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View Full Version : Is anyone making their own percussion caps?


Gator_Weiss
December 25, 2009, 11:08 AM
I have heard rumours about some shooters stamping their own percussion caps from soft drink cans or other metal stock, by striking the metal over or into a simple forming die. I have been told that they are filling the inside with compounds taken from children's paper capgun caps.

Is there anyone on the forum that has actually tried anything like this, and if so, was it worth the effort over store-bought percussion caps?

eastbank
December 25, 2009, 11:20 AM
i thought about it when they first came out,but after reading about it,i passed and instead bought 10,000 caps. they were alot cheaper than(1.45 a hundred). but if they stop making caps i would do what ever i had to do,including making my own. eastbank.

Pahoo
December 25, 2009, 11:37 AM
Your information is correct and I guess you would have to measure the need. I have seen these made and shot them and they do work. I know the tooling is still available and I believe these came from Mid-South.



Be Safe !!!

4V50 Gary
December 25, 2009, 11:38 AM
Tap-O-Cap is available from Dixie Gun Works. I've got one and use two red itty biddy kiddy caps to ensure ignition. It's strickly a back-up system for me in case I run out of rocks (flints) and then run out of caps.

bedbugbilly
December 25, 2009, 06:03 PM
4B50 Gary - as I started to read this thread I instantly thought of the "tap a cap" that Dixie carried years ago and am glad to see your post that they still do. I've got a couple of questions that I know you can answer. First, I remember that you could make them out of aluminum cans like you mentioned and that you used kid's paper roll caps - How do you cut the paper roll cap to get it to size to fit the aluminum cap you've punched and what do you use to glue it in with? (I'm assuming that you have to glue it in?) Secon - I don't have kids or grandkids. I mentioned the old roll paper caps that we had when we were kids to someone the other day and theydidn't think that you could get them anymore? He thought the "do gooders" had made them disappear off the shelves as they were "so dangerouse" for children. Are they still available and if so, where can you buy them? Many thanks! bedbugbilly

the rifleer
December 25, 2009, 06:33 PM
i did a quick search and wasn't able to find anyplace that has them in stock, Dixie had no results.

tpelle
December 25, 2009, 07:10 PM
Same here.

Delmar
December 25, 2009, 07:56 PM
Midway USA (http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=842064) says they expect them back in stock in Jan 2010!

The story I hear from those who used to use them is that the Tap o Cap used to work pretty well, back when you could buy hotter toy caps. My guess is that product safety regulations are responsible for the fact that you can't get good roll caps anymore, but I can't prove it.

I have played with making my own #11 caps a little bit, but not with roll caps. I had a guy send me a bunch of the aluminum cups he made with the cap o tap, and I was going to try to make them the same way I reload large pistol primers. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7nphPRG6JA&feature=related) With strike anywhere matches. The problem I ran into was that the cup made by the Tap o Cap is smaller than a store bought #11 caps. So it doesn't hold enough of the match head compound to work well. That does not mean, however, that I have totally given up on the project. In Ron Brown's book Homemade guns and Homemade Ammo (http://fliiby.com/file/34127/3qv4b6zoo3.html) there is a recipe for primer compound, that a friend of mine is using. He has had pretty good success making primers with that mixture, so I will probably give that a whirl before I abandon the project. Unless I find out that my 209 adapter project (http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=389898) shows more promise first! If I can fit six of these in a percussion revolver, I am pretty sure that using small pistol primers in them, with the use of these primer converters (http://www.cabelas.com/p-0034484216156a.shtml) will be the way to go.

Hawg
December 25, 2009, 10:34 PM
Those caps that come in strips or rings fit #11 nipples perfectly but they don't set off Pyrodex reliably. Might work ok on real bp tho.

Pahoo
December 26, 2009, 11:05 AM
As posted earlier, I have seen these in MidSouth catalog and this should be the link I have no idea on availability. :rolleyes:

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=00070TC1000



Be Safe !!!

eastbank
December 26, 2009, 12:30 PM
i remember reading about a adepter nipple that took rifle primers for the cap locks, if i find one of thoese i will buy it just to have it just in cas,as i have a truck load of rifle primers. eastbank.

scrat
December 27, 2009, 04:51 PM
In Ron Brown's book Homemade guns and Homemade Ammo there is a recipe for primer compound, that a friend of mine is using. He has had pretty good success making primers with that mixture, so I will probably give that a whirl before I abandon the project.

