Since it seems next to impossible to buy percussion caps or the ones I'm finding are close to $10 a hundred, got me thinking. There used to be a line of replacement nipples that used small pistol/rifle primers. Now that it seems the primers are getting to be easily availabile again seems like a good thought. Anyone tried played with these nipples and are they still available. This is for tradition muzzle-loaders such as my T/C's...
This comes up often enough that it ought to be a sticky. Call it 'alternative methods of igniting BP'.
http://www.warrencustomoutdoor.com/mag-spark.html
http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product...oducts_id=5875
I'm kicking myself for not putting back a couple thousand caps when they were available. I bought an extra 100 a couple years ago, opened the tin, used 4-5 caps, and drove off with the tin on the hood of the truck.
I have less than 200 left and haven't seen them in stock anywhere in months now.
I've got one of those nipples. I never tried it.
I've been out of the loop on BP since moving and everything, but why in the world are caps now hard to get?
Originally Posted by PatMarlin
My guess: during the panic there was enough demand to empty the supply, but not so much demand as to make replenishing the shelves a priority just yet.
Give it a year, they'll be back.
Not sure exactly why they are hard to get but it has been postulated that the companies are concentrating on getting their primers back on the market so they aren't running any percussion caps. Just a guess though.
About a month ago I found several pacs of Winchester #11 caps on the closeout rack at the local WalMart
no experience with'em but a couple observations : looks like they'd be a real pain in the bee-hind for a long range session screwin' & unscrewin' that little cap but I guess it would be better than not gettin' any use from yer gun. a possible plus would be that you'd have a sealed ignition & wouldn't hafta worry about hammer blow-back.
last time I looked around on evil-bay there was some listed to fit t/c guns. luck & have a good'en, bubba.
That observation about the design is right on the money. I got a couple of them a long time ago, tried them and they worked fine for ignition but were a pain. They're currently sitting in one of my "parts" boxes. I could always press them into service in a pinch.
you can buy a mag spark nipple that uses a shotgun primmer, and pedersoli makes a shot gun primer nipple that fits thompson center 1/4-28 thread. also i put this same post up a couple of months ago and a very nice member of cast boolits sold me a new pistol primer nipple he had. these arent made any more but they are still out their in drawers. keep this post going and a member may have one you can buy also. the pistol primer nipple is my favorite over mag spark or the pedersoli ones but all three are really good. never a misfire. keep looking you may come up with one.
I had one that came on a TC hawken...bubba.50 is dead on in his postulation...it was a royal p.i.a , I tossed mine as far as I could into the ditch beside my range to save some other feller anguish.
Over tha last decade or so everytime I have seen the win #11 caps on the bargain shelf after smoker season was over I have bought all of them they had. They are great caps and I got most of them for about 2-4 bucks a hundred.....I doubt I live long enough to use what I have on hand...guess we shall see who/what outlasts eh.
my apologies. I just looked on evil-bay & it was a magspark 209 adapter that I saw.
I made a nipple for a .50 cal Hawkens that takes berdan primers just because I couldn't find any #11 caps. Finally found the right sized caps for $8.00/ tin (ouch) so I'm not using up my limited supply of berdans anymore but still can't figure out how to make a nipple for a primer that uses an anvil. The 209 conversions look way too complicated to put on a primitive ML like I'm using.
The berdan primers worked great but were a PIA to pry off the nipple after shooting and were a lot hotter than any regular #11 cap I've used.
Been using one, called Accra-shot, for years. The Mag-Spark is a dead ringer. They are not that big of a PIA. Advantages, far out-weigh the disadvantages. IMO. In hunting situations, you only get one shot, anyways. Make it count. You get more reliable ignition (especially with the substitutes) and you will definitely not loose your source of ignition. Safer, the cap contains the primer---anyone that shoots muzzle-loaders-----has experienced percussion caps turning into potential shrapnel, upon firing. As a re-loader, there are always small pistol primers, laying around.
Winelover
thanks for the info guys, i never thought of backing off a couple of turns and snaping it loose. i aquired a minature pliers years ago and that works pretty good but i think your way is better. the advantages do out weigh the disadvantages and i also found with black powder the breeches are alot cleaner as with other powders. the hot 209 primers in some way keep a cleaner barrel. the 209 primer is so hot that the man who invented the magspark made a barrel for .17 cal pellet gun pellets out of a single barrel shot gun. i believe it was a liner barrel. he used 209 primers for the power source. said they shot real well and were fairly powerfull. their is enough kid in me yet that i would like to have a gun like that, sounds fun.
Put the Mag- Spark on my CVA rifles and don't have to clean the stock in that area as much I like them but it is what you want to do.
Frank G.
^^yup, what Winelover said. I have the accurashot nipple. I love mine. Uses small rifle primers. They are a PIA for target and range when shooting volume. The cup gets fouled and the spent primers stick and have to be dug out, not good. I use mine exclusively for hunting. Water proof. Cap is contained. When the cup is clean, simply remove the top and turn the rifle over and the primer falls into your hand. No biggie.
I got one of those mag-sparks last summer. It works, but I never grew fond of it. LGS got re-supplied with CCI caps and I bought 500 of them. Took it off and cleaned it up good and put it away. It works, just in case...
I picked thru my stuff after seeing this thread. I have 3 of the Accu-Shots that I picked up over he years for just that reason (just in case)I hunted with one on a Senaca and it did well, so I guess there's another one somewhere still. Plan to build an underhammer and use one there, but will always be able to make some smoke with flint even if I can't find primers or caps when I shoot thru my stash. By the way , I used small pistols in the Senaca, so they work also.
some one suggested to all of us a while back on how not to get a shotgun primer or pistol primer stuck in the magspark or accushot nipples and i tried it and it really works. when you screw on the cap all the way just back off i/2 turn and that way the primer doesnt get stuck in the bottom of the hole it is in. also i really like my magspark nipple as i can shoot blackhorn 209 powder in my traditional .45 roundball gun and my side lock cast bullet gun. i can shoot for quite a spell with out cleaning between shots and accracy stays perfect. it is all possible from the magspark nipple. the other reason i like blackhorn 209 powder is it is 15 miles away and the black powder is 135 miles away.
There is a thread up above about making your own caps and you might want to take a look at it. It is about tap-a-cap.
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