Guide to making percussion caps

[Swineherd]

Neat primer cup maker on the powder valley site.
Way too expensive though, at $125. I'll keep reclaiming used ones instead.

[lead chucker]

Just made up a couple hundered caps tonight with the FH-42. I use potassium chlorate. I add a little aluminum powder it's been working for me. I just got new hearing aids today and when i tested one tonight they Shure seem a lot louder now.

[Graysmoke]

Gents,
I believe I made a mistake. The chemicals in prime all are potassium chlorate antimony disulfide and sulphur. I mistakenly read perchlorate and posted that. Also the 4th in the pac is dexitrin as a binder which I never used and never used any ground glass since I started making caps. Take a small scoop of #4 and add water if it clumps up it sure aint glass. Caps work fantastic with the 3 chemical mix and your favorite mix for the wetting of the mix….and they are loud!

[LAGS]

I checked it out and have to agree that the chemical #4 in the Prime All doesn't look like glass.
I put it in water and it expands and floats around.
Then settles to the bottom of the jar.
Glass beads from my bead blaster settle to the bottom of water.
But it does not look or act like my Dextrin.
Dextrin is a lot softer and very water soluble.
It doesn't seem to float or lump around in water or settle to the
bottom over time.
I don't use the #4 chemical either.
So investigating what it is really isn't that important to me either.

[Trapper-Jack]

I haven't used their binder either. I use a solution of acetone fingernail polish remover (Dollar Store) saturated with smokeless powder. It activates and binds the chemicals in the cap tight. Haven't had any fall out and you're right, they're hot caps.

[Nobade]

It's a snow day and I'm staying home from work so I decided to make a batch of caps. 2 pop cans, less than a nickel's worth of chemicals, and about two hours and I have 60 caps. I had been having trouble with them on revolvers, they would fire but not ignite the powder. They worked fine on rifles. So this time I tried the suggestions and made double wall caps. We'll see how that works. Also first time trying FH-42, I had always used FA-48 with the glass and never liked the idea of firing that down my barrels.

[Nobade]

Well, I tried some and they work great in the '62 pocket. 100% success for 15 rounds. Thanks to whomever suggested the double wall caps! And yes, that mix with the aluminum is loud! Looks like I have found the solution to the nonexistent caps.

[LAGS]

So far I have found that the double wall caps made with FH-42 works most reliable.
But at this time I do not have revolvers.
But they don't misfire at all on my rifles.

[lead chucker]

So do you mix the acetone with gun powder with the components or just put a drop on top of each cap and let dry?

[lead chucker]

I have been filling the caps then put a drop of finger nail polish mixed with acetone in the caps and let sit a minute and then pack them tight then take a blow dryer to them to dry them out. A trick LAGS told me about, you can test them out in a bout five minutes. I would like to know more about using bullseye with acetone. I bet that would up the power of the caps a bit and maybe i little less sensitive to humidity.

[Nobade]

First I fill the cups with the primer mix, tamp it down with a shishkabob stick, then make up a mix of two tablespoons of acetone with three drops of Duco cement mixed in, and put a drop on each cap. The Duco is nitrocellulose so pretty much the same as dissolved gunpowder. They don't fall apart, and are ready to use in an hour or so.

[HamGunner]

My procedure is almost exactly like that of NOBADE. I tamp the dry mixture down well, then I put one drop of Acetone/Duco Cement solution in each cup. Just before the Acetone has completely dried, I place one toy cap gun cap on each cup and press it down on top of the damp mixture to help hold it in place.

Any thin piece of paper that would readily burn would likely work just as well, but I prefer to use one of the toy caps. I use the German made Legend brand, but even the cheaper Chinese caps would likely work just as well, since the Armstrong Mixture is not really needed as the cap mixture is sufficient to give a good flame.

I include a small amount of very fine air float aluminum powder in my priming mixtures rather than ground glass. Aluminum seems to give all the friction needed, plus it enhances the flame.

I have tested the percussion caps within a few hours and they seem to be dry enough to be quite sensitive, but I always allow them to dry a few days before using for shooting.

I have followed LAGS suggestion by punching the empty caps through a home made die to straighten the sides and flatten the nose before filling them has helped a whole lot. The cap to nipple fit is improved and they grip the nipple as well if not better than factory caps.

