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Accurate Enfield Snap Caps

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  • Accurate Enfield Snap Caps

    Hey folks, I've been searching for a first rate repro. Enfield snap cap and it seems no-one is making a truly accurate one. The Blockade Runner version comes close, the chains look really good, but the leather washer is just a single piece that's glued rather than pressed on. Of course (!) the thing falls off the first time you snap the lock. The split ring looks like it's plated as well. I was trying to find an original snap cap that still had the washer on it (missing from the examples I've seen in person) but have had no luck in my internet searches. I DID discover the following which sheds light on how these were made.

    The following is from the War Department Notes of GC Holden, Assistant Superintendent of Stores which were transcribed from the original handwritten notes by Adrian Roads. They are found at "www.researchpress.co.uk/firearms/british/enfield/wdn_stopper.htm".

    "The pad consisting of two bits of leather fastened together by fish glue. The under piece of leather has a hole in it for the nipple, and at the bottom of which there is a small thin disc of brass punched out of sheet brass and pressed into the bottom of the hole to protect the leather which is expected to last one year. The leather is pressed into the head by a vice at such an angle as to receive the hammer fair on the surface of the leather."

    Is there anyone out there making these correct washers?

    Also of note is that the drawings show a seven link chain, whereas originals I've seen have six links. Perhaps another example of cost cutting.

    Charles Pinkham
    Company D, Minnesota First
    Lincoln, Lovejoy, and Abolition!

  • #2
    Re: Accurate Enfield Snap Caps

    Think "original". I saw a tub of original P.53 Enfield cone protectors at the January Civil War relic show in Charleston, S.C. and more at the February Dalton, Georgia show. They're still cheap and reasonably plentiful. Peter Dyson & Son usually have originals and replicas...problem is: they're in England and postage would be significant for such a small item.
    David Fox

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    • #3
      Re: Accurate Enfield Snap Caps

      I would have gone this route, but the originals I've seen were missing the leather washer. The Ordnance Department notes gave them a 1 year service life, no wonder they're all missing. The brass disc under the washer no doubt caused the "green funk" reaction, the fish glue may have caused rot also. Oh well. Dyson DOES have intact originals, for "only" $45.


      Charles Pinkham
      Compant D, Minnesota First

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      • #4
        Re: Accurate Enfield Snap Caps

        Charles, I sent you a PM
        [SIZE=0]PetePaolillo
        ...ILUS;)[/SIZE]

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        • #5
          Re: Accurate Enfield Snap Caps

          Charles,
          ODea Military http://www.britishmilitaryequipments.com/ Mick makes oilers and snap caps that are very good for a resonable price. I got a Blockade Runner snap cap and the links and chain were very rough and not uniform. The O'Dea military one compaired very well to an orginal in a private collection and looks much better than the one pictured on the webpage.
          I am, etc.
          Thomas Gingras
          Awkward Squad Mess
          Columbia Rifles
          Honorary SRR "Yankee"

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          • #6
            Re: Accurate Enfield Snap Caps

            Thanks guys! Looks like the O'Dea Military source is the way to go, $20 plus postage. Thanks Thomas, for the link to them.

            Charles Pinkham
            Company D, Minnesota First

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            • #7
              Re: Accurate Enfield Snap Caps

              I picked up a half dozen originals off eBay a couple years back for something like $20, and I have been putting them
              on the defarbed Enfields that have come through my hands. I have not seen anything that reasonable since, and my
              experiences with O'Dea have not been favorable, so I don't know what theirs are like. I know their oil bottle is marked
              WD (War Dept) as it is a British Ordnance copy. Obviously not something appropriate for US Civil War use.

              The Blockade Runner is a copy an original snap caps that I loaned them. I have never had a problem with their tear
              drop link chains, which look pretty good to my eye. I have one on my Enfield right now. The ring that attaches to the
              rear swivel is a weakness of all the reproductions I have seen, and I usually end up making my own sling swivel ring.
              Orchard Hill used to have a nice snap cap and chain, but I don't think Houde ever came back to his hobby business.

              I would keep looking until you find an original in usable shape, they are out there.
              Last edited by Craig L Barry; 03-21-2010, 03:46 PM.
              Craig L Barry
              Editor, The Watchdog, a non-profit 501[c]3
              Co-author (with David Burt) Suppliers to the Confederacy
              Author, The Civil War Musket: A Handbook for Historical Accuracy
              Member, Company of Military Historians

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