Cap and ball percussion cap firing

[45flint]

There are a few guns out there that use just a percussion cap to fire a pellet.  "Parlor" shooting in the old days.  Has anyone tried that with a NAA cap and ball?  Or maybe with a tiny charge of powder?

[lefty dude]

Yep, lots of fun. I use Daisy 22 pellets. I shoot them out side not inside. No powder just primer & cap powered.

I also shot them in my 22 hornet. Neck size the case, prime , then insert a pellet in the case mouth. You can do the same thing with a .223 case. Again no powder.

As always make sure of your "Target and Beyond". It is surprising what a Center Fire primed cartridge and pellet can do. Use more than cardboard for a back stop.
Because of the short barrel of the NAA Companions the pellet will bounce off the cardboard. It will leave an impression on the cardboard. Not so with the Center Fire's, be careful.

Magnum Primers will give the best results. try CCI mag LPP's .

[RogueTS1]

I think it would be great fun.

[theysayimnotme]

I have reusable plastic cartridges that use a reusable plastic bullet that can be fired in my .44 Magnum revolver.
A primer is enough to propel them with a good deal of force. I have had them for a very long time so I don't know if they are still available.
I should expect that a primer would propel the heaviest .22 pellet with good power since that should be more power than a .22 BB cap.

[lefty dude]

Yes, Speer made the plastic's for which you speak. They made them in 38 & 44. I had the 38's. Ruined a Wife's sofa pillow with that plastic primer powered bullet. If I recall they were made in the 1970's.

We are still Married after over fifty Years.

[45flint]

Confused, it's a yes but then you talk about primers rather than caps?  Only caps fit a Companion or am I missing something.  I'm thinking of getting a Earl BP longer barrel but is that good or bad?  Is there enough power to clear the barrel with a cap?

Here is a video that got me started thinking, it a Pedersoli one shot cap gun.  Just was thinking the NAA would be so much better and there are 22 air rifle pellets that would give you a lighter bullet. I almost bought this pistol but the NAA would be far superior and almost the same price. 

Just looked online and I can buy 22 cal air gun pellets that are about the same weight as the .177 they are shooting below.  The cylinder gap worries me It would have to lower the shooting pressure some?

http://youtu.be/ZSNXY4dWSzw

Skip to the middle of the video below and see him shoot at a target.  That would be great for back yard shooting and with a NAA you could have 6 shots with a far superior gun? That's the theory anyway.

http://youtu.be/bwnPLUMhG5k

[Dinadan]

Flint - it sounds like a lot of fun. I enjoy plinking with low power rounds like Aguila Colibri . What your are describing seems like a black powder version of a Colibri.

[Uncle_Lee]

"Confused, it's a yes but then you talk about primers rather than caps?"


They are talking about shooting 22 cal. pellets using 22 cal. brass ( not rimfire) with primer & pellet..

[45flint]

Flint - it sounds like a lot of fun. I enjoy plinking with low power rounds like Aguila Colibri . What your are describing seems like a black powder version of a Colibri.

I agree but I can't find that Colibri shell are available?   I forgot about these, it would be easier but read they are not cheap and not available.   Caps and air gun pellets are cheap and available?

[45flint]

"Confused, it's a yes but then you talk about primers rather than caps?"


They are talking about shooting 22 cal. pellets using 22 cal. brass ( not rimfire) with primer & pellet..

Never heard of 22 brass with a primer? That would be the ticket as well?

[Uncle_Lee]

"Confused, it's a yes but then you talk about primers rather than caps?"


They are talking about shooting 22 cal. pellets using 22 cal. brass ( not rimfire) with primer & pellet..

Never heard of 22 brass with a primer? That would be the ticket as well?

22 Hornet, 223, etc.  22 caliber not 22 rimfire

[45flint]

"Confused, it's a yes but then you talk about primers rather than caps?"


They are talking about shooting 22 cal. pellets using 22 cal. brass ( not rimfire) with primer & pellet..

Never heard of 22 brass with a primer? That would be the ticket as well?

22 Hornet, 223, etc.  22 caliber not 22 rimfire

Makes sense thanks

[lefty dude]

I have shot pellets in my companion with caps & pellets, no powder. In a 1 5/8" barrel not much accuracy beyond 15'.
In a longer barrel I'm sure there will be better accuracy. Still in the shorter barrel, lots of Fun.

[swolf]

I still have not yet experimented with my Tap-O-Cap clone.  Some add a smidge of powder in the cap to help ignition.  I wonder if the right "smidge" can be figured to get a decent pop to fling a pellet faster than a CCI mag cap, and stay away from loading powder in the chamber on a Companion for "parlor" purposes?  It would mean an evening of dinking around with loading hot caps, but isn't that part of the fun with dinking with minis anyway? 

I break out my Pedersoli Parlor popper on occasion.  I have a BB target trap that works great to stop the rounds in the living room at 15-20 feet.  The occasional flyer or bad shot can get interesting as the rebounding 4.3mm (.169 cal.) shot has enough velocity to ding a window or dimple a TV screen.  The adult version of "You'll shoot your eye out!" 

[Uncle_Lee]

Pedersoli copy of the old Remington Rider Deringer.
That is a lot of fun.

[Surculus]

I agree but I can't find that Colibri shell are available?   I forgot about these, it would be easier but read they are not cheap and not available.   Caps and air gun pellets are cheap and available?

Sure they're available: Aguila makes them down in Mexico, and they're such a "special needs" item that it's some of the only 22lr-type ammo that has any shelf longevity at all the last couple years of this ammo drought. Cheap? Not so much: no 22lr ammo is "cheap" these days, you're lucky if you can find any for less than $0.10/rd any more! I can remember when I could shoot surplus 7.62x25 Tok for less than that...

If you were behind the Granola Curtain in Lo-Cal So. Cal. [where the money is plastic & the people are too!] like me, I could sell you a brick of colibri for $25, but shipping kills any idea of it for someone out of the area [I'm a private individual, I don't have a shipping dept. to hand it to who can deal w/ all the packaging & ORM-D labeling. My time costs money; once you add that onto the ship fees & pass it along, interest in small quantities dwindles rapidly.]

[Surculus]

Never heard of 22 brass with a primer? That would be the ticket as well?

That's because the last time there was any available was over a decade ago, and that was about 5 years after the only supplier had made it available. I bought his last case for some BP 22lr experiments [literally; I tried to get 2, but no go.]

Too many liability lawyers looking for an easy "kill" these days to continue making them available, plus the demand for "filled" cases is so high there's no such thing as an over-run of empty primed cases to supply the esoteric demand for such things.

Interesting footnote: a case-lot of empty primed 22lr cases is MUCH smaller & lighter than even a case of 22 colibri. It's surprising how much space even a 22gr lead bullet stuck on the end of a case takes up. Not something we spend much time thinking about, so when this box arrives by BBT that's much smaller than what you're used to thinking of as "a case of 22lr," cognitive dissonance sets in... ;-)