alexzxz
10-25-2016, 08:47 PM
I haven't been able to find a good source on the subject of toy caps, so I've been doing some experimenting lately to test them.
Why bother with toy caps? First, they're cheap, at less than 2 cents a piece. Second, they're easy to stockpile, as most dollar stores carry them. Third, they're much easier than punching beer cans, and messing with priming compound.
There are two brands that are common, SuperBang (dollar store) and Legends (Walmart). After playing with both, I know now to stay away from the Legends Brand.
SuperBang is made by Ja-Ru Toys, in Italy, while Legends is made by Imperial Toys in Germany. While the Legends brand roll caps are superb, their ring caps can only be used for toy guns.
The Legends ring cap have a small paper disk, that tends to clog the nipple hole. Superbang does not.
Legends caps also tend to split when you push them onto the nipple. The way they were molded, the edge has a flaw that opens up when you try to get them firmly on the nipple. That is huge problem, as caps can fall off unexpectedly, risking chainfires. Superbang fit really tightly, but I haven't seen one split yet.
The only powder I've used them with is JSG, as black powder is harder to find here. I've no doubt that they'll ignite blackpowder fine, but with a substitute, I could only manage 4 out of 6 ignitions at best, which is unacceptable.
I've tried adding powder from roll caps, or adding a bit of crushed up JSG. Still wasn't consistent enough. Plenty of flash, but wasn't hot enough to ignite the powder.
I'd read somewhere that magnum primers uses aluminum/magnesium powder to help with ignition, so I ordered a lb of 500 mesh Al off ebay. A pound is a lot of powder and you only need a pinch for a few hundred primers, so the rest will go to probably go toward a tannerite experiment.
I mixed a pinch of the powder with 91% rubbing alcohol and gave each cap a drop with an eyedropper. The next day, all six shots went off. I'll have to test them some more (big batch drying right now), but I think I'm on to something.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/6/5724/30308256320_c504e90212_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/NbeJFs)
Why bother with toy caps? First, they're cheap, at less than 2 cents a piece. Second, they're easy to stockpile, as most dollar stores carry them. Third, they're much easier than punching beer cans, and messing with priming compound.
There are two brands that are common, SuperBang (dollar store) and Legends (Walmart). After playing with both, I know now to stay away from the Legends Brand.
SuperBang is made by Ja-Ru Toys, in Italy, while Legends is made by Imperial Toys in Germany. While the Legends brand roll caps are superb, their ring caps can only be used for toy guns.
The Legends ring cap have a small paper disk, that tends to clog the nipple hole. Superbang does not.
Legends caps also tend to split when you push them onto the nipple. The way they were molded, the edge has a flaw that opens up when you try to get them firmly on the nipple. That is huge problem, as caps can fall off unexpectedly, risking chainfires. Superbang fit really tightly, but I haven't seen one split yet.
The only powder I've used them with is JSG, as black powder is harder to find here. I've no doubt that they'll ignite blackpowder fine, but with a substitute, I could only manage 4 out of 6 ignitions at best, which is unacceptable.
I've tried adding powder from roll caps, or adding a bit of crushed up JSG. Still wasn't consistent enough. Plenty of flash, but wasn't hot enough to ignite the powder.
I'd read somewhere that magnum primers uses aluminum/magnesium powder to help with ignition, so I ordered a lb of 500 mesh Al off ebay. A pound is a lot of powder and you only need a pinch for a few hundred primers, so the rest will go to probably go toward a tannerite experiment.
I mixed a pinch of the powder with 91% rubbing alcohol and gave each cap a drop with an eyedropper. The next day, all six shots went off. I'll have to test them some more (big batch drying right now), but I think I'm on to something.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/6/5724/30308256320_c504e90212_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/NbeJFs)