Capping the nipples on BP revolver

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Sparkitoff1

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Does anyone cap the nipples and then load cylinders?

I have mixed feelings about this. I put the cap on by hand and then use a little wooden rod to press it firmly.  Then repeat 5 more times. After they are all capped, I like to lower the hammer and give a little squeeze on the cap. This way, the cap stays put and makes a good seal too.  

I've never had a cap go off while doing this, but if it happens (and it eventually will) it is just a fairly harmless cap going off. 

Loading the cylinders first, I then put the cap on by hand or with a capping tool, and then follow up with the wooden stick. However, the caps are never as snug and secure as when I lower the hammer carefully on them too. With the cylinder loaded, I am reluctant to do this because I have to really control the pistol and the surprise should one discharge. But when I shoot, sometimes the fired caps come off and cause a jam. They do not come off if when I put the caps on before loading the cylinder as described above.

The nipples and caps are a match - in other words they are proper fit. 

Any thoughts on this either way?
 
You really don't have the proper fit like you think. I shot in CAS competition for decades. That means two handguns shot as fast as possible as it's a timed event. All I had to do is push the caps on with a capper and they never fell off before or after being fired. I used two 1860 Colts which aren't cap friendly like the Remingtons

If we ever capped before loading we'd get banned from ever shooting again.
 
Thanks.  I have two sets of nipples. One hold the <a href='/tags/10' rel='nofollow' title='See all tagged subjects with: #10'>#10</a>'s. When I fired and rotate the cylinder the fired cap tends to fall off the now empty cylinder on the right of the barrel. With the <a href='/tags/11' rel='nofollow' title='See all tagged subjects with: #11'>#11</a> nipples the caps stay on the nipple but sometimes move back some or have a seam and cause a bind. Any advice?
 
I know a lot of guys used the Treso nipples.

There was a guy who was always at the shoots who sold custom nipples that he fit to a CCI <a href='/tags/11' rel='nofollow' title='See all tagged subjects with: #11'>#11</a> cap. I know he would fit them on a lathe for a perfect fit. They pushed on easy and were a ***** to get off. I never had one fall off.

You go through a lot to get yours all the way down. It sounds like your actually spreading out the cap to get it down. A perfect fit will push all the way down but tighten up at the same time it bottoms out. A cap has to be bottomed out to prevent misfires.

You could try different brands of caps and nipples for a better fit. Or, find a way of turning down the nipple for a proper fit to the cap.
 
You saying you put caps on first and THEN load the cylinders with the gun pointing right at your face?

I load the cylinder first and the LAST thing I do is cap the nipples. I cap it from an inline capper most of the time and before I load the capper I give each cap a little bit of a squeeze. Just barely enough to give each cap a bit of an egg shape.

It makes a big difference in making sure they STAY capped.

Once the cylinder is capped I'll go around once just setting the hammer down easy on each cap to be sure each one really is fully down. No need to "push" on it.
 
Some of these revolver events in the mid west are now having you cap the weapon just before stepping up to the firing position (line). From the last half dozen events I have been at you wouldn't have time to do all the steps your doing Jack.   :Questuon:
 
The force of the hammer striking the cap against the nipple at the same time the heat from the explosion weakens it allows SOME to tear. Increasing the powder charge raises the pressure increasing the chances the cap will tear and be blown back off the nipple. It is all part of the normal use of C&B revolvers. It is to be expected.

If these forces are not obvious to you, may be C&B revolvers are not for you. They sell conversion cylinders for people who can not handle the searing pain created by an occasional toasty cap tapping their skin on it's way to the ground.

The only real significance of this occurring is when that cap jams the revolver during a gun fight turning it in to a club. Which was a common occurrence when gun fights with these weapons was common. There was never in the past 200 years a solution developed other than the ones I have given you other than manning up and learning to deal with it.
 
Buck Conner said:
Some of these revolver events in the mid west are now having you cap the weapon just before stepping up to the firing position (line). From the last half dozen events I have been at you wouldn't have time to do all the steps your doing Jack.   :Questuon:
You do everything but put the cap on before you are at the line right?

Wouldn't you put the caps in a line capper prior to the event?

So you cap every nipple, then run around the cylinder one time letting the hammer just set on each cap once and you are ready.

