VaTechDude
Member
So I recently purchased an original Springfield 1863 percussion cap. I've heard of them coming loaded from who knows when, so I checked mine when I got it. Sure enough, there's AT LEAST one charge and bullet in there. When comparing how much extra room the ramrod should go down, it seems that there is a double charge or double ball or both down there.
So I got a bullet puller and screwed it in. It didn't strip out of the bullet, it stripped out of my (admittedly low quality) ramrod. So that go stuck down there too... So I took it to the gunsmith. He then got HIS homemade attachment he's been using for a decade in a half down there too. He left me with the option of taking it home or letting him pull the breech plug and possibly breaking it and requiring replacement. That leaves me with the price of the special wrench he would order, plus possibly a breech plug replacement and his time. So I took it home.
I tried a CO2 discharger, it didn't budge anything down there, and it broke the part where you screw in the tip from the built up pressure.
TLDR: Can I take the nipple off and put some powder in at the bottom and shoot it out if I seat everything for sure at the bottom? All old powder has been neutralized with oil. I am concerned about ruining my piece of Civil War history as well as my face.
So I got a bullet puller and screwed it in. It didn't strip out of the bullet, it stripped out of my (admittedly low quality) ramrod. So that go stuck down there too... So I took it to the gunsmith. He then got HIS homemade attachment he's been using for a decade in a half down there too. He left me with the option of taking it home or letting him pull the breech plug and possibly breaking it and requiring replacement. That leaves me with the price of the special wrench he would order, plus possibly a breech plug replacement and his time. So I took it home.
I tried a CO2 discharger, it didn't budge anything down there, and it broke the part where you screw in the tip from the built up pressure.
TLDR: Can I take the nipple off and put some powder in at the bottom and shoot it out if I seat everything for sure at the bottom? All old powder has been neutralized with oil. I am concerned about ruining my piece of Civil War history as well as my face.