Switched to caps; need lots of advice?

[mark davidson]

I switched my flinter over to percussion yesterday and shot it a lot. Here are my million newbie questions:   :-)
What kind of nipple do I need, the stock one or an aftermarket hotshot with a bigger hole?
SHould I drill out the hole in the stock nipple.
(I have an L&R Hawken lock) .62 cal. full stock Hawken custom build
Do you prime the nipple or the drum with 4F to make it more reliable?
Finally...What is your meticulous loading procedure for guaranteeing 100% ignition or close as you can get to 100%?

Note: I am not at all new to percussion guns but I am just now taking it the most seriously that I ever have. :-)

Thanks in advance for your advice and pointers. :-)

[Shadow Hawk]

well mark as you said you know the basics or more so i would say you know most of what you need. i would not drill out the nipple but i would use the hotshot. ive had the best luck with rws caps.
 not a good idea to prime. as far as loading goes just about the same as most. pour powder,ram prb(or your proj. of choice) cap and shoot. i use borebutter so i have no need to wipe between shots. hope this helps

[Riley/MN]

Personally - not saying this is what you need to do... I use a hotshot in all my rifles. Pour powder, slap the lock, load prb, cap with good quality cap (I usually look for RWS or CCI) & fire. Works for me.

[Bigsmoke]

Mark,
Hot shot nipple is good, Spitfire from MSM is a little better according to chrono tests I have done.
On my big bore rifles, I am kind of fond of using a musket nipple and cap.  MSM makes a 1/4-28 x musket nipple that works great.  I happen to sell them if you would like one. Or two.
As far as loading, do pop a couple of caps prior to doing anything else.  Dry out the passages so residual oil will not foul the shot.  Other than that, load as you have been.
I prefer RWS caps, but here all I can find is CCI and they work OK.  If you use a #11 cap, make sure you use the #11 magnum cap.  It's a little hotter.
Don't drill out the oriface unless you are using TRESO berrylum nipples.  TRESO puts a really small hole in it, the rest of the major manufactures do it about right.  Too big a hole will cause backpressure to excape, thus causing the hammer to blow back, possibly damaging the lock.

[mark davidson]

As always, thanks so much for the patient and super quality advice. I've shot cap guns on and off for 25 years or so and killed a bunch of deer with them. For some reason, I just now got serious about it and thought to ask you guys just how it should be done. The nipple that came with my L@R lock has a pretty small hole in it. I have some hot shot nipples that I used with my TC Hawken a few years back. The hole through the bottom of the hotshots is bigger. Thanks for the tip about tapping the side of the lock to get powder into the drum. I never thought of that. I used to cram a pinch of powder into the nipple in front of the cap. I assume from your input that that practice is unnecessary? I always patch between shots just to preserve my clean bore accuracy potential. It may not be necessary but it makes me feel better to know every shot is going down a clean barrel. I may switch to musket caps but not here in the middle of season. If I can get the #11s to fire reliably, that is what I will use.  Do you pop a cap or two after you shoot at a deer? I suspect my only misfires yesterday were due to fouling forced into the drum by my patching after the shot and not popping a cap before reloading to clear out the path. Any thoughts???  :-)

[pathfinder]

Not a big fan of wiping after every shot,especialy in a cap gun,nooks and cranny's for the fouling to get pushed into ahead of the patch,pure total conjecture on my part with NO scientific proof what-so-ever and NOT to be taken as gospel,just my bone-headed way of doing things.

[Hank in WV]

I agree with pathfinder. After you load your powder, the barrel gets cleaned by pushing the ball down the barrel and the fouling sits on top of the powder, not in an orifice. Same barrel conditions for every shot.

[smokinbuck]

Mark,
A lot of the fellows use the hotshot and spitfire nipples and feel they are worth the cost and improve the firing ability of their rifles. I have used both, as well as the standard #11's and don't feel there is a great deal of difference. As for drilling out the standard nipple orifice, don't. You will be creating the same effect as having a burned out nipple and "could" suffer a loss of pressure, hammer blowback and misfires. I do not prime my cap guns as a matter of course however, when I am hunting I remove the nipple after loading the rifle and put a small, 3-4 grains, charge of 3f in the drum and replace the nipple. It's just a little insurance that the main charge is going to go off when the rifle is fired.

[jbullard1]

Mark
I hate to see you abandon the rock lock
My 54 rifle and 62 smooth work perfect
Jerry

[mark davidson]

Jerry,
    Good to hear from you. I'm not abandoning the rock lock really. I like to try and mess with new stuff. I killed about 18 deer with the rockbanger. I am now ready to try out the percussion lock on the same gun. I had the gun built for both locks so I could switch back and forth as suited my fancy. I liked the rock banger well enough that I went about three years without every trying the percussion lock.  Truthfully, I have not practiced this year as diligently as in past years and my confidence is suffering a bit. Just the excuse I needed to tinker with my toy a little and try something different.  My fowler is still flintlock but I got a spare percussion lock for it too. I can in my own experience say that the percussion lock on the gun makes it to me at least noticably faster ignition and I shoot it off hand and unsupported considerably better with the percussion lock. Hope you are doing well and having a good season.

[jbullard1]

Mark
One thing about this hobby/sport/obsession is the Right To Experiment!!
I started in caplocks and wanted a challenge so rocklocks came next,
whats next hunting with a matchlock???
For me it may happen, I wish you the most success with your new endevour;  may all your shots fall where aimed  

[mario]

I started in caplocks and wanted a challenge so rocklocks came next,
)

I started in caplocks and wanted guns that actually went BANG, so I ended up with flintlocks...

Don't ask me to explain. It's just they way it is.


Mario

[Bigsmoke]

Mario,
I also craved a gun that really went bang.  That's why I have a sincere liking for the bigger caliber guns.  Nothing quite like the bang you get out of an 8 bore with 300 grains of powder (percussion, of course)!
Unless it's a 4 bore with 400 grains of Fg.
Yes, you can actually feel the ground shake, too.
John

[mario]

Actually, I would get a misfire 1 of every 8 shots or so. With a flinter, I rarely get ANY.

Mario

[James Kelly]

You've had time to think it over, now . . . damn capguns clog up in those intricate channels from nipple to powder, in damp weather . . . might you consider reconversion?