Some questions about percussion-cap revolvers

irRegularGuy646

irRegularGuy646

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I'm thinking of getting a cap and ball revolver or revolving carbine at some point in the future and am hoping the handgun ban gets reverted, but I've been 3d modelling and animating a colt walker in the meantime. I've got a few questions about what dealing with the fired percussion caps is like.
1. do spent caps just fall off the nipples? do you usually need to manually pull them off, can you just shake them off of the nipples, or do they just fall off while cocking the hammer? does it depend on the revolver?
2. do they get visibly deformed or discoloured after firing? can you tell if a chamber has been fired by glancing at the cap like you can with firing pin dimples in cartridge revolvers?
 
The caps usually split at the side and fall off out of the way, occasionally one does fall into the action and jams it. You will know if a cap went off by the sound, even if the load hasn’t fired.
Only options for cap and balls are antique handguns or revolving carbines. I have both. For the revolving carbine check out the Uberti 1858.
 
My Remington 1858 does blow some gas back but with glasses it isn’t an issue. Biggest issue is new shooters want to put their hand out front on the barrel. They soon learn after getting their hand burned from hot gases coming out of the barrel cylinder gap. I’ve shown people how to shoot but a couple where stubborn and wouldn’t do ask told.
 
backpacker336 said:
Do the revolving carbines blow a lot of gas back at you?
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They more often cause you injury if you try to shoot them with your hand or arm in front of the cylinder unless you wear long leather gauntlets.

That and they are very loud and annoying to shoot because your face is much closer to the blast from the cylinder gap. Let alone how awkward they are to use and shoot and you really have to wear shooting glasses when using them as when I have shot one my buddy owns I always got gases and hot unburnt powder back in my face.

When back in the day they were tried in Australia by their police, before it was known as Australia, by the then colony of New South Wales Police and South Australia Police, those who used them universally hated them over traditional rifles.

Back then Tranter and S&W among others also made and sold them.


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irRegularGuy646 said:
I'm thinking of getting a cap and ball revolver or revolving carbine at some point in the future and am hoping the handgun ban gets reverted, but I've been 3d modelling and animating a colt walker in the meantime. I've got a few questions about what dealing with the fired percussion caps is like.
1. do spent caps just fall off the nipples? do you usually need to manually pull them off, can you just shake them off of the nipples, or do they just fall off while cocking the hammer? does it depend on the revolver?
2. do they get visibly deformed or discoloured after firing? can you tell if a chamber has been fired by glancing at the cap like you can with firing pin dimples in cartridge revolvers?
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You can buy an antique revolver ... if you can afford one.

1. Yes, sure, sometimes, maybe. You are overthinking this. 🤷‍♂️
2. Yes, yes. You are still overthinking this. Don't worry about it, its obvious and not a big problem either way.
 
I Dont Care About You said:
You can buy an antique revolver ... if you can afford one.

1. Yes, sure, sometimes, maybe. You are overthinking this. 🤷‍♂️
2. Yes, yes. You are still overthinking this. Don't worry about it, its obvious and not a big problem either way.
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This ^ is exactly why I love black powder. No dancing around a single grain, pack it full, little compression, cap it and shoot it, smile, smell it, revel in the moment, repeat until the field looks like a foggy morning. It’s pretty hard to screw up.

Caps depend on the gun, my 1860 has a tendency to suck spent caps into the action, if I tilt the revolver up or down as I #### the hammer I don’t have the issue. My 1862 Police never jammed, caps split and sat on the nipple after firing.
 
they are loud poorly balanced require a shooting stance thats no help in the accuracy department.......friends of mine just had to have one ....they never shoot them...my 2 cents worth....and they throw stuff in your face..............im talking about rifles cap and ball hand guns are a hoot
 
I Dont Care About You said:
You can buy an antique revolver ... if you can afford one.

1. Yes, sure, sometimes, maybe. You are overthinking this. 🤷‍♂️
2. Yes, yes. You are still overthinking this. Don't worry about it, its obvious and not a big problem either way.
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small issue: i'm broke
I'm just gonna hope they revert the handgun freeze before i graduate and get a job, or get a uberti reproduction carbine if they don't

the perfectionism in me demands i accurately depict every detail and frankly the rest of me is inclined to agree cause i don't really have much better to do lol. sounds like what guns do to their caps varies greatly.
 
MosinMan13 said:
This ^ is exactly why I love black powder. No dancing around a single grain, pack it full, little compression, cap it and shoot it, smile, smell it, revel in the moment, repeat until the field looks like a foggy morning. It’s pretty hard to screw up.

Caps depend on the gun, my 1860 has a tendency to suck spent caps into the action, if I tilt the revolver up or down as I #### the hammer I don’t have the issue. My 1862 Police never jammed, caps split and sat on the nipple after firing.
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so caps only cause jams if the gun is level when they fall off? pointing it up or down is enough to keep them away from anything they could get caught in?
 
irRegularGuy646 said:
so caps only cause jams if the gun is level when they fall off? pointing it up or down is enough to keep them away from anything they could get caught in?
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You’ll occasionally hear the phrase “colt wave” which comes from that motion, basically you’re letting the cap roll out of the notch at the hammer before it gets ground in between the cylinder and action. It’s not every revolver, it’s not an official fix but it works, for open top colts at least. Cap jams aren’t the same for every make and model and not nearly as much of an issue as you’d think. My 1860 often times chews through its own cap jams if ever I get them because it’s just a monster of a gun.

Theres also what’s called a cap rake, or a Manhattan conversion, which is a cheap retaining clip looking modification that can help deflect spent caps.

I also find a well fitting cap/nipple and a healthy mainspring keeps the caps on the nipples but that’s just my experience.
 
irRegularGuy646 said:
so caps only cause jams if the gun is level when they fall off? pointing it up or down is enough to keep them away from anything they could get caught in?
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I had a Remington revolver for a while and don't remember the thing ever jamming up on the fired caps.

IMO cap and ball revolvers suck because they take a ton of time to load and no time at all to empty. That gets old real quick. Personally I find a muzzle loading rifle much more fun to shoot. My 54 cal flintlock is loads of fun. Big BOOOOM and lots of smoke. :cool:
 
I'm thinking of getting a muzzleloading long gun at some point too, but if i do it's probably gonna be something more quality than i can afford in terms of time and money for a pretty long while. i feel like an uberti replica would be a decent cheap stepping stone and unique enough to keep around afterwards too.
 
If a bp long gun(muzzle loader) may suit your needs for now, consider the offerings by Pedersoli. These are generally very high quality firearms. Otherwise, the reproduction Remington carbine might make a good choice. One added bonus: Cartridge-firing cylinders are available for most if not all, reproduction cap and ball revolvers. The Uberti Remington being no exception. This gives the shooter the ability to shoot .45 Colt cartridges, too. Something to consider.
 
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