missfire

[ebiggs1]

... and followed up with a light patch with bore butter.

Stop this practice right NOW. Use any good gun oil after cleaning. Bore Butter is not a preservative.

I'm glad to hear about the powder being ok because I like the 777.

Why may I ask. :hmm: It does nothing better than Pyrodex and it costs more. :shocked2:

First replace the nipple with a new one, right now! First off. :thumbsup:
Second when you clean the rifle remove the nipple. Make sure you flush with warm water, not HOT, vigorously through the channel that leads to the nipple. Dry it.
Use a bore light to check and some oil with some patches to store it. :thumbsup:

Use a couple denatured alcohol patches to remove the oil. Pop a cap and load. A TC will fire every single time if you do this. Oh did I mention dump the 777, it's not for us. :td:

 

[Chris Hayes]

When I know I'm going hunting, I turn my rifle upside down the night before. Then, before I load, I swab and pop off caps. After I have loaded I use a small pan charger to drop a few grains under the nipple. I have never had a problem since I started doing this. Like you, it cost me a very nice buck that just happened to run down in front of my son. While I use real bp, I have had problems in the past with different brands. Now I stick to Goex or Schuetzen. I don't know why, but my GPR just doesn't like CCI caps. That makes a difference also to me. So now I stick to Remington.

 

[cynthialee]

perhaps using some magnum caps would help also?

I was not so sure the magnum caps would make a differance but I have a CVA that is rather finicky. If it isn't treated just so it doesn't want to fire with normal caps.
So I got some magnum caps to see if they helped. ANswer is yes. I fouled up my bore real good, no swabing and after a number of shots I ran a swab down the barrel before loading. (doing this to my CVA is sure to gaurenty a missfire with the normal caps) Loaded it up after dirtying up my patent breach, fix'd a magnum cap to the nipple and fired and it went off like it was suppossed to.

 

[necchi]

I'm glad to hear about the powder being ok because I like the 777.

Why may I ask. :hmm: It does nothing better than Pyrodex and it costs more.,,
Oh did I mention dump the 777, it's not for us. :td:

That's a single opinion and not the experiance of all.

The stuff is a fine product and much of the grousing of it's pitfalls are myth.
It's a fine "Sporting Grade" propellant and works just fine in Precussion guns.

Here is a few success stories of T7 as demonstrated to my peers and their recognition of it's use.
This photo is now several years old and does not refect all of the recogition momentos

 

[50cal.cliff]

I got a question did you fire the load or pull it.

If you fired it did it fire immediately with the next cap?

There are a few things that can cause a misfire IMO, one is a bad or wet cap, the next is the crud/fouling you pushed down the barrel when cleaning.

There is one more I have discovered and this one is not a common occurrence but it can happen. That was the drum had slightly moved on my rifle and even though though the hammer would hit the cap it was not striking it directly enough to ignite the cap only dent it!

Took me two trips to the range before I caught onto what was going on there!!

 

[vincent a walker]

Wow, thats a lot of information for me to ponder. Thanks for all the help.

I will now always clean with warm soapy water, patch it and let it dry. Lightly oil the bore(never bore butter). Before charging I will swab with alcohol to remove the oil and pop at least one cap. I will use only fresh magnum caps. I will ensure the cap is fit on the nipple all the way snug. Let me know if I missed anything.

I can see that the cleaning and loading these things is almost ritualistic and I angered the smokepole god with my laxidaisical worship :bow: . I think i'm on track and I'm not giving up so I'll post again when I shoot a deer with it.

 

[George T.]

Yeah I use Mag Caps as well. I am currently useing Remingtons Black Powder that claim to be 40% hotter. Im not sure about that but they do work well.

One more thing. Changeing the nipple might help. I use standard nipples because they work well for me. I was going to suggest that you think about what you have read here and implement what makes sence to you. I test my procedure from time to time by loading the night before a range trip to see if I am doing things right. This is so that when I aim at game I'm focused on the aim and not wondering if the darned thing is going to go off! Cap or prime at the range be safe!

It may be luck but I have never had a miss fire while hunting. When I swabbed between shots with water at matches it has happened. I now use bore butter to swab between shots! Good Luck! Geo. T.

 

[DUSTY 14]

my first buck walked away under the same conditions
minus the old caps. glad he wasn't shootin back. i have one of the co2 dischargers and now i clear the
barrel and nipple with that before loading the night before after i get to deer camp. there is a 90degree angle from the nipple to the powder in the barrel that is easy to clog with all sorts of gremlins. that is why the dribble of 4ffff under the nipple is sometimes the magic to have a big enough flame to make that corner no matter what

 

[ebiggs1]

First congratulations on your success. :hatsoff:
But second, you misunderstand! I didn't mean to indicate it didn't work at all. All I am saying is it costs more and doesn't work any better (than Pyrodex). Cost less means, shoot more. :grin:
I see no advantage in changing from GOEX and Pyrodex. No matter how many new improved powders they come up with. Unless they do offer something substantially better than GOEX and/or Pyrodex does :hmm: .

