Shooting a cap & ball with DYI caps

[Rex in OTZ]

Back in 1989 I had seen EMF cap & ball revolver adds in the Shotgun News, later they with cased revolvers, I orderd 2 one a 1860 .44 steel framed revolver, and a Colt walker (after 3 back orders on the walker the refunded my money) I was living/working in Barrow AK, No precussion caps to be found in that town!!, I had co-workers on the prowel on ther trips outta town but either they forgot, were too busey or came up empty, I  finnally got a chance to get to Anchorage, picked up some Pyrodex P from the trip to Anchorage, hit 4 different shops they were either out of caps in the size I needed or dident stock them, dejected I returned to Barrow stewing that I had a cap & ball revolver with Powder and shot and nothing to set them off with! after a couple months I had a powerfull urge to shoot it and started looking round for alternave's, I picked up some plastic cap gun cap's to the grosery store they fit the nipples and would even pop once in awhile but not ignite the powder!
I was paruseing the Dixie Gun Works Catalog and saw the Tap-O-Cat tool to make your own percussion caps
I dident want to spend that kind of money for the Dixie product, the idea stay'd in the back my mind.
Acting on what that DGW add said I picked up a paper punch (swiped from the secratary's desk) and proceded to punch disc's from a alum coke can,  I made a small die block of oak pallet wood, I'd place a disc over the slight depression and dimple the disc then the next progressively deeper depression till I had a crudely formed aluminum cup, I picked up 3 boxes of them paper cap's on rolls and very carefully used my cuticle scissors and cut round the cap (its painfull when they pop on your in your grasp!)  I'd put little dab of paper glue in the cup and stuck the cap dot in the cup (pretty work intensive) desperation leads to getting inventive, they did work and were a pain as they dident stay put as well as factory caps but they did fire the revolver!!  just as I started useing them a week and half later one my co-workers brought me a single tin of Remington #10 caps! they fit like a saddle on a sow but worked better than my home made ones so my experiment of makeing caps stopped, I think that if I had stay'd at it they would have turned out better ones.

[filmokentucky]

Nothing can take the place of real caps. I learned long ago to keep a large supply in all sizes stored up.

The infamous Tap-O-Cap was a horrid thing that sounded like a good idea and should have been left as an idea. Reality was its downfall. It was an answer to a question no one was asking. I do know of one person who wasn't completely unhappy with his gizmo, but he drank a lot and often was uncertain as to the year.

[Sir Charles deMoutonBlack]

A friend of mine, years ago used those red plastic "potato caps" as a make-shift C&B cap.  But usually he used them to dry fire his caplock rifle.

[coyotejoe]

I think it worth mentioning that cap gun caps are highly corrosive. Normal cleaning with water will probably do but if one fires just a cap or two the gun should be cleaned just as if it had fired black powder.

[Gun Runner]

I got one of the tap o cap things. First prob. with the caps most are made in china.
Have yet to find in a roll of them 2 charges that are even close to the same. Wound up putting several caps in the cup using the little wooden stick they sent along. Found a site where they sell caps, cap guns, cowboy and cowgirl outfits. Talked to one of their reps (tim). H said they carried caps made in germany that were bigger and had more powder in them. Exlained what I was using them for and he understood what I was talking about. Using the china made caps some times they fired on the first try and some times on the second try. I have about 15 tins of #10 caps. (used to work in a gun shop), plus S-I-L and I picked up about a dz more from a lady whose husban had passed on.

Gun Runner

[blhof]

I load up at Wally World after(the day after) B/p season here in Ky.  They have all their B/p stuff that's left over on their discount table for about half off; so I load up, got 8 tins of caps and 2 bottles of pyrodex.