Jig for making percussion caps

D

Doc Hoy

New member
I would like to buy or make a jig for pressing my own caps. Can't find a source (because I think they are out of production.) Can't find plans.

Can anyone advise?
 
There is a capmaker you can buy, but the caps will be #11 size, maybe a little bigger.
Brush hippie has videos on this, google - how to make percussion caps brush hippie
he has a tool that someone made for him, and they cost $55 shipped

There is another video on how to make your own cap jig, google - how to make percussion caps mannyca.
He made one with a lathe
Good Luck!
 
The cap making process is very simple: Just a homemade hand operated press, some thin copper sheet, etc.

I would think the actual priming compound is the complicated part.
 
All of the stuff on the internet that I have seen...

...makes use of roll caps. Mannyca's video had 100% reliability.

He advised against rollcaps from china as they have poor reliability in this application. He recommends "Legends" stating that they are made in Germany. He implied they can be purchased from Walmart.

That sentiment (avoid Chinese) is echoed elsewhere.
 
To BPB

No sir...I did not.

I got away from it and didn't follow through.

To me, cost is important but it is not the only reason I get myself interested is such a project. I think the best part is the fun of doing it.

I have come up with some really wacky stuff (and by "wacky" I mean impractical, inappropriate, wrong size, wrong shape, stupid function........) over the years, but the learning and the fun sustains me in my curmudgeonliness
 
I wonder what the ingredients are for that priming compound. Works out to about $.03 per primer, just for the compound. Percussion caps are about $.10 each currently.

Steve
 
I wonder what the ingredients are for that priming compound. Works out to about $.03 per primer, just for the compound. Percussion caps are about $.10 each currently.
Click to expand...

A fellow who bought one of those kits gave me this description - the kit contains four substances, packaged in four plastic bags - one bag of grey/black powder labeled "L", one bag of white powder labeled "L2", one bag of yellow powder labeled "S", one bag of off-white granules labeled "S". The kit also contained a double-ended dipper, one dipper being about 50% bigger than the other dipper.
Instructions for mixing - two large scoops of "L2", one large scoop of "L", one small scoop of "S" (yellow powder), and one small scoop of "S" (off-white granules).

Based on that description, I came up with the following proportions, based on VOLUME -

46% L2
23% L
15% S
15% S

This seems suspiciously similar to the old H-48 primer mixture (these proportions by WEIGHT) -

49.6% Potassium Chlorate
25.1% Antimony Sulfide
8.7% Sulfur
16.6% Ground Glass

Potassium Chlorate is white, Antimony Sulfide is grey/black, Sulfur is yellow, and ground glass "could be" off-white.
I would guess that it's a close variant of the H-48 formula -

https://www.northwestfirearms.com/threads/priming-mixtures.58110/
 
I wonder if I can't find a Chinese company to bang out some un-primed #10 & #11 percussion caps. Should have no problem with Itar or importing them as they will have no priming compound in them.

Might have to give my buddy (former supplier years ago) a call that owns a sheet metal shop w/ brake presses. See if it's feasible afordable to stamp out un-primed caps.
 
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Drobs, the last I heard, a couple different guys were making/selling hand tools for punching out the hulls - MannyCA on the Castboolits forum, and Kevin (aka Capmaker) on the Gunslingersgulch forum.

As Maillemaker hinted, buying the potassium chlorate, antimony sulfide, sulfur, etc, from a chemicals retailer is more economical than buying that primer kit.

Be advised, though, making caps is rather tedious and time-consuming. It's nice to have that capability, but if commercial caps are selling for $10 per 100, and it takes you one hour to make 100 DIY caps, you are essentially working for minimum wage.
 
If you could get the caps stamped out in bulk from a third-world supplier (consider India also), and you could make a machine that filled 1000 caps at a time - ordnance manuals talk about this - you'd have a tray you'd shake the caps over until they fell into the holes, then the tray would move under droppers that would drop in the proper amount of priming material, and then they would be pressed en mass. You might be able to make them relatively quickly and easily.

But, dealing with a contact explosive could be tricky!

Steve
 
I have Kevins press. Mannyca doesn't make them anymore, though he might have some spare ones he could sell you. What people do is they take a paint mixing stick and drill holes so you can put the umprimed caps in them so you can fill each one. I need to give that a try. I will agree that it is tedious, but it is rewarding to shoot your own caps, powder, and ball
 
I tried some of these with Pyrodex RS a few years ago and they fired 2-3 chambers out of six. I thought they would be reliable with Swiss 3F but nooo, they wouldn't even fire one chamber. I may have to try double charging or triple charging a few. Or maybe putting a lil 3F in but not sure what to seal it with.

caps.jpg
 
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