Cap pouches

[Sheriff Langston]

Good evening gentlemen,

I'd like a leather cap-pouch on my belt to carry revolver caps at the range. I already have a repro pouch for my Enfield rifle-musket but I'm confused about whether smaller pouches are available for small caps. Surely a musket-cap pouch is far too big – it would hold thousands of No 10 caps! On the other hand, it needs to be big enough to get my fingers in.

What did they do in the Civil War and the Wild West? What do you guys do?

Wishing you a pleasant weekend,

Sheriff Langston

[Pettifogger]

You really don't want to carry around revolver caps loose.  I have several snail cappers and have a little leather pouch that one fits in so I can carry it on my gun belt.

[Sheriff Langston]

Thanks for that, Pettfogger. But you don't say WHY I shouldn't carry caps around loose. In case they get knocked about and explode? In case I spill them?

Till now I've just kept them in the little tin they come in - that's what most cap-&-ball shooters seem to do over here in England. I've tried using a capper - not a snail capper, but an in-line one, and it just seems to make the job MORE fiddly. Especially with a Remington - maybe with a Colt it would fit easier.

What did the cavalry used to do back in the 1860s? Did they use cappers? Watching Dances with Wolves the other evening I noticed Kevin Costner seemed to have a cap-pouch on his waist-belt. It looked quite big, like for a rifle - and it was on his LEFT hip!?! Very inconvenient I would have thought.

[Mogorilla]

Originally there were cappers for Colts, not to disimilar from the modern straight cappers.  The original Patterson Capper, available at Dixie Gun Works will only work for a Patterson I believe.   I have used a circle of leather, with small punches almost at the edge of the leather in a nice uniform patter all the way around the circumference.  The small circular punches are sliced open to the edge.  The punched holes should be just about if not slightly smaller than a cap circumference.   Store your caps in these.   (not long term, leads to verdegris).   It works well and I was told it was historically accurate, although I have never confirmed this. 

[Coyote Hunter]

I use a period correct pill or snuff container made of brass I bought from Dixie Gun Works. I poor my new container of caps in it, then put it in my cap pouch. Then, when I need them, I pull it out and open it up. My pouch alswo makes a great cartridge holder (about 10 rounds of .45 LC) and is correct also if ya didn't have cartridge loops.

[Pettifogger]

I've been trying like heck to figure out a way to post a picture of a guy's thumb where a revolver cap went off went he was putting it on the nipple.  Pretty good size chuck out of his thumb.  Can't figure out how to do it except attach it as an email.  If you want, send me an email message, then I can reply and attach the picture.

Wait, let's try one more thing.

[Bryan Austin]

ouch!

[Coyote Hunter]

Soooo....now he swears by cartridges??!!?? 

[Willie Dixon]

nah, he just swears on using a cap seater or dowel instead of his finger!

[River City John]

One of the keys to having good success with cap 'n' ball pistols is to make sure your nipples are easy to cap and hold the caps well under recoil. The nipple on the left is a stock Italian nipple. The shoulder is rounded and it tapers ever so slightly towards the mouth so that it will accept all sizes of caps. But it often makes for a loose fit. The nipple on the right is a Treso replacement, straight bodied and square shouldered. The cap grips the sides and the squared shoulder supports the flat head of the cap better. Treso nipples are sized to fit either # 10 or #11 caps. The caps pictured are, from l. to r.: Remington #10; Remington #11; Dynamite Nobel #1075; CCI #10; CCI #11,


The design of the capper does make a difference. The all brass snail cappers are neat but eventually the support lid bends slightly under pressure with use and allows the caps to often turn over and makes for fumbling to get them on. Of the two inlines shown,- one offered by Traditions(bottom) has a solid square of brass that the single steel spring clip holds the cap. Okay on Colt and Rogers & Spencers with their generous, open nipple recesses, but the Remington clones have a pinched nipple housing that does not accept that type, and most fumble caps on Remingtons with thumbs. The Cash(trademark) inline design(top) is better as it pairs two spring steel ends that form a smaller pincher end. With some gentle filing, the end profile of this capper can be reduced so that it will readily fit down into the stepped-down recesses of the Remington.


I have taken a Dremel(trademark) Tool and opened up the nipple recesses on my Remingtons to open them up into a more rounded opening as on a Rogers & Spencer.       
Now I can cap at a 90 degree angle from the side and then pull the inline capper straight away from the cylinder to leave the cap in place. Properly fitted caps to nipple combination keeps you from having to make an extra step to seat caps and also prevents caps being thrown off due to recoil, PLUS, the replacement nipples have a smaller diameter flash hole that reduces blowback, which has a tendancy to eject spent hot cap shards falling off into the innards or burning your hand.



As to pouches, the typical Civil War pistol box for the belt works just fine to hold cap tin, capper, balls, nipple pick, odds and ends.

[Sheriff Langston]

Thanks to all of you for that - scary stuff? I fitted a new set of nipples that fit the caps just right, and have got a couple of straight cappers that just about work on a Remmy, especially now I've filed the tips about a bit. It's still a lot more fiddly than using the fingers. How about just capping reeeeaaally carefully, then pressing them on with a lollipop (popsickle, I believe you call them) stick? I always have a couple of them little pieces of wood - or the ones they use to stir coffee in Starbucks - to flick off fired caps that get stuck.

Off subject slightly - I also shoot a repro 1853 Enfield rifle - do those big "top-hat" caps sometimes go off while capping? 80 grains of Swiss coming back out of a fat nipple right up by my face would be very discouraging.

And I'm still wondering - what did old-time cavalrymen, cowboys, gunslingers do about caps?

[Leo Tanner]

On the revolvers I usualy use an old wooden spoon handle if they don't seat right with my thumb.  Caps shouldn't go off from pressing them on the nipple unless there is static electricity in play.  I wear leather soled boots so it's never been a problem.  Don't know if that's what happened to that thumb in the picture, but it's pretty rare so far as I know.  Certainly gave me something to think about though!

[Trailrider]

Thanks for that, Pettfogger. But you don't say WHY I shouldn't carry caps around loose. In case they get knocked about and explode? In case I spill them?

Till now I've just kept them in the little tin they come in - that's what most cap-&-ball shooters seem to do over here in England. I've tried using a capper - not a snail capper, but an in-line one, and it just seems to make the job MORE fiddly. Especially with a Remington - maybe with a Colt it would fit easier.

What did the cavalry used to do back in the 1860s? Did they use cappers? Watching Dances with Wolves the other evening I noticed Kevin Costner seemed to have a cap-pouch on his waist-belt. It looked quite big, like for a rifle - and it was on his LEFT hip!?! Very inconvenient I would have thought.

Howdy, Pard,
There were pistol cap pouches, dating back to at least 1855.  If you go to www.gunfighter.com/trailrider and look at the page that shows various pouches and accoutrements, bottom row, right and left, you'll see (left) the later CW style and (right) 1855 style, also used by the Confederates (mostly taken from Federal arsenals or militias.

I, too, would recommend carrying percussion caps in the little tin containers they come in.  These will fit nicely into the pouches. 

Hope this helps...

Your Pard,

[Pettifogger]

Any non-metallic item can be used as a cap seater.  Unicorn horn is the absolute best.  However, you can also use a piece of deer horn tine.