Misfires with percussion caps.

[Blasterbear]

Can anyone tell me why some percussion guns often need two or more hammer strikes on a cap to fire and others fire on the first strike. I am having this problem on two muzzle loading pistols.

Any organization or individual that advocates for it's nation's military to lose a war is guilty of sedition.

 

[JesseL]

My first thought would be that the caps don't fit the nipples properly.

I had that problem when I tried some CCI caps on my Uberti 1858 Remmie. They seemed to fit much tighter than my usual Remington no.11 caps and it took a couple whacks to seat them on the nipples before they would fire.

 

[Misfire99]

I was having that same problem with a gray wolf rifle. It turned out that the remains of a cap was stuck in the hammer face. I cleared it and it fired right away but then the remains of the fired cap was stuck in the face of the hammer again. I am going to change the nipple first and see if that changes the problem. Might even go up to a musket cap. They have the "top hat" design so there is more of a shoulder to keep it out of the hammer face.

Are you having this problem with a rifle or pistol??

 

[Snaggletooth]

Blasterbear, back your nipples off a little bit. If the fire then, you need a new set of nipples. Happened to me.

 

[mykeal]

Lots of reasons this could be happening, but it almost always comes down to a poor fit between the nipple and the cap: the cap does not fit all the way down on the nipple, so the explosive material is not in contact with the top of the nipple. When the hammer strikes the cap it does not drive the material against the nipple, so there is essentially no impact imparted to it - thus no ignition. If the second or third attempt is successful then this is likely the case. The first or second strike drove the cap into place so the next strike works.

You could:

a) get smaller diameter nipples (hard to do - almost all replacement nipples these days are sized for No. 11 caps)

b) get larger caps (down side is they might be too large and thus fit loosely - need to be pinched on nipple)

c) get a stronger hammer mainspring (may not be one available) or install a wedge to increase mainspring force (requires gun disassembly/assembly and fabrication of a wedge)

It's also possible that the hammer throw is not long enough for it to actually strike the cap. If the failure to fire occurs several times in a row on the same nipple this is likely the case. Back the nipples out a turn or two and try again - if it works, buy longer nipples or put spacers/washers under the nipple seats.

 

[Aries-]

before fireing any flintlock or precussion gun you need to put a couple caps or pans of powder through it till you get smoke out the barrel to make sure the little tube into the barrel is clean.

ive had one be clogged when i went to shoot it. and had to pull the bullet and powder to make it so there was no pressure on the end of the tube. was rather worrysome.

 

[Heinrich]

My first thought would be that the nipple and cap do not fit properly. Second investigation would be to look at the angle at which the hammer hits the nipple.

 

[sundance44s]

Ran into an old Remmie 1858 this weekend ..it was a spanish made ...looked like the problem was the nipples were too short . The guy was going to try and find a longer set and try it next time .

 

[Fisherman_48768]

Check too and make sure the nipples aren't peened over from dry firing. This will prevent the caps from seating with finger pressure.