Where are the caps?

We're all still looking for percussion caps, it stinks.

Based on my conversations with CCI last year if we're to take them at their word, which I think at this point it's fair to, CCI only produces percussion caps in a single run every year. This production run happens in May or June, depending on when they convert their production line to run percussion caps. CCI isn’t running percussion caps year round, they're running other kinds of primers, then they're retooling those machines to run percussion caps, they're doing their production run and then they're tooling back in for modern primers.

Those caps made in May or June of a year, so this year caps will run in May or June of 2024 - those caps will then be in stores in July, August, September and October of 2024, maybe in November if you're fortunate. Caps do go online at the same time as they hit brick and mortar retailers in that same July to October time frame. August through October is your sweet spot to find caps. If you're not finding them in that time period chances are you you're you're not going to find them unless you're really digging or you find you know your local Sporting Goods store happens to find a box of them underneath a pallet somewhere.

If you want to get percussion caps in 2024 you have to get out and find them or order them online between August and October. I think it's fair to say that we cannot and should not expect plentiful caps in 2024 like we have seen in decades earlier, it's just not going to happen. For whatever reason the demand is there, people want caps, I get emails and comments daily about caps, but don't expect to see more unless CCI hears our begging.

That being said shopping online is going to be the easiest way for you to get quantity based on what I've seen and what friends of I love muzzleloading have reported from across the country. Local Walmarts have been a go-to spot for many of us for years, local Walmarts get as few as 1,000 caps per store. If you're fortunate enough that your local Walmart gets percussion caps, generally they are getting a thousand for the entire year, they get one thousand caps in August, the workers hang all the caps on a single peg hook and they're gone that day or that weekend because demand is so high or people are going in and purchasing them all. Buying online if you want a thousand caps to put in your stores and to go shoot competitively or enjoy your cap and ball revolvers, because we all know those burn through caps like nothing else, you're going to want to order online and you're going to want to order 1,000 or 2,000 to make sure that you have enough for what you want.

As always I like to say here, try to save a few for the other guy, it's easier to do in person -don't necessarily be that guy that goes in and buys all the caps Walmart has, leave a few tins for the next guy. There's a lot of frustration out there about this.

Back to shopping online, do your best to shop from a reputable retailer. This has been an issue now for several years where we have scammers specifically targeting the shortage of muzzle loading supplies in the United States and scamming people out of hundreds and thousands of dollars for orders that never ship andinventory that they never had. For those of us that have been active in muzzle loting for a few decades this might seem like a silly reminder, but if you're somebody new into muzzle loading or you just get your muzzle loading arms out a few weekends out of the year it can be really confusing trying to sort through who's a legitimate business and who's not and if you are one of those you know kind of weekend muzzleloading enthusiasts there's a whole lot of retailers out there and there's a whole lot of history to try to understand within muzzle loading but then also the businesses that support muzzle loading.

I'm continuing to build a big list as of of of as many businesses and retailers.

If you aren't on that list and you run a business please let me know, I'm really just pulling from a lot of the magazine advertisements of businesses that have been around for decades and Mom and Pop shops that don't necessarily have a big online presence so that people know that they can call somebody and they're speaking to a real person and they actually have inventory and they're honest hardworking people.

If you are shopping with a business that is new to you, pause and take a beat before you enter your credit card info and do some research. Ask about the business on the muzzleloading forums or facebook groups and see what others have to say. You can also “google” the address of the business to verify it exists. Scammers will commonly pick empty lots, cornfields, or the middle of a lake because the addresses are legitimate and usually uncontested online. If the address of the business shows no buildings, no parking lot, or is in the middle of a subdivision, they probably aren’t storying powder and caps. Googling the address will commonly show you any businesses associated with the address too, further verifying a legitimate business.

DIY Caps

I'm getting reports that the DIY or do-it yourself cap makers do work enough - they aren't going to be as reliable, based on what's been reported to me, but aren't as reliable as production caps. They are reliable enough for some fun at the range time to preserve your production percussion caps for when it counts like at a competition or hunting.

