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Offline Elijah Gunn

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cap sizes
« on: February 06, 2011, 12:43:54 PM »
The hammer spring on my 1861 Whitney broke so I replaced it. I got the new spring from Dixie. It is the same spring that goes in the remmington. There was a slight difference in the thickness from the old spring to the new one. After I installed it I noticed that it was a little easier to pull the hammer back. I like the way it feels now. However I now get failure to fire on the caps. I first tried some remmington #11 caps. I need to pinch the #11s closed a little so they stay on the nipples. Out of 18 caps 4 were ftf. All caps went off on the second hit. OK.. so maybe I pinched them a little too much and the first hit got them seated.
Next I bought some CCI #10 caps which is what this gun was using quite nicely before the hammer spring broke. Out of 18 caps 6 did not go off on the first hit, but all did go off on the second hit
.My question is... I'm wondering if the remmington #10 size caps are just a little bit bigger than the CCI #10s are? If they are maybe they will seat so that this failure to fire problem is eliminated.  If not, my next step would be to change out the nipples, but I don't want to spend that kind of money. Or maybe there is a way to stiffen up the spring so it hits a little harder. Anyone know?
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Offline coyotejoe

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Re: cap sizes
« Reply #1 on: February 07, 2011, 04:35:40 AM »
If the Remington caps needed to be pinched to stay on then they clearly are not too tight and if the CCI caps worked fine with the old spring but fail with the new then clearly the spring is the issue, not caps or nipples. C&B revolvers do require a heavier hammer fall than do centerfire revolvers because the hammer impact is spread over a much larger area, the whole head of the cap, as opposed to just the tip of a firing pin.
 I'm not familiar with the Whitney revolver, don't know if it has a tension screw like the Remington but you do need to find a way to put more tension on the spring, perhaps a shim at the lower front of the spring to angle it back more?
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Offline Fingers McGee

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Re: cap sizes
« Reply #2 on: February 07, 2011, 06:55:45 AM »
If your caps are poping on the second try, you are not getting them seated on the nipple and are relying on the inertia of the hammer to seat and pop them.  Proper fitting caps should pop the first time. 

Here is a chart showing the relative dimensions of percussion caps.



Try the Remington #10s.  They've always worked well for me in all brands of C&B revolvers.
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Offline Pat/Rick

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Re: cap sizes
« Reply #3 on: February 07, 2011, 08:46:00 PM »
+1 Fingers. Thanks for posting the chart on cap dimensions!! I'll print it off and put it on my shooting box lid!
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Offline coyotejoe

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Re: cap sizes
« Reply #4 on: February 08, 2011, 04:30:41 AM »
I have to disagree with you on this one Fingers.  As I read the post he never had a problem until he replaced the mainspring with a lighter spring. He was getting a higher percentage of misfires with the Remington #11 than with the CCI #10. You can't possibly pinch an oversize cap tight enough to cause misfires. The issue is a too light hammer fall. The first strike sensitizes the cap so that a second strike can fire it. I've experienced the same scenario with a singleshot pistol having a too light hammer fall where I could fully seat the caps with my fingers, lots of first strike misfires which would fire on the second or third strike. A stronger mainspring cured that one and it will cure his problem as well. There is no reason to change the caps that worked fine before he changed the spring.
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Offline FourBee

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Re: cap sizes
« Reply #5 on: February 09, 2011, 04:36:05 PM »
I don't have an explanation as to why the #11's didn't go off the 1st time.
And I don't have any experience with the #10 CCI, so I can't help you there either.
   
However; If you can get some Remingtion #10's I think you'll like 'em.   The Remington #10's have a long cup and they fit tight on the 'cone shaped nipples'.  That is to say the Nipples are narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, thus cone shaped. 
So, make sure those Rem #10's are well seated and they oughta pop.   The new mainspring from Dixie Gun Works should not be the problem even if it does feel lighter.  My newest revolver came with a light mainspring and it works just fine.
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Offline Elijah Gunn

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Re: cap sizes
« Reply #6 on: February 12, 2011, 04:05:13 PM »
Thank you Mr. FourBee sir! I had a chance to pick up some of the Remington #10 caps today,and all 18 caps that I tried went off on the first hit. I even fired them off at night so I got to see how much fire they made. Problem solved. These caps fit the nipples very well. No pinching like the #11s need.
 The new spring I put in I really like. It makes the gun feel more "friendly" in my hand.
Thanks again, your advice was the little nudge I needed to take the chance on buying the caps.
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