I'm JDBraddy in Central Texas, am a long time shooter/reloader, but am a total novice with muzzle loaders. I have had a sort of disappointing introduction so farr, went to a local muzzleloading match, joined the club, and bought a used .50cal CVA tracker carbine on a for-sale table as an entry level piece to learn with. Went to Bass Pro, bought Pyrodex, #11 caps, and .495" balls. Went to the range, loaded the rifle, aimed, and the cap went off, but the charge didn't. Tried to troubleshoot, nipple was clogged, removed and cleaned it out, tried again without any luck, took it back apart cleaned out nipple and breech plug, but noticed my probe went all the way to the far side of the barrel without hitting any powder charge, and realized there must be something in the barrel between the breech plug and the charge, I had no way to pull the ball and charge, so had to take it to, and leave it with, a local gunsmith who said he successfully pulled my ball and removed the powder, but said another pathched ball was below it, and that it had been damaged by previous attempts to pull it. He said he would charge $100 and keep it this week to disassemble, remove the barrel and clear it. The member who sold it, told me nothing except what a good shooter the rifle was. That's what was most disappointing. I thought about calling him, but have decided the best response will be to get it working, practice, and beat him with it in a match.