Remington Percussion Caps in 2024

On a positive note as we head into 2024, in October of 2023 I did get reports and saw various postings online about new production Remington branded percussion caps being available at distributors and on retailer shelves. This is really great because we haven't seen Remington percussion caps in new production in some time. I don't have any idea about the scale or the scope of production numbers for that Remington percussion cap run, I have not tested them personally and have not examined them personally just haven't been available locally to me but it's nice to see that Remington name on those percussion caps come around.

Along with that if you'll remember Remington ammunition was acquired when the Remington brand went bankrupt a few years ago. The Remington percussion caps are manufactured by the same company that owns CCI which is under an Umbrella Corporation Called “Vista Outdoors”. I don't know where or when these new production Remington percussion caps were manufactured, I don't know if they're made on a similar production line as CCI or at a different plant entirely and as far as I know, unless you work there and you personally have a hand in manufacturing these caps, everything about that is kind of speculation so if you see somebody online saying that unless they actually work for the company I would pump the brakes a little bit before you go spreading that information.

I'm hoping that we see continued runs of those Remington percussion caps this year and I'm hoping that this year gives us a solid distribution time timeline so we can start to at least speculate on when and how many of these caps are available throughout the year and at regional and local Distributors.

Vista Outdoors Ammunition Sale

Closing out on the Remington percussion caps here and the positivity of seeing them, the parent company Vista Outdoors that owns the Remington Amun ammunition production facilities announced that it was putting up its ammunition manufacturing businesses for sale late last year in 2023. In late 2023 looked like the primary offer was going to a Czechoslovakian Holding Group, and then kind of in the 11th Hour of 2023 the CZ Group, which owns Colt nowand is from Czechoslovakia, is rumored to have put in its own bid on the Vista Outdoors ammunition production brands and businesses, so there is quite a bit of uncertainty. As much as I want to be positive about percussion caps in 2024 there's some uncertainty at the business level here until we know who has purchased them and like we saw with GOEX what kind of changes might be made through the reacquisition of that. Right now we have no idea, there's no information, nothing has been said about the sale of this company since November or December of 2023 so everything out there right now is speculation about what kind of changes might happen.

I'm hoping to see a rather easy transition as always but I think this is a whole different ball game really with having foreign holding companies looking to purchase these Brands and these businesses we just don't know what's going to happen. I'm not saying to go out and panic buy, but I'm saying to stock up and get what you need leave a few for the next guy if you can because there's some uncertainty around this. We know that percussion caps are low priority for the modern ammunition manufacturing industry as has been made example for the last 5 Years so it's kind of a tossup right now. I just want you to be aware that that is happening in the background.

#10 Percussion Cap Update (Kind of)

Lastly with #10 percussion caps, I'm sorry guys I have not focused very much on number 10 percussion caps a lot of what I've been talking about is number 11s because those are the more popular cap in my opinion. Based on what I'm reading and what I'm seeing, number 10 percussion caps are even lower priority than the number 11s for the manufacturers. I think if you really love shooting whatever cap and ball muzzleloader you have and you have a number 10 nipple on that, it's going to be a lot cheaper and a lot easier for you in the long run to get a number 11 nipple to put on that muzzle loader or put on that revolver cylinder and go from there. At least you can purchase a DIY cap maker and make caps home to continue to enjoy your cap and ball revolver.

I just I'm not expecting to see a whole lot of #10s, it's just what I'm seeing and I'm sorry that I haven't been more upfront about the number 10s but I'm not seeing them anywhere.

I am keeping an eye on this as much as I can here I know it's a priority for many of us but I think we're going into 2024 just like we did in 2023. If you caught my muzzle loader recommendation for 2024, if you're getting started, I recommend getting a flint lock and right now if you want to continue to enjoy your muzzle loers out there, you might consider picking up a flint lock and expanding your capabilities a little bit.

As always buy some stuff make sure you can get through a shortage or a production issue like we've seen in the last 5 years here and keep your powder dry. If you see anything or hear anything my line is open at ilovemuzzleloading(at)gmail. I'd love to hear what you're hearing or what you think about the percussion cap issue and the situation that muzzle loading is facing here with production woes through the country.

If you have a question,you have something I should dig into I'm more than happy to dig into it. I don't have contacts everywhere I really do count on a lot of viewer input here as far as what to dive into and what not so if you have an opinion on that let me know and I'll see what I can dig into! Once again I'm Ethan I love muzzleloading, thank you so much for reading, we'll catch you next time.