I use the FH-42 formula for my Black powder, which is basically the Prime All formula, but instead of ground glass of course, I use the aluminum powder. I have also tried the EPM-20 smokeless made up of Lead Nitrate and Lead Hypophosphite along with a bit of ground fast burning nitrocellulose and aluminium powder in both my center fire primers as well as the percussion caps, which works well. I prefer the FH-42 for the Black powder as it seems to give a bit more sparks along with the flame.

[LAGS]

That addition of a small amount of Aluminium powder to the H48 mix or possibly the FH-42 mix sounds like a good idea to further improve your primer mixes.
I do have some very fine aluminium powder left over from some firework powder that I use to make.
I might just give that aluminium a try next time I make some caps.
Only problem is,
I have over 1000 home made caps already.
So it might be a while before I make a load of caps again.

[lead chucker]

I think the friction comes from the antimony trisulfide. The aluminum might help. My aluminum is screened through a 80 mesh screen and if it stays on top a 100 mesh its good to go. If its finer than that it acts like fuel, 80 to 100 makes good burning shards which is what you want. I could be wrong but this is what i have learned from Aardvark reloading web sight.

[Nobade]

I believe that adding aluminum is what makes a factory primer into a magnum. More burning particles to ignite the main charge.

[Idz]

Curious if anybody has tried the Powder Valley primer cap maker? I didn't attempt to make such a thing after reading in Frost's book on how difficult it is getting the right brass and the precision required to get the cap to exact dimensions.

[MUSTANG]

Curious if anybody has tried the Powder Valley primer cap maker? I didn't attempt to make such a thing after reading in Frost's book on how difficult it is getting the right brass and the precision required to get the cap to exact dimensions.

Yes. The Powder Valley primer cap maker is the same as the Sharpshooter primer cap maker. I bought one to replace my original "Tap-O-Cap" die set that is dislocated for the last few years in a storage area.

I use aluminum cans for material. My favorite brand of commercial Beer can - Irish Death is used as it gives me one side almost al black and the other silver which helps me in sorting out any "Questionable Cap Cups" visually. The thickness is about 0.016 inches thick. I too use H-48 or FA-42 formulas for my caps. Two considerations for primer caps created:

1. It tends to produce a cup with a slightly rounded bottom. I prefer to use a punch to to lightly tap and flatten the bottoms of the caps before loading them with primer material.

2. I find that on my 35 year old CVA Hawken .50 cal rifle that I need to slightly squeeze the side of the primer cap before seating onto the nipple. Of course; I find that I have to do the same for most commercial caps too; so this is no different than what I have to do for the store bought caps.

I have never had a ruptured Primer Cap when firing (From the old Tap-O-Cap or the Caps made using the current Powder Valley/Sharpshooter cap cup making die."

[Nobade]

That $125 Powder Valley tool is different from what we're using to make percussion caps. It seems that was designed to make cap cups for regular rifle primers. They also say to use aluminum sheet, which seems like it would in no way hold the pressure of a rifle round. But I defer to anyone who has tried it.

[MUSTANG]

That $125 Powder Valley tool is different from what we're using to make percussion caps. It seems that was designed to make cap cups for regular rifle primers. They also say to use aluminum sheet, which seems like it would in no way hold the pressure of a rifle round. But I defer to anyone who has tried it.

Powder Valley is a vendor/reseller for Sharp Shooter products. There are three items available pertinent to the immediate discussion: (1) Cap Cup maker for Percussion Cap firearms, (2) Small Pistol/Rifle Cup Maker and (3) Large Pistol/Rifle Cup Maker. (1) uses Aluminum (.014 to .017) for Cups (2 &3 ) requires by their specs the use of Galvanized Steel Flashing (0.017" / 28 Gauge) . One can get the correct thickness Galvanized Steel Flashing (0.017") at Home depot or the such stores. 88 cents per sheet at Home Depot, will make about 300 to 400 cups; Link is: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Gibralta...-200/202221050

Sources for:

(1) Percussion Cap Cup Dies:
#11 https://www.powdervalley.com/product...ion-cap-maker/
#10 https://www.powdervalley.com/product...ion-cap-maker/

https://22lrreloader.com/collections...sion-cap-maker

(2) Small Center Fire Pistol/Rifle Primer Cup Dies

https://www.powdervalley.com/product...mer-cup-maker/

https://22lrreloader.com/products/ce...imer-cap-maker

(3) Large Center Fire Pistol/Rifle Primer Cup Dies.

https://www.powdervalley.com/product...mer-cup-maker/

https://22lrreloader.com/products/ce...imer-cap-maker

[Nobade]

Aah... steel makes more sense. I need to read more closely.