OT interesting C&B article.

[Old Savage]

http://www.brimstonepistoleros.com/arti ... pping.html

[J Miller]

That was a very interesting article. I'm not savvy about c&b revolvers so it's information to keep.

Joe

[mescalero1]

Joe,
I think it would behove us to become a bit MORE savy about BP pistols, it may benefit us in the future.

[J Miller]

Joe,
I think it would behove us to become a bit MORE savy about BP pistols, it may benefit us in the future.

Yep, I agree.

Joe

[salvo]

I dont know but that article seems, much about nothing. I've been shooting a ROA since 85 and a cap & ball Hawkins even longer, you push the cap on with your thumb, I guess some how you could set one off doing that, but I think I would have a better chance getting hit by lightning loading it and setting it off first
I have not been shooting the old ROA lately, but it ain't going no were, like mescalero1 said it probably will come in handy some day.
Is it just me or is this primer paranoia getting a bit flippant?

[JustaJeepGuy]

Caps won't be any easier to find than primers if things get bad. If you want to be assured of having something to shoot, you need a flintlock.

[Leverdude]

I always capped mine with a little capper tool. It holds a bunch of caps in a line side by side with the spring catch on one end & a small knob to push them out on the other. You push one out & the spring catches & holds it, push it on the nipple, rotate & repeat. I never tried but I think I'd bend the capper before I could push hard enough to set one off.

[perry owens]

Here in the UK all center fire revolvers except very long barreled versions are banned, so the great majority of CAS shooters use cap and ball guns. At our matches I have seen push sticks and thumbs used but I have never seen or heard of a cap exploding on application. I use an in-line capper for my pair of ROAs - no need to even touch the cap, and I have never had a misfire due to insufficient seating.
Regarding future availability of caps, Forster make this little gadget for making caps from drink cans and toy caps: http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/i ... 0070TC1000

Perry Owens

[Andrew]

That was a neat article. I haven't been out with my ROA for quite some time but I might have to change that soon.

[mescalero1]

Salvo,
I think ( for myself at least ) this shortage thing ( though I am not affected ) has been; a lesson in mob psychology.
I mean in the absence of critical thinking skills of the general populace.

[rjohns94]

i have read that before, and i thought it was interesting and well thought out. i still load caps with my fingers.

[kimwcook]

Anyone have one of those Tap-o-Caps? That sounds like a real nifty tool.

[Old Savage]

I have one but have never used it. It looks like a quality item and it should work fine.

[Andrew]

Anyone have one of those Tap-o-Caps? That sounds like a real nifty tool.

OI has one, IIRC.

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

I dont know but that article seems, much about nothing. I've been shooting a ROA since 85 and a cap & ball Hawkins even longer, you push the cap on with your thumb, I guess some how you could set one off doing that, but I think I would have a better chance getting hit by lightning loading it and setting it off first
I have not been shooting the old ROA lately, but it ain't going no were, like mescalero1 said it probably will come in handy some day.
Is it just me or is this primer paranoia getting a bit flippant?

Salvo, those guys did the article from a CAS perspective. The CAS shooters will shoot 100 rounds in a single 10 stage match and some shoot two or more matches a month so the probability of this happening does go up. There has been injuries reported by some that were just thumb seating and as he mentioned several instances were hammer seating has lead to shot up loading tables. Just like there have been primer detonations seating/reloading cartridge ammo, it can and does happen.

[gamekeeper]

I have never experienced a cap going off by capping with finger & thumb. I used an in-line capper sometimes especially in the winter when my fingers were numb. No one I shot c&B with ever used a push stick, we had enough junk on the bench without adding to it!

Interesting experiment all the same, I never thought of firing mine without the barrel

[Griff]

Interesting... just gotta love guys that pass rules based on their perceived need to improve safety for everyone else. While I'm sure that "Guido" (the guy at the Uberti factory that tightens the lever screw on all their new leverguns), is fully capable of putting enough force on a cap with his thumb to set off a charge... mere morals need to develop a "feel", similar to the "feel" to know when the primer in a cartridge is seated "enough"... without setting it off.

I use either an in-line capper, a Ted Cash revolver capper, or my fingers with added pressure to fully seat the cap with my thumb. The in-line version is very handy... on the end with the lanyard loop is a round ball... and works excellently to seat caps on the nipple.

It is my NSHO that it is far EASIER to set off a cap using a push stick or the ball of an in-line capper than by thumb pressure. While I have no imperical evidence of this... having never had a cap set off while seating one... it might just happen the very next time I seat a cap.

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

Interesting... just gotta love guys that pass rules based on their perceived need to improve safety for everyone else. While I'm sure that "Guido" (the guy at the Uberti factory that tightens the lever screw on all their new leverguns), is fully capable of putting enough force on a cap with his thumb to set off a charge... mere morals need to develop a "feel", similar to the "feel" to know when the primer in a cartridge is seated "enough"... without setting it off.

I use either an in-line capper, a Ted Cash revolver capper, or my fingers with added pressure to fully seat the cap with my thumb. The in-line version is very handy... on the end with the lanyard loop is a round ball... and works excellently to seat caps on the nipple.

