cap making dies

[Nobade]

I hadn't thought about Shellac - good idea! You can get dry shellac flakes at woodworker supply houses if you like also.

-Nobade

[Nobade]

Yesterday I was comparing a fired 22LR case to the nipple on my '63 musket. It looks like it wouldn't take too big a leap to make those cases fit that nipple. Looks like I need to try my hand at making some dies to de-rim the cases and expand/taper them to fit. Does anybody have one of those die sets for making jackets out of 22LR cases? I am curious as to what the derimming die needs to look like.

-Nobade

[Fly]

No blade I'm a retired tool & die maker with a small shop.I just bought a paper cutter Sharps
rifle, but don't have it yet.I can not find musket caps, so I may by forced to make a die for
them.

I have all the componds in my fireworks chemicals to make the charge.I just need to figure
how much, with out over doing it.When the rifle comes in, give me some time to work with
it & I will pm you on what I come up with.

This Obama thing has effected even our black powder industry.But we are Americans & we
always figure ways to solve our problems.

Fly

[Nobade]

Great! I eagerly anticipate your findings.

My new TC Renegade flintlock came in today. I am pretty excited about that, I seem to be shooting more and more with flintlocks these days. With homemade powder and boolits I can keep them running without having to buy supplies.

-Nobade

[Fly]

Kinda fun being self relyent.Don't think Obama can buy up all the flint rock from us also.

Fly

[lksmith]

Could you not use the white parts of strike anywhere matches? I have seen videos and Field Manuals that detail how to reload primers (as a last resort), wouldn't the same process/mixture work for percussion caps

[ofitg]

Could you not use the white parts of strike anywhere matches? I have seen videos and Field Manuals that detail how to reload primers (as a last resort), wouldn't the same process/mixture work for percussion caps

I used to do it that way, but I cannot recommend it anymore. The strike-anywhere matches sold nowadays are different from 20 or 30 years ago - the igniter tips are not as powerful as they used to be.

[mooman76]

I was thinking of using caps like they call for but before inserting the cap, adding a tiny bit of BP. Less than a pinch to help increase the power of the cap.

[Mustangpalmer1911]

I was thinking of using caps like they call for but before inserting the cap, adding a tiny bit of BP. Less than a pinch to help increase the power of the cap.

I have tested this with just the plastic caps. I add just a TINY pinch of 4f to them and they make the revolver go bang every time. DIRTY so it would be a last resort solution but it worked great.

[mooman76]

I haven't tried it yet with a load. I compared the two by sound to see if they worked. They sound the same as regular bp caps but plastic got in the nipple. I figure under a load though the back pressure will force it back out but next time out I have several to try. I've been trying to figure out how to make them a little more powerful.

[Mustangpalmer1911]

Then plastic will still get stuck in the nipples sometimes. That was the biggest problem really.

[n.h.schmidt]

Hi Guys
NoBade you are on to something. Just two weeks ago I started working on a die set to derim fired 22lr cases .The die also reduces the dia greatly and renders the ID the right size to fit on a typical nipple. The die also cuts the case to just over 3/16" long. This is new to me and I have only gotten out one time to test.I used five toy cap dots in each cap. As these cups are deep ,five fit good. In use all fired the rifle charge of 64grns of P pyrodex.No misfires and NO hangfires for the 16 I had with me. These cups are Very stout and could be reused. More to come later with pictures.
n.h.schmidt

[Nobade]

Recently I tried something even more simple. Cut the fired 22LR cases off to the same length as a musket cap, then turn a nipple straight so it fits easily in the case. Load the cases with priming mix and a paper disc (1/4 inch - normal hole punch) and you're good to go. Works in my muskets and Gonic inline.

-Nobade

[Nobade]

Somebody recently told me that Pat Marlin is working on cap forming dies that work like his gas check makers. Any word on that?

-Nobade

[shadowcaster]

So what is the compound (details) being used in the homemade caps?

Shad

[Nobade]

Forum member Perotter has posted numerous priming mix formulae here in the past. Perhaps a search for his posts will lead you in the right direction.

-Nobade

[n.h.schmidt]

I know Pat did mention a cap making die.That was about two years ago. After using a tap o cap for years and now using the LR case,the LR case works better by far.
n.h.schmidt

[mooman76]

There was nothing really wrong with the caps the tapocap formed. Kind of good making them out of aluminum cans. The problem was lack of power from the toy caps so either a stronger compound or if the caps could be made longer to hold more toy caps then it should work like a champ. I could usually only get 2 paper caps in the aluminum caps. If I tried 3 the wasn't much room left to hold onto the nipple. That of coarse depends on the paper cap used.

[n.h.schmidt]

For Me there was a problem with the tap-o cap. The folds down the sides of the cup allow some of the power to escape. Also, when fired the top of the cap is vaporized allowing even more power to get away.
I modified a cheap paper punch to be hardly any bigger than the opening of the cups for punching out the dots. This results in a lot less paper going into the cap. I could get as many as five dots into a cap. this was too much though. Four was a better fit. The sized down and shortened LR cases have no folds and do not split or vaporize when fired. More of the caps power is going into the nipple. I am having a real problem with the fired cap sticking hard on the nipple. Reminds my of the brass caps made in Italy about 30 years ago. Powerful but stoutly made and they would stick hard too.You had to bring a pliers to get them off the nipple. I have a few of these LR case percussion caps to spare.If some of you out there would like to try them out,I could part with a few.
n.h.schmidt

[mooman76]

I know what you mean about the brass caps. I had some CVA caps about 30 years ago that I had to pry off the nipple with pliers or a pocket knife. I was trying to find a paper punch slightly smaller like you said. My caps sometimes go in crooked and take up to much space. I don't mind loosing a little power out the cap for now. I would use real caps for any real shooting needed but to just go plinking I could use the home made.