OT Price of #11 caps.

[JerryB]

I decided that I should buy some more caps for my Kentucky rifle seeing as how I used one Monday morning to stop a deer from eating all the white oak acorns in the woods.I drove over to the local gunshop awhile ago and paid 10 bucks for a can of 100 caps. I sure am glad that I am not still shooting matches with the NMLRA now that would get expensive quick. One shot for a deer once a year is ok.

[marlinman93]

Well that's not good news! I just bought my first Kentucky rifle, and I'm gathering items together to get ready to shoot it. The last things I need are lead balls and caps. Guess I better go see what my local Sportsman's Warehouse is charging, so I can figure if I eat this weekend!
I found one of the old Pedersoli Alamo Rifles in .38 caliber Jerry. It's never been fired, and it was supposedly given a special trip to Pedersoli for upgraded wood and accurizing. It does have a beautiful piece of walnut on it, and I guess we'll know about the rest once I get to shooting it! Shot my first muzzleloader match a couple weeks ago with a friend's gun, and now I'm hooked. Somehow I managed to win the match too! (probably my friend's expert help!)-Vall

[Old Time Hunter]

Hey, got a secret I'll share. Try using pull off style single caps for Parris single shot cap rifles and pistols. They are in the kiddy section of your local Dick's, Sportsmans Warehouse, or Cabella's. They say for ages 8+. $1.99 for 160 per package, fit right on the nipple, they are water proof, and being made out of plastic, they for tightly to the nipple.

I ain't kidd'n they work!

They are made by Parris Manufacturing Company of Savannah, Tennessee.

[JerryB]

Are they really hot enough for sure ignition? I would hate to pull down on a big old mean groundhog and have a missfire.

[Old Time Hunter]

They haven't mis fired yet.

[Rusty]

A lot of that depends on the rifle. I had a Lyman Great Plains Rifle that would shoot just fine using nothing more than a double dose of Mattle's Greenie Stickum caps. I've also seen a few CVA's that was hard to shoot with CCI #11 caps.

[marlinman93]

I went by Sportsman's Warehouse this morning and bought some #11 caps. They were under $5 per 100, so the prices are still low here!

[Chuck 100 yd]

I pay a little more and get the RWS caps. I think they are the best available.

[Old Ironsights]

I found a Tap-o-cap and make my own.

Don't work too well on C&B Revolvers, but work fine on my inline "Buckhunter" pistol.

[Cliff]

It has been quite a while since I bought caps for my percussion guns but I have picked up different types of nipples over the years, some use small pistol or rifle primers, a little expensive for the nipple but increases availability when needed. The nipple has a cap and plunger which screws on holding the primer in place. It is nice in wet weather and seems to increase ignition. I also have picked up nipples for musket sized caps on my T/C hawken and other rifles. More versatility. I remember way back going to Dixie Gun Works in Union City, Tenn. and picking up a thousand or so of their house brand, they were cheap imported caps but still fired well. Might want to make a trip to some big black powder shop and check out what is out there these days. I did eventually go to Flintlocks, haven't tried knapping my own yet. ATB

[JerryB]

I reckon the price of caps is just like everything else in this part of the Ozarks, high.

[marlinman93]

Speaking of caps.....
I got out today and fired the new to me Pedersoli, and each time the CCI caps split apart in several spots on the sides. Is this typical of caps, or are the CCI just cheap caps. Fortunately I had shooting glasses on, but I did feel powder spatter my forehaed when I fired. I was only using 30 grs. of fffg with a round ball, so it wasn't a hot charge.
Any ideas of how to cure this?

[Andrew]

I found a Tap-o-cap and make my own.

Don't work too well on C&B Revolvers, but work fine on my inline "Buckhunter" pistol.

Really? I wondered how hard it would be to produce caps for BP guns as part of a cottage industry. Not for fun, but for TEOTWAWKI necessity kind of thing. Fail to plan, plan to fail.

[Chuck 100 yd]

Vall, that is normal for the cap to split apart. If they dont,they are a bear to get back off.

[TedH]

I guess I haven't bought any caps in a while. I think the last tin I have now is marked $1.99. But I did buy three or four hundred at that time.

[marlinman93]

Vall, that is normal for the cap to split apart. If they dont,they are a bear to get back off.

Thanks Chuck! I'm a real rookie at this! Jerry says I need to buy a book, and I thin that's a great idea!

[Hobie]

Speaking of caps.....
I got out today and fired the new to me Pedersoli, and each time the CCI caps split apart in several spots on the sides. Is this typical of caps, or are the CCI just cheap caps. Fortunately I had shooting glasses on, but I did feel powder spatter my forehaed when I fired. I was only using 30 grs. of fffg with a round ball, so it wasn't a hot charge.
Any ideas of how to cure this?

Caps split for two reasons. One, they are split apart by a combination of a too large for the cap nipple and the normal gas blowback or two by the excessive blowback from too large a flash hole. Combine the two and you can get quite an impressive fragmentation effect.

[Hobie]

One more thing. I was picking up a few K of primers and found out there's a real difficulty getting some types.

[marlinman93]

Thanks Hobie! Good info!-Vall