WidenersTitan ReloadingRotoMetals2MidSouth Shooters Supply
Reloading EverythingLee PrecisionInline FabricationRepackbox
Load Data
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 40

Thread: Percussion cap hunting question

  1. #1
    Boolit Master brewer12345's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Denver Metro Area
    Posts
    1,266

    Percussion cap hunting question

    I will be chasing elk this fall with a 54 cal percussion cap sidelock (TC grey hawk). Obviously one would need to have the powder, patch, ball, etc. already in the rifle. When do you add the percussion cap? Right before taking the shot? Given the light triggers on both my smoke poles, I would have to think that walking around with the cap on could be asking for trouble.
    When you care enough to send the very best, send an ounce of lead.

  2. #2
    Banned
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Boncarbo,Colorado
    Posts
    706
    Once I drive to my hunting area and get out, I cap and start my hike. You're on half cock which is basically our safety.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master brewer12345's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Denver Metro Area
    Posts
    1,266
    Gotcha, thanks.
    When you care enough to send the very best, send an ounce of lead.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master

    Hickory's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    The Great Black Swamp of Northwest Ohio
    Posts
    4,434
    Quote Originally Posted by FrontierMuzzleloading View Post
    Once I drive to my hunting area and get out, I cap and start my hike. You're on half cock which is basically our safety.
    This is the way to do it.
    Plus, I'd use a small bit of castbullet lube to waterproof the cap.
    Just press it around the cap & nipple with your fingers.
    Political correctness is a national suicide pact.

    I am a sovereign individual, accountable
    only to God and my own conscience.

  5. #5
    Boolit Grand Master
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    5,285
    Same here. In Maryland, it's not a loaded gun (for DNR purposes) if the nipple is bare. Make a decision about your particular rifle. Is it safe on "safety". If so, cap up when you hit the field.

  6. #6
    Boolit Grand Master pietro's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    New England
    Posts
    5,253
    .

    I cap my percussion rifles, add a plastic cap guard (which seals the cap between nipple body & cap edge from moisture) if rain is expected; then place a piece of leather between the (carefully lowered hammer and the cap (the leather will fall away when the gun is cocked.

    Here's my raingear - A few cap seals & muzzle overcoats...……




    Here's the leather nipple guard..... (the thong isn't used when hunting, just for storage)

    Now I lay me down to sleep
    A gun beside me is what I keep
    If I awake, and you're inside
    The coroner's van is your next ride

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Posts
    3,702
    Quote Originally Posted by Hickory View Post
    This is the way to do it.
    Plus, I'd use a small bit of castbullet lube to waterproof the cap.
    Just press it around the cap & nipple with your fingers.
    this !!

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    Las Cruces, NM
    Posts
    4,535
    There used to be a small brass cup that would fit over the nipple, then the hammer was rested on it. Kinda like the leather idea above but stronger. It also served as a rain guard of sorts, but, I added those plastic rings as well. I haven't seen them in years but a 3/8" or so copper pipe cap should work. May have to trim it a bit in length.

  9. #9
    Boolit Grand Master


    stubshaft's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Southernmost State of the Union
    Posts
    5,854
    Quote Originally Posted by Hickory View Post
    This is the way to do it.
    Plus, I'd use a small bit of castbullet lube to waterproof the cap.
    Just press it around the cap & nipple with your fingers.
    Same thing but I use plain old beeswax.
    Old enough to know better, young enough to do it anyway!

    Men who don't understand women fall into two categories: bachelors and husbands!

  10. #10
    Boolit Master




    wgr's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    indiana
    Posts
    1,052
    Quote Originally Posted by charlie b View Post
    There used to be a small brass cup that would fit over the nipple, then the hammer was rested on it. Kinda like the leather idea above but stronger. It also served as a rain guard of sorts, but, I added those plastic rings as well. I haven't seen them in years but a 3/8" or so copper pipe cap should work. May have to trim it a bit in length.
    use a spent 22 brass

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Posts
    2,287
    I use bees wax also. Never had a misfire in wet weather.

