Cap jamming in 1860

Musketfire

Musketfire

CGN frequent flyer
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
11   0   0
Location
Algoma region
Well I returned about a hour ago from a session of martini and 1860 therapy.

As usual the martini worked and shoots better then I do....But my bloody 1860.....
I maybe at most got off "at best"5 shots before cap fragments wormed their way into the mechanism, most of the time it happened after 2 -3 shots - I have never had a full cylinder function without a jam--needless to say its a pain in the arse.

I use cci magnum caps, is there some magic trick to not jamming up your arm.. I have tried the little flip upward motion before recocking and no go.

Is it the magnum caps,design flaw inherent in all percussion open tops..or as my pal said, maybe its the reason my colt has lasted 150 years??

Any hints or magic solutions would be appreciated!
 
I am assuming the 1860 is an open top Colt; instead of flipping the muzzle up you should be cocking with the muzzle down so that the caps fall out and away from the hammer. That has been my experience anyway.

cheers mooncoon
 
I dont know....Maybe its the caps? Im thinking of trying regular cci ones next opposed to the magnum ones, maybe a pack of the remmington ones aswell?

I dont know....

I still had a great time, just for some reason the 1860 "yes a open top colt" jams up with fragments far far more then my 1851 colt with the same caps.
 
I get that in my remington reproductions some times. Frustrating as all get out some days...

Bit of a side flip while cocking helps but now and then nothing seems to do it. Its still better than trying to pry out ones that don't split when snapping caps to burn the oil out.

Could be worth trying different caps or maybe even different nipples but for the most part it may just be one of the things that we have to live with.
 
cap jamming

Musketfire said:
Well I returned about a hour ago from a session of martini and 1860 therapy.

As usual the martini worked and shoots better then I do....But my bloody 1860.....
I maybe at most got off "at best"5 shots before cap fragments wormed their way into the mechanism, most of the time it happened after 2 -3 shots - I have never had a full cylinder function without a jam--needless to say its a pain in the arse.

I use cci magnum caps, is there some magic trick to not jamming up your arm.. I have tried the little flip upward motion before recocking and no go.

Is it the magnum caps,design flaw inherent in all percussion open tops..or as my pal said, maybe its the reason my colt has lasted 150 years??

Any hints or magic solutions would be appreciated!
Click to expand...

Try some hotter caps like the rws caps - they blow away and off the gun - (lottsa spark !) also different size caps help - pinching loose caps prior to putting em on yer nipples keeps them there , I use a mini anal injector with a curved tip to put bore butter around each cap to prevent chain fire and have not had any problem with tight or loose caps - they tend to stay whole and either fly off or stay on - no little bitts jamming anything --:)
 
I have been trying some original Eley and Kynoch caps lately and they are much hotter than our modern percussion caps. They blow entirely off when fired. I think this problem is more with modern caps, I doubt it was much of an issue in the distant past when these guns were used for serious purposes. My experience anyway.
 
Greetings,

Yes, this is a problem inherent in all Colt style C&B revovlers. The trick most cowboy shooters use is to lift the barrel up and rotate your hand to the right when cocking the hammer. The only other option I know of is an expensive fix by a gunsmith that involves extra metal and welding. Welcome to the wonderful world of Colt C&B revolvers.

With Greatest Respect,

Matt Alexander
 
I found this on another site, and thought it might help out.

Quote "The best combination I have found and use in all my shooting C&Bs is Treso cones and #10 Remington caps applied with a Ted Cash revolver (snail) capper. The Treso cones (nipples) have smaller and more uniform flash holes that reduces blowback and the likelihood that the cap or fragments will fall off and jam the gun.
Bottom line is, you want the cap to fit tightly on the cone and stay there after it has ignited the chamber so it doesnt fall off and jam up the gun. Whatever combination of cones and caps will accomplish that on your pistol is what you should use."
 
For whatever it is worth, I read an article a few years ago where the writer said the problem is found in the repros but not in the originals because the way the old time guns had their recoil shield cut allowed the recoil of the shot to blow the cap off the nipple of the previously fired chamber. He had a way of fixing the problem using a file or milling machine to reprofile the new guns to look and function like the old ones. I can't see the ordnance department of either side in the War of Northern Aggression allowing this problem, nor can I see Wild Bill standing up to a gun fight if he thought one of his Navy's was going to jam.
 
vega said:
For whatever it is worth, I read an article a few years ago where the writer said the problem is found in the repros but not in the originals because the way the old time guns had their recoil shield cut allowed the recoil of the shot to blow the cap off the nipple of the previously fired chamber. He had a way of fixing the problem using a file or milling machine to reprofile the new guns to look and function like the old ones. I can't see the ordnance department of either side in the War of Northern Aggression allowing this problem, nor can I see Wild Bill standing up to a gun fight if he thought one of his Navy's was going to jam.
Click to expand...

Well thats not going to apply to any of my hog legs all mine are geenuine period colts, I have only ever bought 1 italian arm "long arm" and I have learned my lesson .
The blast shield has nothing to do with it, if you look at how a open top percussion colt works, the caps when in battery are in front of the hammer....Not the shield.
When the caps jam her they seem to fall off the nipple when I recock her to bring the 2nd chamber into battery cap pieces fall into the mechanism at the inner base of the hammer.

Now as far as all the old timers in war with these arms, remember they had access to gunsmiths that specialized in these guns and worked on em daily....
And they were not 150 years old at that time..:D

That and I dont claim to be wild bill;) then again he used a 1851 not a 60....My 1851 doesnt have my 60's foibles, and shoots quite well...I understand why Wild bill preferred it.!!

The reason they went to centerfire was just because of problems like this.

most of us today have to manage ourselves, as how many gun smiths are out there now......Most of these guys work with plastic stocked high tech stuff and regular comtemporary arms and think a muzzleloader takes a 209 primer and comes with a synthetic stock in mossy oak..

I bet most of them have never touched a real percussion arm let alone worked on one...Im not trusting my 2000$$ colt to some one I dont know.

I was sent a new set of nipples, by a yankee pal of mine who said they should help, If I can get out this weekend we shall see.

As a previous poster was saying, I now think it may be that the forcing cone inside the nipples are worn and now too large allowing too much blast to come back, we will see with the new nipples.

Ill post results then!

Cheers guys
 
Last edited:
Musketfire said:
When the caps jam her they seem to fall off the nipple when I recock her to bring the 2nd chamber into battery cap pieces fall into the mechanism at the inner base of the hammer.
Click to expand...

Several people have posted that this is not a problem if you flick the gun up and to one side while cocking. That does not make sense to flick the fragments at least partly in the direction you are trying to avoid. If you drop the muzzle while cocking the fragments fall away from the hammer and mechanism at least in my experience with both old and new.

I also don't believe that access to gunsmiths made any significant difference in the good old days of the recent unpleasantness south of the border. Caps can jam in the first couple of shots if you are cocking incorrectly.

cheers mooncoon
 
I never had a problem with my 1860. It was 15 years ago, think I used CCI caps IIRC. You should try other brands of caps. You shouldn't need a super hot cap to ignite an 1860. Flic your wrist sideways as you #### for the next shot.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom