Author Topic: Percussion Cap Failure in Cold Weather (Read 1046 times)

Jack Crevalle · « **on:** January 19, 2003, 02:46:03 PM »

I went shooting today and the predicted high was supposed to be 20 deg. F but I don't think it quite reached that.

For the first time ever I had caps fail to fire. I snapped a couple of them multiple times before they would go off. Finally, I put my capper in an outside pocket of my insulated overalls and that seemed to abate the problem.

Has anyone else experienced this?

savageT · « **Reply #1 on:** January 20, 2003, 02:56:59 AM »

Jack,
Have you examined the hammer to nipple alignment? What do the caps look like after ignition? If everything appears correct, I would assume you just have defective primers that need to be replaced with new lot.

Jack Crevalle · « **Reply #2 on:** January 20, 2003, 05:15:21 AM »

That was my first thought, but the caps, when they did not go off, seemed to be hit squarely. When they did, well, I've shot with Hot Shot nipples for a long time now and they tend not to leave much left.

Grump · « **Reply #3 on:** January 20, 2003, 06:21:20 PM »

I did alot of shooting this year with temps well below 20deg. with the new Remington and CCI #11 caps and havent had any miss fires yet. You might have a bad batch or they are contaminated with moisture. What kind of rifle are you shooting? I was trying out a Remington 700ml earlier this winter and was having problems with the firing pin/cup clearance in the bolt in cold weather. It would hang up just enough that the cap would not fire. Good luck.

Jack Crevalle · « **Reply #4 on:** January 21, 2003, 01:37:03 PM »

It's a TC Hawken. It's over 20 years old so maybe it's the spring. Come to think of it, I did load my capper out a brand new tin the night before but then again, I bought that one, and the previous one, at the same time and place. The previous ones worked just fine.

johnt · « **Reply #5 on:** January 22, 2003, 12:44:20 PM »

I had something like that happen with my TC hawkin.It was the lock.The two plate screws inside had come just a little loose.Then as the trigger was pulled the fly would flip out of place and stop the hammer just short(by .001)(really) of striking the nipple.It looked for all of life as if the hammer dropped. :eek:
I had purchased the gun 2nd hand and spent more time checking the bore than I did the lock. :oops:
Pull that spring in there,and take that plate off,it's really pretty simple.
Clean it up good,some light oil,!!???. I found the fly in mine to be quite worn,but it works ok now,just something I need to watch,and a lesson learnd.
good luck,

Naphtali · « **Reply #6 on:** February 07, 2003, 06:05:08 AM »

SORRY. THIS IS DOUBLE POST. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO UNDO.

Jack, when was the last time you replaced the nipple? Depending upon how well set-up is your lock, the relationship between impact face of hammer and cap may be incorrect.

Although hammer's impact face and naked nipple are not supposed to touch when hammer is down, this ain't always the case. If the hammer beats the nipple face, you may wind up with a short nipple, or a deformed one.

If the nipple has shortened, contact between hammer's impact face and cap may be poor.

You can check this relationship yourself, or take your rifle to a muzzleloading gunsmith. Regardless what happens, use a new, properly installed nipple for zeroing and hunting.