    Fly

  12. #12
    Boolit Master


    Boerrancher's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    East Central Missouri
    Posts
    2,171
    A bit a beeswax has kept my 32 running on those early morning squirrel hunts where the dew was so thick you thought it was raining.
    WWG1WGA


    Tyrants use the force of the people to chain and subjugate-that is, enyoke the people. They then plough with them as men do with oxen yoked. Thus the spirit of liberty and innovation is reduced by bayonets, and principles are struck dumb by cannon shot: Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma

  13. #13
    Boolit Master hc18flyer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    NE Nebraska
    Posts
    1,180
    I made a 'cows knee' to cover my flintlock in wet weather, but it is awesome for a cap lock to! I cap and carry on halfcock, like the leather idea. If I take a cap off of a loaded rifle, I lower the hammer on a folded patch. hc18flyer

  14. #14
    Boolit Grand Master


    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Aberdeen, South Dakota
    Posts
    7,136
    I don't like using half cock as a safety, but walking with a rifle in hands I have little problem with it. If carrying on a sling, then no, I take the cap off. I do as many others do. After loading, I tape the muzzle off, I use electrical tape usually. I also use a small piece for the nipple. For the cap, I bend them ever so slightly so they stay on nice a snug, and use the tiniest bit of ear wax as I can to seal on the nipple. I've hunted in some real downpours and the rifle or shotgun went bang when the time came.

    I have never hunted elk, but I'm going to assume it depends on how you are hunting. If walking through woods, I would definitely have the rifle in my hands and capped. If just walking around an spotting, then I would take the cap off and sling it on my shoulder. The difference being when it's in my hands, I have complete control over the muzzle, and it shouldn't be unsafe even if the hammer was cocked.

  15. #15
    Boolit Master brewer12345's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Denver Metro Area
    Posts
    1,266
    Heh, rain while hunting, what a crazy idea! Barring a freak weather event, I am a lot more worried about my shot starting a forest fire than getting damp during the local muzzleloader season. I am still very happy to hear all of these ideas, since you never know.
    When you care enough to send the very best, send an ounce of lead.

  16. #16
    Boolit Master scattershot's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Denver, CO
    Posts
    1,532
    Sandwich bag for a cow’s knee, or a .32 auto case to fit over the nipple. Dry weather, I carry capped on half cock.
    "Experience is a series of non-fatal mistakes"


    Disarming is a mistake free people only get to make once...

  17. #17
    Banned
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Boncarbo,Colorado
    Posts
    706
    if you hunt out west and go hunting mule deer or elk without a cap on your rifle, you may as well stay home because you wont have the to fiddle to cap and then try to take aim and shoot.

  18. #18
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    120
    Quote Originally Posted by brewer12345 View Post
    Heh, rain while hunting, what a crazy idea! Barring a freak weather event, I am a lot more worried about my shot starting a forest fire than getting damp during the local muzzleloader season. I am still very happy to hear all of these ideas, since you never know.
    Brewer, you can rip a fart and start a fire out here so that's a valid worry.

  19. #19
    Boolit Grand Master


    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Aberdeen, South Dakota
    Posts
    7,136
    Quote Originally Posted by Anschutz View Post
    Brewer, you can rip a fart and start a fire out here so that's a valid worry.
    Is that still the case this year? Here is has been so wet, there is widespread flooding. This is the first time I have ever not been able to plant in the garden out back. I think the longest we went without rain so far this year is 6 days back in June, and at day 6 I dug a hole in the garden, and the hole filled right up with water. Any time it rains it is standing water. We had a ton of snow this winter, and when it melted in April, my shooting range flooded. It was not reopened until last week, July 6th. It is still standing water in most of it. The shotgun range doesn't matter, luckily the rifle range is just a mud (water is an instant closure, due to ricochet concerns). If we haven't/wont set rainfall records this year, I can't even imagine what it would take. It's not just sprinkling, we are getting 1"+ rainstorms all the time. I swear there was not a 24 hour period in all of May without rain.

  20. #20
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    120
    Quote Originally Posted by megasupermagnum View Post
    Is that still the case this year? Here is has been so wet, there is widespread flooding. This is the first time I have ever not been able to plant in the garden out back. I think the longest we went without rain so far this year is 6 days back in June, and at day 6 I dug a hole in the garden, and the hole filled right up with water. Any time it rains it is standing water. We had a ton of snow this winter, and when it melted in April, my shooting range flooded. It was not reopened until last week, July 6th. It is still standing water in most of it. The shotgun range doesn't matter, luckily the rifle range is just a mud (water is an instant closure, due to ricochet concerns). If we haven't/wont set rainfall records this year, I can't even imagine what it would take. It's not just sprinkling, we are getting 1"+ rainstorms all the time. I swear there was not a 24 hour period in all of May without rain.
    There has been a lot of rain and snowmelt so hopefully not the case and the previously burned areas will have lots of forage.

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check