Guide to making percussion caps

[lead chucker]

I made my cap maker out of 4140 prehard if i remember right. Wasnt too hard to make if you have a lathe. I was actually impressed with how it came out and how it works. I might have just got lucky on my measurements when i made it but it works really good. I think a guy could make one with a good drill press and the right sized bolts and lots of emery cloth to get every thing dialed in. It might be crude but i bet you could do it.

[lead chucker]

probably need a hack saw to cut the slit for the material to slide in. A little red neck engineering and you could make one with minimal tools.

[owejia]

Grandson had never been to Dixie Gun Works, while he was off for the holidays we made the trip over, live about45 minutes away. After inquiring about the #6-48 screws we needed for his muzzle loader and looking around decided to get the Reloader 22 primer making kit and another pound of bp while there. Decided to make my caps out of .005 thick copper. Started getting everything ready to punch and store the caps. Had saved my empty centerfire primer boxes to use for storing them until putting the primer compound in. Couldn't find my empty primer boxes, so this morning while searching through my reloading room found 2000 #11 CCI primers that were hidden behind some more stuff. So guess I will not be in a hurry to start making primers for a while. Will concontrate on getting into the bp making instead.

[LAGS]

My first primer cap maker was made out of a wood block with holes drilled in it and several different size punches.
I had to cut the soda cans into little discs for the cap metal.
It was slower to do than this new style primer cap maker.
But what I did was probably very close to what our ancestors did since they didn't have as much access to the stuff we have today.
Occasionally I like to do things like our forefathers did so I can appreciate how modern times are now.

[firefly1957]

I have been working on making my own percussion caps one die I made uses large primers to form them. I dumped the empties from my RCBS 4X4 press set up for .45 acp and found three small primers and one primer with a upside down anvil ! The primer looks to have fired fine and was most likely range pickup brass.

I am using a odd mix for priming it is made in small batches 8 grains Barium Chlorate , 2 grains Charcoal and .3 grains Red Phosphorous . I have been working with .2 grains in a cap and it is a bit energetic so I will be reducing it . The other day I put 15 grains old Clumped up CTG Pyrodex in my CVA .45 pistol with a bit of paper towel on the powder it went off without a hitch . Commercial caps tend to misfire or hangfire with this old can of Pyrodex . I started by making pellets with Gum Arabic or N.C. Lacquer as binder and finding scooping the mix in then adding a touch of thinned Lacquer seems to be best . Pistol has fired quite a few caps in two weeks without cleaning no rust so far...It was cleaned after firing Pyrodex .

P.S. I tried some of this mix in a large pistol primer it will sizzle but not pop? This mix also only burns about like smokeless powder when not confined .

P.S. II out of curiosity I put a drop of oil (ed's red) on one of these caps then dried it out it was dead as far as impact ignition goes just like normal priming.

[dondiego]

I have been working on making my own percussion caps one die I made uses large primers to form them. I dumped the empties from my RCBS 4X4 press set up for .45 acp and found three small primers and one primer with a upside down anvil ! The primer looks to have fired fine and was most likely range pickup brass.

I am using a odd mix for priming it is made in small batches 8 grains Barium Chlorate , 2 grains Charcoal and .3 grains Red Phosphorous . I have been working with .2 grains in a cap and it is a bit energetic so I will be reducing it . The other day I put 15 grains old Clumped up CTG Pyrodex in my CVA .45 pistol with a bit of paper towel on the powder it went off without a hitch . Commercial caps tend to misfire or hangfire with this old can of Pyrodex . I started by making pellets with Gum Arabic or N.C. Lacquer as binder and finding scooping the mix in then adding a touch of thinned Lacquer seems to be best . Pistol has fired quite a few caps in two weeks without cleaning no rust so far...It was cleaned after firing Pyrodex .

Where did you get the red phosphorous?? I had a few ounces several yeas ago and threw it in my fire pit and wish that I had not done so.