They won't give you time to do that one time?

If not then I recon you'd have to take John Booker's advice and load in the manner you see fits the circumstance young man.
 
Does anyone cap the nipples and then load cylinders?

I have mixed feelings about this. I put the cap on by hand and then use a little wooden rod to press it firmly. Then repeat 5 more times. After they are all capped, I like to lower the hammer and give a little squeeze on the cap. This way, the cap stays put and makes a good seal too.

I've never had a cap go off while doing this, but if it happens (and it eventually will) it is just a fairly harmless cap going off.

Loading the cylinders first, I then put the cap on by hand or with a capping tool, and then follow up with the wooden stick. However, the caps are never as snug and secure as when I lower the hammer carefully on them too. With the cylinder loaded, I am reluctant to do this because I have to really control the pistol and the surprise should one discharge. But when I shoot, sometimes the fired caps come off and cause a jam. They do not come off if when I put the caps on before loading the cylinder as described above.

The nipples and caps are a match - in other words they are proper fit.

Any thoughts on this either way?
Safety first - ALWAYS load first, then cap last. If you did otherwise at my range, you'd be considered a safety risk & asked to leave.
 
A lot of people will chuck the nipples in a drill, then rotate them while holding 200 grit sandpaper around them. Go slow and check the fit of a cap often until it s still tight but bottoms out. You could also try different brands of caps. The same size will be a touch bigger or smaller, depending on which brand you use. I.e. a number 10 in one brand will not be the same size as a number 10 in another brand.

~WH~
 
For safety reasons, capping/priming any muzzleloading arm (to include revolvers and pepper boxes) is the LAST step when loading.
Always has been, always will be.

Personally, I don't want to be around anyone who caps/primes first. I don't have any desire to be shot, or to see someone else shot should the hammer fall for whatever reason during loading.
 
I’ve asked before at other forums and will ask here. What is everyone’s thoughts on capping (after loading the cylinder) while the cylinder is out of the gun.
it doesn’t feel safe to me in case it gets dropped, however the caps are hard to load even with a capper sometimes...
 
I would say that most if not all of the Shooting Ranges where I competed would not allow capping and then loading. The only matches I entered were slow fire at 25 & 50 yards with either 20 minutes or 30 minutes for 10 rounds. I have one Ruger Old Army that I hunt with that I load at home and when going to the stand, I cap the nipples then. On shooting matches I have another ROA that I only shoot from one cylinder hole for targets. I load, fire 10 times in the same hole. I have fired this ROA for 40 years after finding the best hole in the cylinder that shot the best and marked it with a punch on the front of the cylinder.
I have talked with Ruger Specialty Gun Smiths and they said they can match up all of the cylinder holes and forcing cone but I never spent the money to do this. I had it done on my Ruger Super Blackhawk and it made a world of difference for accuracy.
For years I used the German (RWS) caps but after having trouble finding them all of the time, and they seemed to be between a #10 & #11 size and had harder side tabs I moved to CCI. I bought every brand of cap I could find and tried them one day at the range. I would clean all nipples, try the caps on for fit, while the cylinder was out of the pistol, pushing each one on with my thumb. After making an "Uneducated" :oops: decision I would try to buy a thousand of that cap. I had some Remington #10 caps fit like #11 caps. The opening of the cap would seem to be open more than the base and it was a little loose.They did fit my In-Line Single Shot Yazel pistol because it had a short, more taper on it nipple.
Good luck with your Revolver and Safe Shooting. Always wear safety glasses when shooting those dang revolvers or any other firearm. I would have a cap split every once in a while. On my single shot target pistol with the specialty grip I would fire with my thumb sticking up next to the opening for the nipple and a few times I would get shrapnel in my thumb from a split cap until every time I shot this pistol, I wold wear two bandaids on my thumb. Problem fixed.
I know, I'm babbling. Not enough coffee yet.
Take care and good shooting.
Mike
 
Have watched several shooting SASS "Frontier" in my club, and they all put in the cylinder un-capped, cap, and press caps in place with wood dowel. One, leaves a nipple off his 60's, so he remembers what cyl. not to load (and I still saw him do it once). Has been shooting this way for over 20 years now, and still shoots quite well compared to cartridge gun shooters.
 
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