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Thread: Guide to making percussion caps

  1. #61
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sasquatch-1 View Post
    Just wondering how much of a delay did you have?
    you mean fffffttt ...............................bang ?
    nothing noticeable - was only firing blank powder charges to test ---pull trigger - gun went bang
    I pulled the nipple on a couple of the no fire events to check things and the powder charge was right there visible at the end of the nipple -- those toy caps just didnt have what it takes I think - I got plenty FFFF priming and the little brass dispenser flask. only takes a few seconds to top the nipple up before putting the cap on and every one of those went off .

    I will modify a nipple for the plastic caps they a little smaller fit and occasional one splits - what I have came in pack of 144 and I think was two bucks

    I bought a bagful of cheap roll caps but they so weak most of em wouldnt even fire ditched those - havent seen the good red ones for years.

  2. #62
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    I use to use Toy Caps , and Rolls of caps for my primers that I made back in the 1980's.
    But now the caps are really Week because people were afraid the the loud sound would hurt the kids ears.
    Or parents just got tired of kids making so much noise.
    And other people were afraid that the loud Toys could be mistaken for sounds of a real gun.
    So I stopped using almost all toy caps in my primers back in the '90's.
    But you can make them work like you said if you prime the nipple first with powder.

  3. #63
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    I've been wondering how the commercial outfits and the military test primers. So far haven't found any paper documenting it. Other papers usually assume the failures are randomly distributed about a mean value and use various statistical tricks to estimate minimum and maximum probabilities (Dixon, Bruceton, Probit, Logit, etc.). In Frost's book "Ammunition Making" he uses a weighted distribution but has no reference as to what its derived from. Often data are collected using a staircase or up-down technique to cluster data around 50% probability point to minimize extraneous data points. With the advent of computers there is software at http://www.neyersoftware.com/ that does iterative fitting. Anybody have any insights into how the DOD or commercial outfits do their testing?

  4. #64
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    Quote Originally Posted by Idz View Post
    I've been wondering how the commercial outfits and the military test primers. So far haven't found any paper documenting it. Other papers usually assume the failures are randomly distributed about a mean value and use various statistical tricks to estimate minimum and maximum probabilities (Dixon, Bruceton, Probit, Logit, etc.). In Frost's book "Ammunition Making" he uses a weighted distribution but has no reference as to what its derived from. Often data are collected using a staircase or up-down technique to cluster data around 50% probability point to minimize extraneous data points. With the advent of computers there is software at http://www.neyersoftware.com/ that does iterative fitting. Anybody have any insights into how the DOD or commercial outfits do their testing?
    messed up in a rendezvous match today due to a dud cap (CCI I think) first I remember having in years of shooting
    cap took a good hit and didnt fire, thought I snagged the hammer or something, recocked - click again, tossed the dud cap, remember seeing the residue material on top of the nipple as I put a second one on but not paying attention properly - fired the second cap and drove that residue down into the lil hole at ta bottom - blocked him good, the newly replaced wire in my nipple pick was about a half thou bigger than the hole - man I had some aggravation clearing that thing, reading glasses left way back behind the firing line in my car, so anything within two foot of me nose is a blur anyway - and the boys wandering back to reload are offering helpful suggestions like "whyncha got somethin decent that works" or "would ya like to borrer me hammer - the big one" .....my first meeting with these fellers from the Le Enfield Rifle Association as they move into some blackpowder events as well as their main course ------ they are a special bunch and the comments that in many places could have been taken as nasty were all part of the fun - we had a great weekend

  5. #65
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    finally got to the range for some #11 EPH20 cap tests. 100% success with caps.
    Kentucky pistol: 24 gr Goex 3Fg + 0.490 ball + 1 5/16x0.015 patch + Dixie Zip patch grease + homemade cap with 0.24gr EPH20. 10 shots all good no misfires or hangfires.
    Pietta 1851 Navy: 24gr Goex 3Fg + Gatefeo lubed felt wad + 0.454 ball + EPH20 cap. 7 caps fired with 1 failure to ignite charge but examination showed plugged nipple.
    Cap shells made with my capmaker from 2 layers of soda can aluminum
    EPH20 made using Marshal's instructions. I used Win231 for the NC ground together with Harbor Freight ground glass (#63674) in ceramic mortar & pestle and then screened with 100 mesh screen. About 0.24gr of EPH20 was placed in the cap shell and lightly tamped down. Then 1 drop of 50:50 ethanol:water was added and allowed to cure overnight. No paper disk was used.
    EPH20 solidifies nicely in cap and stays put. Upon detonation the EPH20 is completely consumed leaving no residue in the cap.
    This seems like a winner for percussion caps. These 0.24gr EPH20 caps aren't quite as powerful as Remington caps but seem to ignite black powder with no problem.

  6. #66
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    This thread has been some really good reading and contains a great deal of information.

