Percussion Cap Holder (Installer) by rossfree

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

UPDATED VERSION
I don't shoot muzzle loaders but my buddy does. He came to me with a percussion cap loader device that he can't find on the market any more. Asked if I could make one.
Apparently his friends in the muzzle loader community love his cap loader but he had only the one. "Where can I get me one of those?" was the common question.
If you fire muzzle loaders you already know what this would be good for. The percussion caps are not unlike the plastic cap-gun caps we saw as kids. In this case, they are used to fire the black powder charge behind the musket ball. The cap goes over a steel nipple under the firing pin. The firing pin is cocked, and when it releases, it smacks the percussion cap, firing the cap through the hollow nipple and igniting the charge.
The problem comes in handling the percussion caps. They are small and easily dropped. Further, and especially for revolvers, the nipples are difficult to reach with big fingers.
This cap holder can be pre-loaded (at home) at your leisure. Once on site, it serves to assist inserting the caps onto the nipples. The tool is used to insert the cap over the nipple. Once in place, gentle pressure is placed on the tool to seat the cap, then the tool is removed in the opposite direction, leaving the cap in place. This cap holder fits both #10 and #11 caps.
To pre-load the cap holder, I dump a few percussion caps on a flat surface (table) and orient them so they are all "cup" down. Then I press each leg of the cap holder over a cap one at a time until it is fully loaded. Pretty easy!
I printed mine in .19mm layers, two perimeter walls and used ABS on a heated surface. I had no problems (my printer is pretty well dialed in at this point). I think it would print nicely in PLA as well. It really is a fun and simple print and should present very few problems. It can also be nested nicely ( I printed seven at once).
If you know someone that owns a musket gun, they would likely love to have about five of these things (representing thirty shots). That's a nice afternoon of shooting.
I hope you enjoy!
Ross
Updated Version Note: The original cap holder only fit the black-powder rifles. This updated version should fit most musket revolvers as well. I removed the previous version as this should work well for both.