It is my NSHO that it is far EASIER to set off a cap using a push stick or the ball of an in-line capper than by thumb pressure. While I have no imperical evidence of this... having never had a cap set off while seating one... it might just happen the very next time I seat a cap.

I seat with the Ted Cash Paisley as well. When you're out there again talk to Rowdy or Owen. IIRC one of them had a picture of one feller's thumb that was mangle up a bit from cap seating.

[Hobie]

I have NEVER seen, heard of, or read of a percussion cap being set off with thumb pressure. I would think it more likely with a "push stick" which is much less resilient than a thumb. My experience with cap and ball revolvers makes me think these folks are full of it.

[Hobie]

Interesting... just gotta love guys that pass rules based on their perceived need to improve safety for everyone else. While I'm sure that "Guido" (the guy at the Uberti factory that tightens the lever screw on all their new leverguns), is fully capable of putting enough force on a cap with his thumb to set off a charge... mere morals need to develop a "feel", similar to the "feel" to know when the primer in a cartridge is seated "enough"... without setting it off.

I use either an in-line capper, a Ted Cash revolver capper, or my fingers with added pressure to fully seat the cap with my thumb. The in-line version is very handy... on the end with the lanyard loop is a round ball... and works excellently to seat caps on the nipple.

It is my NSHO that it is far EASIER to set off a cap using a push stick or the ball of an in-line capper than by thumb pressure. While I have no empirical evidence of this... having never had a cap set off while seating one... it might just happen the very next time I seat a cap.

I seat with the Ted Cash Paisley as well. When you're out there again talk to Rowdy or Owen. IIRC one of them had a picture of one feller's thumb that was mangle up a bit from cap seating.

That dude must have been working it to set off the cap.

[J Miller]

Anyone have one of those Tap-o-Caps? That sounds like a real nifty tool.

I understand how you can make the cap from cans, but what do you use for the priming mix?

Joe

[O.S.O.K.]

Anyone have one of those Tap-o-Caps? That sounds like a real nifty tool.

I understand how you can make the cap from cans, but what do you use for the priming mix?

Joe

Joe, I was wondering the same thing - then I looked at the link - and the answer was there - toy caps. Like for cap guns.

I would be a lot more interested in something like that (and one to recharge standard pistol primers too) if there was a recipe for a safe priming compound to mix in small batches and apply - something that would be safe when wet and become activated when dry would be the best. A couple of tablespoons of this mix would do quite a few primers.

Yes, I am aware of the strike anywhere match method - that just seems rather iffy to me though.

I know that making explosives is verbotten by current law - but just saying. Weird how your kids can buy ready made explosive caps but you as an adult can't fabricate them under the law...

[perry owens]

Forsythe's original patent specified a mixture of potassium chlorate, charcoal and sulphur. That could be mixed wet and allowed to dry in the cap. Another more potent compound is lead azide, which is easily made from solutions of sodium azide and lead nitrate. Dextrin is added to the solutions to stabilize the compound as it precipitates.Lead azide cannot be used in copper caps as it reacts with the copper to form copper azide, an extremely unstable compound - your caps would self-destruct in a few days.
Of course, the above information is pure hearsay. I have never tried to manufacture caps or priming compound and have no intention of doing so.
Perry Owens

[JustaJeepGuy]

I haven't looked for roll caps for many decades. Can you still get them? I thought the blue-nose "can't-let-the-kids-have-any-fun" types got that stopped back in the early '70s.

[Griff]

I seat with the Ted Cash Paisley as well. When you're out there again talk to Rowdy or Owen. IIRC one of them had a picture of one feller's thumb that was mangle up a bit from cap seating.

Will do. I'm hoping to be home next week for our match... then back to CA for the first Sat in July or maybe the last Sunday in June. I haven't ever shot with the Cowboys at their "new" location in Norco!

[Travis Morgan]

Caps won't be any easier to find than primers if things get bad. If you want to be assured of having something to shoot, you need a flintlock.

The plastic caps from a capgun will work, but sometimes end up squashed down into the flash hole. Roll caps can be stuffed into spent caps.

[Travis Morgan]

I dont know but that article seems, much about nothing. I've been shooting a ROA since 85 and a cap & ball Hawkins even longer, you push the cap on with your thumb, I guess some how you could set one off doing that, but I think I would have a better chance getting hit by lightning loading it and setting it off first
I have not been shooting the old ROA lately, but it ain't going no were, like mescalero1 said it probably will come in handy some day.
Is it just me or is this primer paranoia getting a bit flippant?

Salvo, those guys did the article from a CAS perspective. The CAS shooters will shoot 100 rounds in a single 10 stage match and some shoot two or more matches a month so the probability of this happening does go up. There has been injuries reported by some that were just thumb seating and as he mentioned several instances were hammer seating has lead to shot up loading tables. Just like there have been primer detonations seating/reloading cartridge ammo, it can and does happen.

Elmer Keith reported having had it happen to him on several occassions, in "Sixguns".