Is it feasible to use cap-and-ballers with primers instead of percussion caps?

[Begle1]

Living on Maui I struggle with ammo logistics quite a bit.

I'm considering getting some cap-and-ball revolvers, just started learning about them.

It seems that percussion caps would be very difficult for me to acquire.

Is there a worthwhile way to adapt a revolver to use any other sort of primer instead of a percussion cap?

I see lots of references to doing it with a small pistol primer and a piece of tubing. How reliable is that really? Is there some better way to make it work?

I can get all the standard sorts of primers that aren't percussion caps.

The only powder it seems I can get with regularity is Triple 7.

[River City John]

The internal configuration of the two is different.
Primers for cartridge reloading has an anvil component under the outer layer of the metal case that acts as, . . . an anvil, to concuss the fulminate against when the firing pin strikes the surface.

Cap 'n' ball caps are open to fit over the nipple and therefore have an unobstructed pathway for the flame to travel down the nipple into the chamber.

I fear primers with that internal anvil would make for iffy ignition, possible clog the throat of the nipple and be driven down into it, thus needing to be taken apart after firing and mechanically dug out and cleared before the firearm can be used again.

Triple seven is a tad too hot, in my experience, for cap 'n' ball, so load it down when working up a load, and decidedly MORE CORROSIVE. It would mean gun cleaning would be unforgiving if delayed or cursory.

I know shipping to Hawaii must be prohibitive, so maybe get a group of fellow shooters and put together an order from a supplier for components, powder, and slugs to spread out that cost. Even though you may shoot year around, you can put an order in now and have a leisurely wait over Winter for it to arrive in time for Spring.

Mi dos centavos. 

[Coffinmaker]

  PLUS ONE fer River City John 

It can be done and has been done but it isn't really practical and takes some specially machined components.  The only successful use of cartridge primers was done by a percussion CAS shooter in the UK.  His alias is/was Paladin UK, so I shortened it to "PUK."  A really talented machinist and engineer.  The only reason PUK did the conversion was cartridge revolvers were verboten in the UK and the only choice for playing CAS was Percussion.

There are a myriad of mechanical principles required for the ignition of Primers that Cap Guns just don't have.  You would be better served converting Cap Guns to suppositories rather than attempting to make primers work.

[Sedalia Dave]

Living on Maui I struggle with ammo logistics quite a bit.

I'm considering getting some cap-and-ball revolvers, just started learning about them.

It seems that percussion caps would be very difficult for me to acquire.

Is there a worthwhile way to adapt a revolver to use any other sort of primer instead of a percussion cap?

I see lots of references to doing it with a small pistol primer and a piece of tubing. How reliable is that really? Is there some better way to make it work?

I can get all the standard sorts of primers that aren't percussion caps.

The only powder it seems I can get with regularity is Triple 7.

The mod using SPP and tubing only works for single shot percussion rifles. It will not work for any C&B revolver as there is not enough clearance between the cylinder and the recoil shield.

There was a UK machinist that made a replacement nipple for Ruger Old Armys that allows the use of SPP in place of percussion primers.  This mod is NOT SASS legal.

Your best bet is to do a bulk buy so that the hazmat fee is spread out better. Graf & Sons currently has Remington #10 percussion caps in stock. They even offer a bulk pack of 5000.  Contact them and see what it would cost to have them shipped to you.

[Crow Choker]

Yeppers to River City John, Coffinmaker, and Sedalia Dave. Read somewhere once upon a time of a shooter attempting to use modern day primers to ignite charges on a percussion revolver and it was more trouble and PITA than worth the expense and 'dinkin around'. IMO ifin ya want to shoot percussion you would be better off buying a good quantity of em here on the mainland and just eatin the shipping fee. Some of the distributors will on occasion have free hazmat fee although I don't know if shipping to your location is included. Possibly there are others in your area that would like some also and a big order split 2-3, even more ways would make it must cheaper for all involved. FWIW if you plan to do ALOT of percussion shooting, it wouldn't take long to go through a 1000 caps, they last a long time with proper storage and if you ever decide to quit shooting percussion, they could be a good investment for sale ($$).

[River City John]

Let me add, I wouldn't want to try seating a cartridge primer down onto a cap 'n' ball nipple . . . 

[St. George]

'Back In The Day', someone made a do-it-yourself percussion cap maker, using pop cans and cap gun caps.

No lie, GI - it came with a paper punch and a seating device that you gently pressed the trimmed cap into a die and the disc and formed a neat little percussion cap that actually worked!

I still see these at gun shows and on ebay from time to time, so they're still out there and a lot cheaper (and less dangerous) than using hard-to-get primers.

An old copy of a Dixie Gun Works catalog may give the name for an easier search.

Scouts Out!

[Hair Trigger Jim]

This thread contains links to several resources or discussions on the topic of DIY.  There are plenty of people who do it.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/anybody-making-their-own-percussion-caps-or-using-centerfire-primers.131715/

[Coffinmaker]

  oh cummon

"Plenty" and "three or four" are entirely different.  The OP wanted to know if centerfire primers could be used with percussion pistols and the answer is NO.  Unless you're a talented machinist and redesign the Percussion Cylinder.  To date, no one has come up with a practical DIY method to use Center Fire Primers.

Rolling yer own Caps out of empty beer cans ain't real practical either.  Can be done but way more trouble than it's worth.  Much better to bite the bullet, pay the fee and order enough to make the fee worthwhile.  I'd suggest a minimum of 5000.  Although my solution is to convert the Cap Guns to Suppositories.

[Jeremiah Jones]

Might be dementia, but I thought Dixie Gun Works carried them 40 years ago or so.  Unscrew the percussion cap nipple and screw in the primer nipple.

[Sedalia Dave]

Might be dementia, but I thought Dixie Gun Works carried them 40 years ago or so.  Unscrew the percussion cap nipple and screw in the primer nipple.

Probably did, but they were for muskets/rifles and not revolvers.