“New Production” CCI Caps showing corrosion at retailers
Muzzleloading enthusiasts waiting for CCI caps aren’t just facing increased prices and high demand this fall. We’re getting reports of bad caps and corrosion in tins of new caps, with reports of 10 or more caps in a tin not igniting.
Reports of these ‘bad caps’ first appeared at the NMLRA National Championships in September 2023 with multiple champion shooters reporting they had issues with the caps on the firing line. Following the story up the chain, I spoke to several retailers in the Midwest and found they seeing around 10-30/100 caps to be nonfiring. Even more concerning, the retailers were told these are “new production” caps from CCI, (Image below).
Pictured here is a tin of newly opened CCI caps (Left) and a tin of newly opened RWS 1075 caps (Right). Note the matte color and dull sheen of the CCI caps compared to the bright RWS caps on the right.
Some corrosion on the copper isn’t a deal breaker, I have several tins of old caps picked up at garage sales over the years that still shoot. The main issue here is the igniting compound being unreliable in some tins that show corrosion on the caps and in some cases, the tins.
Greg from New York State sent in this photo from caps marked EO2E301, note the differences in the priming compound inside the cap.
I was sent this (above) video from an enthusiast in California. He’s seeing corrosion in the walls of his caps, and some rust on the interior lid of a tin, but he priming compound looks much more even than the caps seen in the lot from New York. These tins from California are marked A18E301.
Since publishing, we’ve received a variety of feedback on this story. Some say this is normal, others say it’s out of the ordinary. I’ve also been told the caps not working is due to poor gun maintenance, but I’ve never seen a muzzleloader on the line at the National Championships that wasn’t cared for. Could these caps be old stock moved back into distribution? I think so. The corrosion is similar to that seen when caps age or get damp over time. I have some 20+ year-old caps that look like these corroded caps, but that doesn’t excuse them from being sold as new, functioning caps. IF there is a problem with storage somewhere in the supply chain, no one could know unless attention is brought to it.
If you are hunting, try to prime with the best cap you have in your tin for the best shot, consider sorting out the worst-looking caps and placing them in a separate marked tin for “fun shooting”.
More examples are trickling into the newsroom here, and we’ll do our best to follow up on the story.