ethan allen target pistol

[brushbuster]

i have an ethan allen target pistol-hoppes in 45 cal.
1)what is the starting load for this pistol?
2)what size nipple does it take?i am having problems with consistent cap fire and ignition of the charge30 gr ffg and fffg.
any help would be appreciated ::

 

G'day,

I don't have any experience with this pistol however I have owned a few muzzle loading .45 pistols. For 25 metre target shooting I suggest 12 gns through to 25 gns of FFFg. I reckon FFg is too large a grain size for a .45 pistol.

Make sure the nipple is not blocked. Fire a cap before you load the first time to dry out the barrel and the flame path. Maybe even 2 caps. :m2c:

Cheers from down under
Aussie Bob

 

[Zonie]

I think you have a Ethan Allen made by Hoppe's. If you do, you are having the same problem I have with mine.

To answer your questions, the way a #11 cap fits the nipple convinces me the proper cap size is a #10. The #11s will work though.
The nipple is not a standard pistol nipple, and I don't know where you could get another one if you wanted one.

IMO The mis-fires are caused by the design of the gun, and the length of the front screw that holds the sideplate on the gun.

If you pull the sideplate off, you will notice that the front screw is threaded into the hole which connects the barrel with the nipple. In other words, it is a screw hole, and it is the flame channel for ignition.
Because my gun would seldom fire, and I'm really not into pistol shooting anymore, I didn't really persue the problem until I read your post.
Doing some measuring shows me that the forward side plate screw is so long that it reaches clear in to the center of the barrel. In other words, it looks to me like the end of the screw is blocking the flame channel.
Although I haven't done this, I would recommend filing about 1/16 to 3/32 of an inch off of the end of the forward side plate screws length. This should remove the blockage of the flame channel to the barrel.
If your gun is like mine, that will still leave over .150 worth of threads engaged with the frame and that is more than enough to hold the side plate on and to take the pressure from firing the gun.

Oh, if your gun has some "engraving" on it, it was made by the factory. If it is plain, it was a kit gun.

EDIT: Well, after trying my own medicine, I may have to revise my thoughts on the problem.
This is not to say the screw length couldn't stand to be shortened, but the poor communication between the main powder charge and the flash hole appears to be the size of the hole (at the bottom of the barrel)that is drilled into the screws crosshole.
The one in my gun appears to be only about .040 or less and it's WAY down in the bottom of the barrel. It is also offset from the center of the barrel making it a real challenge to figure a way to redrill it to a larger size (at least with the equipment I own).
Oh well, good luck to you.

 

[brushbuster]

well zonie it looks like we both have the same @$# :curseistol my FIL bought it out of gun brokers and it was trouble from the start i tried #11 and#10 caps and what happened the last time was #1dead cap,#2same,#3pop no boom#4same #5 boom :curse: :curse: :curse:
oh well i guess i'll take it down all the way this time and see what else i can find ,keep me posted :: :: :: eace: :shocking: :thumbsup:

 

[2172]

I bought mine at a silent auction...had all the problems you describe...mine came minus a nipple, and I experimented with various ones from my "junk, but too good to throw away"drawer...found that a nipple from my Ruger Old Army worked well...I'd picked up one of them used and replaced the nipples....ignition was a sometimes thing. Took the pistol when I went to visit a buddy, a gunsmith, who was recuperating from an operation...thought it'd give him something to play around with. It took him about 15 minutes to point out that the screw holding the sideplate on the left side of the gun was essentially a clean out screw, to get it out, the plate off, and to get in and drill the flash channel larger...gun shoots well now...a little sensitive to having gunk pushed into the channel when swabbing after a few shots.
His opinion was that it was a crappy design..I agree...Hank

 

[Zonie]

As I mentioned, this gun is not high on my priority list, but it is a good looking little thing so it looks good hanging above my fireplace with a few rifles.

Someday when I get the time, I will try to braze or weld a 5/64 or 3/32 drill bit onto a steel rod so I can enlarge that tiny hole that connects the main powder charge with the flash channel.

I think this will really improve the reliability because some of the main powder charge will be able to blow back to the area where the nipple is during loading. That always improves a caplocks ignition speed.

 

[brushbuster]

looking at the gun this morning it looks like you have to drive thi pin out below the barrel before removing the barrel ,after that i might be able to get an xtea long drill or small reamer down it to enlarge the flash hole