Ok ill go first, i do have a question about the cappers we normally carry for our percussion rifles. what were the kind that was carried during the 1800s? i use a brass inline capper for my rifle, just wondering how it was done before everything went all modern..
good question. i don't use one. the only old ones i,ve seen are round, and are for 1838 patterson revolvers.
I am guessing, as I do not have any data on capers at this time, that they
would have used some kind of leather with hole puched into it to hold the caps
Some used a small horn such as a priming horn to carry them in and shook out one as needed.
Halfstock
Here is something I think might have been carried as well, maybe not in the mountains, but certainly in more settled areas... This is made from cherry & will hold about 300 caps. It has been waxed several times & should be pretty much waterproof. About an inch & 5/8's diameter. I sell these for $25 bucks, but to be honest I don't make a lot of them. They are way too labor intensive...
(http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr223/Sheasmtn/BP%20Times/capbox.jpg)
I think the original cans wer fair container but I would not be surprised if some of the capppers ou see are based on old ones actually used back then.
the basis of my question was i know that some event are juried, and although i tend to shy away from places that the pc nazis swarm, if i did go would they cause metrouble over the capper i use ( brass straight capper)
Quote from: kybackwoodsman on December 03, 2010, 07:05:52 AM
the basis of my question was i know that some event are juried, and although i tend to shy away from places that the pc nazis swarm, if i did go would they cause metrouble over the capper i use ( brass straight capper)
I highly doubt it because they are in use all over, that being said I have not been to a Vous run by the thread counter types yet, so am probably talking out of turn...
It'd be interesting to see exactly what type of capper the juried events would hold some one to. Been my experience that most of them are armchair historians that heard from a guy he knows that knew a guy the had an uncle that heard from a fellow..............
To hear many of them speak our ancestors were pretty much idiots that couldnt muster a table spoon of common scense and if they personally havent seen such an item, no such item exsisted. Where pray tell did some one carry caps, and no, a cap tin in a rifle bag wouldnt do it, especially for people in any form of militia as loading fast from a tin just aint gona happen. So yes I am convinced that cappers were used and carried by many many people.
im sure your right.. and thats my way of thinking a cap tin would not have cut it, especially for militia or military regiment, or hunters for that matter, trying to get one cap out if a cap tin full of caps is a pain in the hindend regardless. i have never attended one of the juried events but a guy i knew in eastern ky named cole was telling me about some of them and how um... rectally obscured they are.. needless to say my temper dont take to someone telling how i should be doing someting that i enjoy!
That's my thinking too,which is why I thinke the ones w e use today are [some of them]old designs,like you gentlemen point out seperating one cap from a tin in one fight would be enough stimulus that if you lived you would figure out a better way!
[hmm] My way of thinking is that after one battle that at least one of them would just poke a hole in the tin just large enough for one cap at a time, and either plugged or kept upright in a cap case or pocket easily accessible until they thought of a more efficient manner of distribution, or had the time and materials to construct a better means hntr hdslp hntr
Civil war soldiers kept their caps in a flapped pouch on their belt.Now civilians used a piece of leather with hokes punched in it for the caps.I used a leather capper when i first started muzzleloading,worked pretty well.On Ted Cash's website he talkes about studing origanal brass cappers in a collection and improving the design with his excellant straight brass capper.
I like and prefer a piece of leather or similar material with holes punched in it. Being PC is of no concern to me and I use this system simply because it's convenient and makes capping very easy.
Rev, I think that little cap bottle of yours is super neat and would gladly switch over to using that just because it's so nicely done.
I've never been too concerned with political correctness or rendezvous correctness, much preferring what works and what can either be made at home or purchased without emptying a rather thin wallet, but Civil War cap pouches and punched leather cappers can't be argued with. When at a shooting match I generally work from the cap tin because of the volume of shooting that will be done, but that means either sitting the tin down with it open and risking getting them spilled or else opening the tin and reclosing it each time you reload. Both work fine. I have a small pocket in my shooting bag that holds the cap tin where it is easy to reach.
I also have a Ted Cash capper that I keep in my pouch and use primarily when I drop the cap I took to the line.
When I first started black powder shooting in 1979, a nearby black powder shop ( now long gone) used to sell these cappers for hunters. You just pushed the cap on and peeled the holder back to leave it in place. They seem to be made of a hard rubber. I lost one but still have the other and it still works well today. I would just slip a thong with a knot in the end through one of the holes and hang it from my horn strap.
(http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj72/oldnamvet/IMG_0011-2.jpg)
I remember seeing those many years ago. That wouldnt be all that hard to make.
