arcticap
Member
If a cap fits too loosely simply pinch it slightly between the thumb and index finger to give it a slight oval shape. Done correctly that will help it to stay on the nipple.
The old discontinued Remington #11 Golden Caps were over sized and fit as if they were a size #11.5 or #12.
The cap ignition doesn't seem like it's causing the problem.
But the powder does need to enter into the drum.
It's more difficult for the large granules of 2F powder to enter the drum compared to small granules of 3F powder.
Guns with a drum often need to be slapped after being loaded with powder holding the drum side of the gun facing downward toward the ground so that the powder can be coaxed into the drum with an assist by gravity.
Also, leaving the hammer on 1/2 cock during ramming helps the powder to flow into the drum better due to the air pressure that escapes through the nipple hole.
As long as good powder is entering the drum, there's only very few reasons why it shouldn't ignite. But substitute powder can sometimes go bad simply by absorbing moisture.
If a powder charge doesn't ignite, by removing the clean out screw or nipple and adding some powder under the nipple should increase the flame enough to ignite the main charge with the next cap ignition.
If that doesn't work after a couple of times then either the powder is bad, or the powder is being blocked from the ignition flame by either the stem of the drum or by the large granules of powder, or from contamination with oil.
One sure way to test the ability of the powder to ignite with a cap is by loading a charge into the gun, then ramming a wad over it to create enough of a seal to create a blank load that will ignite with a boom. A bore size ball of newspaper can be rammed with enough compression to form a tight seal over the powder. Simply compress the newspaper wad firmly and as much as possible over the powder.
You're only testing the flash channel to see if the powder can be ignited by the percussion cap.
After using the proper loading procedure described above, then measure the location of the wad inside the barrel using the ramrod so that you can
re-measure afterward to check if it ignited without hearing a boom (or a silent discharge).
If it fails to ignite then add some more powder under the nipple and repeat.
If that doesn't work then I wouldn't know if the problem is bad powder, or the stem of the drum causing a blockage. Since this is suppose to be the powder test, I would tend to assume that your drum isn't defective and causing the failure to ignite the Pyrodex. However, anything is possible.
The old discontinued Remington #11 Golden Caps were over sized and fit as if they were a size #11.5 or #12.
The cap ignition doesn't seem like it's causing the problem.
But the powder does need to enter into the drum.
It's more difficult for the large granules of 2F powder to enter the drum compared to small granules of 3F powder.
Guns with a drum often need to be slapped after being loaded with powder holding the drum side of the gun facing downward toward the ground so that the powder can be coaxed into the drum with an assist by gravity.
Also, leaving the hammer on 1/2 cock during ramming helps the powder to flow into the drum better due to the air pressure that escapes through the nipple hole.
As long as good powder is entering the drum, there's only very few reasons why it shouldn't ignite. But substitute powder can sometimes go bad simply by absorbing moisture.
If a powder charge doesn't ignite, by removing the clean out screw or nipple and adding some powder under the nipple should increase the flame enough to ignite the main charge with the next cap ignition.
If that doesn't work after a couple of times then either the powder is bad, or the powder is being blocked from the ignition flame by either the stem of the drum or by the large granules of powder, or from contamination with oil.
One sure way to test the ability of the powder to ignite with a cap is by loading a charge into the gun, then ramming a wad over it to create enough of a seal to create a blank load that will ignite with a boom. A bore size ball of newspaper can be rammed with enough compression to form a tight seal over the powder. Simply compress the newspaper wad firmly and as much as possible over the powder.
You're only testing the flash channel to see if the powder can be ignited by the percussion cap.
After using the proper loading procedure described above, then measure the location of the wad inside the barrel using the ramrod so that you can
re-measure afterward to check if it ignited without hearing a boom (or a silent discharge).
If it fails to ignite then add some more powder under the nipple and repeat.
If that doesn't work then I wouldn't know if the problem is bad powder, or the stem of the drum causing a blockage. Since this is suppose to be the powder test, I would tend to assume that your drum isn't defective and causing the failure to ignite the Pyrodex. However, anything is possible.
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