  7. #67
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    Having not done this yet, I am all questions. Just doing the homework.
    0.0078" copper sheeting is affordable enough. Would that be best as far as cup material goes? I get it.... I am a scrounger and have paid little for lead in my lifetime so I am on the same page with using beer or pop cans but I also am wondering what would be best. The CCI and such are made of copper.
    Chill Wills

  8. #68
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    Copper sheeting is a little softer than the soda can material.
    With my capper.
    It sometimes tears the metal when doing the cups.
    But if your capper is new , then it might work better.
    But most of mine are made from two layers of aluminium cans.
    Some brands work better than others.
    So experiment a bit and see how each brand works for your capper.
    I sometimes use .005 sheet brass in single layers.
    It is a little harder so with my capper it too sometimes splits.
    But the caps that come out are great.
    But brass is a little more costly then copper.

  9. #69
    Boolit Master lead chucker's Avatar
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    I have been using the H-42 primer compound in my caps with really good results pretty much 100 % reliability Im very happy with it. Wish i would have known about it years ago. Easy to make and almost free. I made my own cap maker and if you dont count labor it was maybe $1.50 in steel. I think i used 4140 prehard that i had left over from some other projects. I use pop or beer cans doubled up for the cups. LAGS turned me on to the H-42 and i havent looked back since.
    Dont pee down my back and tell me its raining.

  10. #70
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    Awesome information and presented very nice. Thank you !

  11. #71
    Boolit Master lead chucker's Avatar
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    Go to Skylighter fire works and buy a pound of potassium chlorate and buy a pound of antimony trisulfide and some sulfur and you are good to go they will mail it to you and you have enough priming compound for you and 10 other people for the test of there lives and thats if they shoot every day. get or make a cap maker. You can make caps for next to nothing. They work. Go to aardvark reloading on line and learn how. Great info there on how to do it. I tried the roll caps and was not happy. I can make 100 caps in 20 minutes if i have the cups already made. its easy and they really work good. The components are pretty cheap i was all in for $50.00 and thats shipping to Alaska.
    Last edited by lead chucker; 10-01-2023 at 03:40 AM.
    Dont pee down my back and tell me its raining.

  12. #72
    Boolit Master lead chucker's Avatar
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    Its a no brainer to make caps its easy and you never have to buy them ever. And its legal to do. More guys and gals need to learn how to do it. Its also fun and rewarding to do. They make your gun go bang I can testify to that.
    Last edited by lead chucker; 10-01-2023 at 03:34 AM. Reason: incomplete
    Dont pee down my back and tell me its raining.

  13. #73
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    Reading the aardvarkreloading formulas for FA42 and FA48 it list antimony sulfide but I see post that say they use antimony trisulfide.
    Are these the same just using different names? Also which granulation are y’all using and which companies is best to order from?

  14. #74
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    Quote Originally Posted by LIMPINGJ View Post
    Reading the aardvarkreloading formulas for FA42 and FA48 it list antimony sulfide but I see post that say they use antimony trisulfide.
    Are these the same just using different names? Also which granulation are y’all using and which companies is best to order from?
    Yes, antimony sulfide/trisulfide are different names for the same thing.

    The granulation of AS is not very important in the H48 compound, which includes ground glass grit to facilitate ignition.

    The FH42 compound relies more on the AS crystals to serve as "grit". The U.S. Army's spec for AS granulation is presented in post #38 of this thread.
    "Commerce with all nations, alliance with none, should be our motto."

    - Thomas Jefferson


  15. #75
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    Thanks for the clarification ofitg of the names. I see two mesh sizes being offered on the fireworks supply sites. A 325 mesh and a 200 mesh, which is the one to order if trying the FA42 formula?
    Thanks

  16. #76
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    Quote Originally Posted by LIMPINGJ View Post
    Thanks for the clarification ofitg of the names. I see two mesh sizes being offered on the fireworks supply sites. A 325 mesh and a 200 mesh, which is the one to order if trying the FA42 formula?
    Thanks
    According to that old U.S. Army spec, 100-150 mesh would probably be ideal, but you may have to settle for 200 mesh..... it should work fine for percussion caps, which are much more "forgiving" than modern primers.
    Personally, I prefer the H48 compound so I don't have to worry about the AS granulation.
    "Commerce with all nations, alliance with none, should be our motto."

    - Thomas Jefferson


  17. #77
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    ofitg for the 48 formula how do you make the ground glass or do you purchase it?
    Thanks

  18. #78
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    Making H48 I just use the Prime all compound.
    But I bet you can break up glass an grind it in a
    Mortar and pestol ,then screen it.
    Last edited by LAGS; 10-18-2023 at 11:16 PM.

  19. #79
    Boolit Buddy ofitg's Avatar
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    I just use crushed sand. For making percussion caps I have used sand as coarse as 40 mesh, but you would need smaller granulations for modern primers.
    "Commerce with all nations, alliance with none, should be our motto."

    - Thomas Jefferson


  20. #80
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    I bought a mortar and pestle set off Amazon for like $10. I used it to grind up a broken up baby food bottle down to like flour consistency and used it for my H48 compound for CF primers. It worked fine there so it should work for caps. They say that a broken light bulb grinds down easier because of the thinner glass. For the binder I like the acetone (finger polish remover) with smokeless powder dissolved it it. So far I haven't had any of the primers or caps break down from handling or packing them around.

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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