deputy125

been doing some more research on cap and ball revolvers and especially the colt 1860 and 1861.

most comments freqently refer to either cap jams or cap fragments tieing up the action during strings of fire.

What gives? is this just crappy technology that they had to put up with back in the day? Or did they do a better job of hand fitting and better tolerances therefore less problems?

The question is.......why does a cap "fragment"???
from poor fit on the nipple?
from improper hammer fit?

Machinist

Gunrunner should answer this. The thing I read was that this was the reason for tilting the gun vertically before cocking the hammer, to let fragments fall clear of the action. I don't know the truth of this but it would suggest that the fragmenting was common enough to be a concern.

sheepdog

...if the flash goes down into the nipple from the cap, seems something could blow back upon firing...wouldn't take much pressure to rip apart the lightweight cap...unsupported by anything...

gunman42782

The caps "fragmenting" is just the nature of the beast. That is what they are designed to do when struck.

sheepdog

...never saw one but I'd bet they're little more than .22-shell thick if that???

deputy125

near as i can tell they are a copper version of a primer.........

"tresco" nipples with a different size flash hole are supose to reduce the incidence of blow-back.

Then there is the whole hammer thing. of course if you dry-fire a cap and ball, you risk deforming the nipples from impact. I would think they should be set up to be where the hammer never touches the nipple.....of course we are now talking thousandths if not hundreds of thousandths of an inch, but trying to drive the hammer thru the cap and contact the nipple would seem to cause the fragmenting...........but then i supose the costs would approach the space shuttle for such precision.

just curiosity on my part...........i've been reading more and more on these from over the past year.......everything from a "manhatten" modification to remington cap guards.

been also researching a revolver called a "rodgers and spencer"....more of an improved remington design i guess...........

what can i say?...............curiosity more than anything.....and when i get interested, i like to research and read.

sheepdog

...Gnu 2 me!!!

http://www.civilwarguns.com/0005.html

http://www.antiquearmsinc.com/revolver- ... pencer.htm

...do remember Spencer rifles...probably connected...