from ebay last night.
(http://www.ebay.com/itm/Treso-Ampco...166616?pt=Vintage_Hunting&hash=item4176b0b5d8)

Hope this helps
--Dawg

 

[Prairie Dawg]

Tpelle:
Uncle Mike's "Hot Shot" nipples for ML rifles were all the rage for a long time.
I think the body of the cap blocks the cross-holes & the flame just follows the path of least resistance (into the charge).

The interesting thing to me was that, at the time, we were warned not to use them in revolvers.
Now Slix nipples have the same design.
--Dawg

 

[Prairie Dawg]

For those of you who do not know what capguards are, here is a pic.
A bit of the recoil shield is ground away & replaced with a thin piece of steel with a small slot in it, that prevents any cap from being pulled back into the action.
The hammer is then ground on each side to make a thin area that goes through the slot & pops the cap.
If done correctly, this works very well.
100% confidence that I will not pull a cap back into the action.
The pic is kinda big, so use your scroll bar, or go here: http://www.dakotaskipper.net/ebay/capguard_1.jpg


--Dawg

 

[tpelle]

Thanks! That was gonna be my next question.

 

[J-Bar]

Prairie Dawg:

That is some nice work, and good pix.

Did you do the modification?

 

[Prairie Dawg]

Nope:
Rowdy Yates at Lee's Gunsmithing in Orange, CA did it.
He does nice work.
--Dawg

 

[tpelle]

Well, I decided to go ahead and buy Treso nipples, so I ordered 2 sets from TOTW.

My biggest issue seems to be inconsistency from nipple to nipple in the manufacture by Pietta (or whoever they sub them from). We'll see if these do better.

I think I have a FEW Remington #11 caps alying around. The next quest will be trying to buy some more.

Anybody know of a vendor who has caps in stock?

(I wish somebody would put an updated Tap-O-Cap back in production!)

 

[Prairie Dawg]

Treso nipples and Remington #10 caps will make all your ignition issues go away.
--Dawg

 

[44 Dave]

Adding this style cap guard is easy and you don't loose the use of the between chamber safety pins.
All you do for clearance is deepen the hammer notch, the last one I did I removed the hammer spring and used a worn down Dremel wheel.

 

[Willie Sutton]

^^ This.

I've called it a "Cap Rake" and it works great.


Willie


.

 

[44 Dave]

Yes the "cap rake" or whatever the little pin is called works and doesn't make a Colt look like it is trying to be a Remington!

 

[Hellgate]

One innovation I do that markedly reduces cap jams is to fill in the little safety notch on the hammer face with JB Weld (or better yet, braze or weld it full) so the caps don't stick to the hammer face and get knocked off into the hammer cutout. Once that little notch is filled flush the caps tend to stay put unless you are using very heavy loads. Filling the notch is simple, cheap, and does no permanent change to the gun like the Manhatten mod ot the pin placement. It's an easy DIY project.

 

[tpelle]

Personally I like the safety pin and notch, and it's too bad that there wasn't enough room between cartridge rims to implement the same system on the 1873s. (Hence "sixshooters" were really "fiveshooters".)

I suppose that one could do the JB Weld fill, then simply drill out a small hole to accept the pin.

But there didn't seem to be much mention of the problem back in the day. I wonder if our percussion caps are softer than those from the 19th Century?

 

[44 Dave]

I still have some caps from way back that were made in Italy for different companies ie. Dixie Gun Works etc. They are brass not copper never had a cap jam with them and some times you have to pry them off. They may be mercury fulminate as they are some what corrosive.

 

[cp11]

I'm shooting a Pieta 44 and using Rem #10 or#11 caps with the Slixshot nips. Caps fit snug vs the stock nips and it has never jammed. A friend I shoot with has a Spanish 70's 44 and he's using the nips also with no problems.