The rubber capper is much like the leather ones you can make. Have made several leather ones and used them many times....they work great. Thought I would upgrade to the Ted Cash brass cappers, several of them. They are good, (expensive) but look nice and work well enough, but not a lot more efficient to justify the cost if your short of cash. Have made several (lots) of the little flasks out of the silver table knife handles I removed the solder from, but they work best for flint primers and only so so for caps. Even tried to improve the cap tins by putting one of those brass buttons that are used on CW flap holsters on the lid (this works very well by the way). But still, you have to deal with trying to get that one little cap out of a bunch of little caps in a small tin with short fat fingers....results are a lot of spilled caps. Tried the CW period revolver pistole cap pouches, but then again, very difficult to fish those tiny caps out without losing a fair number of them. One of the last times Dennis and I went shooting, I happened to notice what Dennis was using for a capper. It was a small plastic container with a domed flip top lid (had candy in it originally). I laughed openly at him and joked about it....He just looked at me then said, "don't knock it till you try it". So I did...It was great!!! It was about 1" diameter x 2.5" tall and the key was the high domed lid. On the lid was a small flip top that when opened had a small say 1/4" hole that only allowed one cap at a time. The reason I bring this up is, I am in the process of making one with much the same design. The domed lid and small hole to let the cap pass only one at a time is important. It will have a peg type plug though. I have started this project but as of yet to finish it. Just an Idea.
Don't know about no newfangeled caps, what you do when you run out and nerest post is 20 days hard ride through blackfoot teritory and all you have is an expencive club? Me just find me a good rock and I'm reddy. ROFL
Forrest
Of course if your rock falls out and the spare shatters you still have to find a rock that will work, so whether using caps or rocks it is important to have more than enough. The same is true of powder and lead.
The military issued extra caps during the civil war knowing that some would be dropped or misfire, and in the flintlock days or during the civil war you were expected to use your bayonet, not just shoot.
Lets get back to the subject of cappers!
honestly although i plan on having me a flint rifle before long, with my caplock im a straight hoarder on caps. walmart having a sale on caps right now dropped em down some to $5 a can of 100. so i already had 2 can at home and picked up 2 more the other day. when i go back on friday/payday ill get me some more.
thmbsup I hear ya Kentucky, Only got the one caplock (Rose), all the rest are flinters, but got about a thousand caps. hntr hntr hntr hntr
I still have four cap guns; just don't shoot them all that much. Stashed away are over 1000 #11, 100+ #10 and 100+ musket caps. The musket caps and #10 caps are remnants from a large stash I compiled over 40 years ago. The #11s I got within the past year. I've got a brass capper and a bought rubber capper. The rubber one works better. Recently I made two leather cappers, one for #11 and one for musket caps. They hold 18 and 12 caps, respectively. I took pics of them and will post them when the card is full. They don't look all that bad, either - for a change.
Quote from: Hawken50 on December 04, 2010, 04:58:09 PM
Civil war soldiers kept their caps in a flapped pouch on their belt.Now civilians used a piece of leather with hokes punched in it for the caps.I used a leather capper when i first started muzzleloading,worked pretty well.On Ted Cash's website he talkes about studing origanal brass cappers in a collection and improving the design with his excellant straight brass capper.
The civil war caps were musket caps weren't they? Not the more common #11 caps most of us use. Still in all the civil war soldiers did use a belt pouch.
Yeah, musket caps for the Great War. I had a Zouave back then and used them for that but my military arm of choice now is a US M1841 rifle in .54. Musket caps, of course, are easier to handle due to the flanges and larger size of the cap.
OK. I have a question. Is a #10 cap bigger or smaller than the #11's?
Smaller. It also may depend on the brand as some #10s & #11s are a bit bigger than others.
I've still got a cap gun. I call it my "shootin' in the rain" gun.
I hear ya'! chrrs
BACK IN THE 1800'S I CAN'T REMEBER WHAT WE USED IT HAS BEEN SO LONG AGO - BUT TODAY I USE A COMBINATION OF BRASS AND PLASTIC INLINE CAPPERS AND RUBBER ROUND ONE, MADE A LEATHER WITH SIX HOLES IN IT FOR THE CAPS, BUT LOST IT IN THE WOODS HUNTIN I STILL LOOK FOR IT WHEN I AM IN THAT AREA. THEY ALL WORK GOOD I THINK. I JUST LIKE HAVING FUN.
Quote from: Huntin_Dawg1215 on January 08, 2011, 01:01:47 PM
BACK IN THE 1800'S I CAN'T REMEBER WHAT WE USED IT HAS BEEN SO LONG AGO - BUT TODAY I USE A COMBINATION OF BRASS AND PLASTIC INLINE CAPPERS AND RUBBER ROUND ONE, MADE A LEATHER WITH SIX HOLES IN IT FOR THE CAPS, BUT LOST IT IN THE WOODS HUNTIN I STILL LOOK FOR IT WHEN I AM IN THAT AREA. THEY ALL WORK GOOD I THINK. I JUST LIKE HAVING FUN.