Interested DO TELL

Delmar
December 27, 2009, 05:53 PM
Just follow the links I provided. Ron Brown's primer recipe starts on page 143 (http://fliiby.com/file/34127/3qv4b6zoo3.html) I haven't purchased any Potassium Chlorate yet, but I know that you can get it here. (http://www.ihaveadotcom.com/cart/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=72) I hope I don't have to tell you, you need to be very carefull with that stuff.

arcticap
December 29, 2009, 01:21 AM
I found these "quality" Canadian made roll caps stashed away with my kid's old cap guns.
If anyone wants them let me know. :)

http://thefiringline.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=55308&stc=1&d=1262067523

darkgael
December 29, 2009, 07:14 AM
Tap-O-Cap is available from Dixie Gun Works. I've got one and use two red itty biddy kiddy caps to ensure ignition. It's strickly a back-up system for me in case I run out of rocks (flints) and then run out of caps.

Yep. Same here. Getting good caps is the issue.
Pete

4V50 Gary
December 29, 2009, 08:54 AM
You use a hole puncher to punch out the caps from the roll. Do your best to center the puncher over the explosive compound. I've missed at times and it went kaboom on me. Thankfully, because it's only a kid's cap, I didn't shoot my eye out. ;)

arcticap
December 30, 2009, 05:08 AM
Check it out. I also found these German roll caps which were quite loud when they would fire off using an American cap pistol. :)

http://thefiringline.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=55356&stc=1&d=1262167615

Delmar
December 30, 2009, 12:41 PM
Check it out. I also found these German roll caps which were quite loud when they would fire off using an American cap pistol.Where did you get those? I'm not sure, but at first glace the "dots" look bigger than the ones I buy from Walmart. I'll have to get them out and re-size the image so that the roll is the same width, then I will know for sure.

arcticap
December 30, 2009, 04:22 PM
The price sticker on the package shows that they came from Walgreens.
They have a stiffer paper backing, the width of the rolls is much narrower and they were tougher to fire off with a weak toy pistol hammer.

Hawg
December 31, 2009, 09:07 AM
Roll caps they make now are wimpy compared to the older ones. When I was a kid they were loud and there was a lot of smoke.

Delmar
January 1, 2010, 01:43 AM
Roll caps they make now are wimpy compared to the older ones. When I was a kid they were loud and there was a lot of smoke. Dang Product Safety Commission!

zxcvbob
January 1, 2010, 02:23 AM
In Ron Brown's book Homemade guns and Homemade Ammo there is a recipe for primer compound, that a friend of mine is using. He has had pretty good success making primers with that mixture, so I will probably give that a whirl before I abandon the project. I don't know about Ron Brown, but the stuff you want is called Armstrong's Mixture. It is exceedingly dangerous to make, so be careful.

scrat
January 2, 2010, 12:41 PM
ya i just read about that and very unpredictable. i am staying away from that

Delmar
January 3, 2010, 03:09 PM
ya i just read about that and very unpredictable. i am staying away from thatMost people will.

Delmar
February 22, 2010, 08:27 AM
Roll caps they make now are wimpy compared to the older ones. When I was a kid they were loud and there was a lot of smoke.

I have been playing with the cheap Chinese roll caps and I have found a system that works really well. See the problem with the Chinese caps is not that the compound isn't powerful enough.
The problem is the dots are smaller (not as much compound) than the ones we had when we were kids. When you use the hole punch you add more and more of the heavy backing paper with
every cap. I discovered that, with a little bit of practice, I can scrape the cap off the roll even more quickly than I can punch it out! This means I can fit a lot more caps (with less paper) in each aluminum cup. I
think 5 is going to work really well but there is easily room for 20 if you really wanted to make some hot caps!

check out my video.
http://s901.photobucket.com/albums/ac214/deardelmar/?action=view&current=scrapecaps.flv

http://i901.photobucket.com/albums/ac214/deardelmar/scrapedcaps.jpg?t=1266842081
After I put as many caps in the cup as I want, I spay it with a little bit of cheap hair spray and let them
dry overnight. It holds the stuff in really well.
http://i901.photobucket.com/albums/ac214/deardelmar/11.jpg?t=1266844871