Problem with new TC Hot Shot nipples

[PatMarlin]

I bought 2 new TC Hot Shot nipples- the ones with the hole on the side, and installed one and the #11 caps stuck on after firing. It fit loose, but after every sequencial shot, the caps stick and I have to use plyers to get them off.

I opened up another new one, and very same thing happened, so I put the stock TC nipple back on and it worked fine.

Anyone have this happen?

[waksupi]

Had the same problem whern I tried them years ago. They will never catch on, kinda like j!@%d bullets. Do you have a relief cut in the front of your hammer?

[versifier]

That's always been a problem with mine from day one. I had problems with the original Thompson nipple. I started using Hot Shots (Thompson didn't offer them then, and would return a M/L you sent to them for service with the Hot Shot in a little zip bag and a new one of theirs reinstalled in the barrel) years ago when I found Pyrodex to be more accurate in my barrel and wanted to insure positive ignition. The relief cut helped less than half the time, and I'd pry the **!!##&!. thing off with my knife. This year I decided I'd resharpened my pocket knife one time too many and used one of the neat little tapered stainless steel units that Green Mtn. Rifle Barrels sells. They're just big enough to keep the cap on, and so smooth that the cap doesn't stick to them. Also, being a little smaller in diameter, the cap is always split in one or two places and lodges in the hammer, where it is easily knocked out with a mere flick of the finger. I also got a musket cap nipple, but being the cheap bastard that I am, I wanted to use up my supply of #11 caps first. Next spring when we can find the ground again, I'll buy some musket caps and see what happens.

[waksupi]

Well, if they are sticking like that, they may be too tight. Take out the nipple, chuck it in a drill, and use some sandpaper to reduce the diameter a bit. The cap should slip on easily, but snug. When I see people on the line with ignition problems going on, the rifle not going off until the secound hammer strike, this is usually the problem. The cap isn't able to sit firmly on the anvil. And when I tell them how to fix it, they generally turn up at the next shoot, with the same problem. "Did you do what I told you?" I says. "Well, no, I didn't..." , sez they.

[versifier]

I never had an ignition problem in the rifle, until last spring when I tried pellets in the old .54 Renegade. Then, it didn't matter which nipple I used. That's another reason why I want to try the musket caps. I did polish the old Hot Shot up many, many moons ago with emery cloth, but I was more concerned with surface roughness than I was the diameter. It didn't make much of any difference, so I filed it with all those other great ideas that didn't work out in the real world. Maybe I'll play with it some more and remove a little metal this time, worth a try now that you've got me curious. No one else I know still shoots the .54, they've all gone to .50's, mostly in-lines. I just put on a nice soft recoil pad ten years ago so I could still shoot it after back surgery; it's a pussy cat to shoot even with heavy charges and 430gr maxis. I watch others at the range loading three pellets into their fancy new scoped in-lines, flinching wicked after the first shot and putting their guns back in the car after a couple more. :shock: I just keep shooting until the fouling builds up enough to make the loading sticky, but I got those same strange looks years ago when no one else shot m/l's, too, so what the hey? Crazy then, crazy now, a fine and pleasant madness.

[DwarvenChef]

I found my hammer was not hitting the nipple flat. It was hitting at an angle, I filled down the top side till I was getting flat strikes on the cap. Never had it stick after that.

[versifier]

Between the two of you, I'm going to have some fun playing in the shop. Both of those ideas make a lot of sense and will be simple to try. Thank you both for making me think. DC, as you suspected, the hammer does not strike flat, but it will... It will be interesting to see the expressions on faces when I say I'm going out to the shop to make some "nipple modifications".....

[StarMetal]

I had a long conversation with a TC technician a long time ago about their muzzleloaders. We talked about how the 58 caliber didn't take off and the 54 isn't real popular. He said the 50 was the most popular, but off the record he said in TC's opinion the best whitetail deer caliber is the 45. He said it shoots flatter and faster and is plenty enough for whitetail deer. He said the 50 would be an all around caliber for both whitetail, elk, moose, and bear.

Joe

[lonewolf5347]

I own one side lock, the rest are flinters.I use in my t/c New Englander 54 cal.
Knight Red Hot Nipple works great never had a misfire using RWS 1075) plus caps and real BP.
I found my excellent load for the t/c New Englander is 95 grains of goex 3f a wad and a Hornady 230 RB using pillow paterial from walmart and my lube 60/40 beeswax and lard and a tablespoon of olive oil.
I found this lube also work excellent in loading 405 FP bullet with BP in the 45-70

[floodgate]

Between the two of you, I'm going to have some fun playing in the shop. Both of those ideas make a lot of sense and will be simple to try. Thank you both for making me think. DC, as you suspected, the hammer does not strike flat, but it will... It will be interesting to see the expressions on faces when I say I'm going out to the shop to make some "nipple modifications".....

I was on a business trip with a friend back around 1970, and stopped in El Paso to look in on the Replica Arms shop that imported the first Walker Colt copies, and was having the accessories made and dribbling in. I picked up the big, question-mark-shaped tool that fitted into the case I had gotten last trip. Arlin asked, "What'cha got there?". I showed him. "What's that?" "A nipple wrench". His eyes got real big: "It's a WHAAAT?!? Floodgate"

[PatMarlin]

Between the two of you, I'm going to have some fun playing in the shop. Both of those ideas make a lot of sense and will be simple to try. Thank you both for making me think. DC, as you suspected, the hammer does not strike flat, but it will... It will be interesting to see the expressions on faces when I say I'm going out to the shop to make some "nipple modifications".....


I thought this was a wholesome internet board that discussed things like gunpowder, boolits, blowing things up and killing things... :shock: :mrgreen:

[waksupi]

I had a long conversation with a TC technician a long time ago about their muzzleloaders. We talked about how the 58 caliber didn't take off and the 54 isn't real popular. He said the 50 was the most popular, but off the record he said in TC's opinion the best whitetail deer caliber is the 45. He said it shoots flatter and faster and is plenty enough for whitetail deer. He said the 50 would be an all around caliber for both whitetail, elk, moose, and bear.

Joe

That's interesting. I guess I put his remarks down to the fact that T/C's tend to be entry level rifles. Around here, the preponderance of rifles are .54 caliber. A few .50, and even less .45. You see some .60-.69 rifles also. If shooting patched round ball, I think he would actually find he is wanting the .54 for elk, moose, and large bear. That's why the old timers settled around .53 for a western rifle. Of course, most ML shooters only use them on the range, and never actually hunt with them, so caliber really doesn't matter.