If I remember correctly caps were still not well distributed when we were younger even though many folks had started converting their flinters to percussion. Not me! Even years later, after the war, when guns started using these metal cartridges I still preferred flint. It was well after that I finally got a percussion gun and started using caps. I just got settled in when they came up with this "smokeless powder" - as if that was some kind of improvement. Got both cap and flint, now, and figure there's a time and place for both. Just never developed much interest in metal cappers.
Yeah!- how many fellows blew themselves up with THAT improvement,Huh?Its right up there with black majic if ya asks me! (susp) strpot
Yes but boys think a bit on it, these kids want everything so fast and this hear world we live in is changing right before our eyes... I even heard tell that they had some sort of gas lighting in some o those big towns back east.... what next a horseless carriage?
Why Badger - Don't you know; They moved the Outhouse - INSIDE!! pnic And this is Progress? ;D
Oooooh, I have a headache and my back hurts. (susp)
Quote from: Tim Burns on January 09, 2011, 04:55:04 PM
Why Badger - Don't you know; They moved the Outhouse - INSIDE!! pnic And this is Progress? ;D
would that be an inside out house ? ROFL ROFL ROFL
Don't ferget ta close the door!! ROFL
Quote from: beowulf on January 09, 2011, 07:59:48 PM
Quote from: Tim Burns on January 09, 2011, 04:55:04 PM
Why Badger - Don't you know; They moved the Outhouse - INSIDE!! pnic And this is Progress? ;D
would that be an inside out house ? ROFL ROFL ROFL
hdslp ROFL ROFL ROFL ROFL ROFL ROFL ROFL oooh I'm dyin
A inside out house I have heard it all what next and one with a door even.
Saw one of those hole seats built right in the corner of and old (1860's) cabin in Idaho...worked great for winter time..they camped outside come warm weather for some reason...Nice little triangle holey bench in corner....
Doug
Hey, fellers; it's CAPPERS not CRAPPERS. pnic
Huh, I was wondering what all the stink was about!? ROFL
The more you stir it the more it smells.
Our topics get wide ranging some times...that's for sure..
(susp) Ya think?
Whats Next you say? Why you quit making reasonably priced, sidelock guns, of wood and metal and go to only in-lines with plastic stocks and electronic ignition of course. :qz:
Larry
As an aside, I tried some of that "smokeless powder" in my favorite briar pipe. Yep, it were named keerectly. 'SNTY"
why do in-lines? do the real thing, it's more fun and your not being-- a wanna- be!!!! flwa
canyonman,
sounds like you're as ticked off at a certain Georgia company that had their guns made in Spain as I am. fght
You got that right Greybear, while I can't say I was ever a great fan, back in the 70's their Mt. Rifle was tough to beat for the price!
Larry
I'm just gettin back to a capper after about 30 years of flint(No My Bess will always be #1) and I was wondering about a good HC capper myself.I think I have a snail style around somewhere,How far back do these go?
Havnt taken possestion yet(Crockett rifle) but I'm love making the new pouch,horn and all the goodies to go in the bag.Gotta learn how to post pics someday. rdfce
OK now back to the original qusestion. This all I have been able to find so far
http://www.drake.net/products/Snail-Brass-Cap-Dispenser?id=26094 (http://www.drake.net/products/Snail-Brass-Cap-Dispenser?id=26094)
Quote from: old salt on May 27, 2011, 04:03:20 PM
OK now back to the original qusestion. This all I have been able to find so far
http://www.drake.net/products/Snail-Brass-Cap-Dispenser?id=26094 (http://www.drake.net/products/Snail-Brass-Cap-Dispenser?id=26094)
Snail Brass Cap Dispenser- $250 'shok'
Beautifully crafted reproduction of a genuine mid-19th century English percussion cap dispenser. Designed to dispense one percussion cap at a time directly onto the nipple with absolutely no fuss or fumbling even when wearing gloves. Anyone who has ever hunted with muzzle loading firearms knows how indispensable these items are and good serviceable originals are becoming very difficult to find, not to mention prohibitively expensive. Our reproductions are hand made by us in solid brass and are functionally and esthetically indistinguishable from the originals. Never before available from any source in this quality. We are proud to offer these in two styles both of which measure about 2" in diameter x 3/8" thick.
I have 2 cappers , both made of brass , both 19`th century designs , and I dont have $40 bucks in the pair ! ROFL ROFL ROFL ;D
i personally use a round piece of leathe with holes punched in it then cut a little channel to help it come off the cap that is
Hey, Captkody, take a picture of it and post it or send it to me, sounds simple and reliable.
this is a picture of my homemade capper
Thanks!
Servicable and on the cheap...that's the king of cappers!!