On the down side I do believe it is harder to ignite but that just seems to be my impression of it. Can't really prove it. :idunno:

 

[Rifleman1776]

pop at least one cap

No, no, no. :shake:
If everything is clean and oil free there is no need to pop caps. And popping a cap only makes things crudy and that crud will attract moisture. All your work can be wasted.
Do put on a new nipple and use caps that fit.
As far as magnum caps are concerned, I guess if you are using fake powder that might be a good idea. Otherwise, not necessary.

 

[vincent a walker]

my first buck walked away under the same conditions
minus the old caps. glad he wasn't shootin back. i have one of the co2 dischargers and now i clear the
barrel and nipple with that before loading the night before after i get to deer camp. there is a 90degree angle from the nipple to the powder in the barrel that is easy to clog with all sorts of gremlins. that is why the dribble of 4ffff under the nipple is sometimes the magic to have a big enough flame to make that corner no matter what

I like the idea of dribbleing some under the nipple just to be sure.

 

[vincent a walker]

The best we can do from here is guess. From your description methinks you have a bad nipple. Swap nipples for something like a 'hot shot'. If the caps are fitting and you have powder in the drum it should fire fine.
I don't use perc much anymore but when I hunt I clean completely and make sure there is no oil present. I'll even squire carburetor cleaner into the breech area and swab with a dry patch.
Then I load. When I exit my vehicle to hunt I will prime. Prime, whether powder in a flinter or cap on a perc. will not attract moisture. That is a myth. Crud left from shooting will attract moisture that is why you must start with a clean rifle. Doing as I said, a rifle should fire reliably a century later.
How much loading, shooting practice did you do before the hunt?

Yea I cap as soon as I enter the woods. I have had exactly two range sessions with this rifle. I had one missfire at the range after about ten shots with me swabing with bore butter between fifth and sixth shot because I could feel crud in the barrel as I loaded. I removed the nipple and dribbled some powder and that did the trick. That was with standard #11 primers. I allways tilt the rifle toward the nipple and bump the stock a few times to get the powder under the nipple but I may have forgoten that step. I purchased some HOT SHOT nipples from Midway last night but they are on back order so I probably wont get them by my next hunting day (this Friday). I am a complete novice here; my first time hunting with any ML.

 

[vincent a walker]

pop at least one cap

No, no, no. :shake:
If everything is clean and oil free there is no need to pop caps. And popping a cap only makes things crudy and that crud will attract moisture. All your work can be wasted.
...

Yea that does make sence. Some people do it because they must figure moisture is number one enimy, but they compramise with a little crud; number two enimy. I'm seeing a trend though; CLEAN, CLEAR, DRY conditions in the chamber area! :thumbsup:

 

[StewartLeach]

A hearty AMEN on taking special efforts to keep the flash channel clear. Some will say it's not necessary, but my experience has been that removing the little plug screw in the side of TC, Lyman, etc. rifle breeches and gorming out the passage with one of those pipe cleaners with stiff bristles aids ignition.

The center of the cup in the hammer needs to be well aligned with the nipple. Misalignment is usually lateral, so scrape away wood or shim with bits of business card until its right. When cleaning be sure to scrape away any crud that has built up in the cup of the hammer. One day at the range I helped a guy who had no less than three fired caps stuck inside the hammer nose.

The other thing I make a point of when headed out to hunt is to use a brand new nipple.

Regards,

White Fox

 

[jamesthomas]

I would throw the bore butter, all it does is make a mess, if you have to swab the barrel get a bottle with a flip top and fill it up with water and a squirt or two of Dawn dish soap. Just wet (not soak) a cleaning patch and use this to swab your barrel. one wet patch followed by a dry patch(I use both sides),an your good to go. Its what I do when loading gets a little hard.

 

[nkbj]

Vinman,
I had a pop-boom once upon a time that had a doe elevating magically right up the Pedernalis River canyon wall when that cap dang near popped in her ear. I got really picky about how to prevent it from happening again. Every piece has it's own ways. Serious degreasing with some high octane alcohol is good. Not getting the breech area full of oil to start with is good too.

 

[Zonie]

I know it's been mentioned before but it's a good idea to store your muzzleloader "muzzle down" after cleaning and oiling it.

This idea goes against the grain of most gun owners because the rifle will be unstable, but doing this will keep any oil that's been wiped into the bore for rust prevention from running down into the chambered breech, flame channel and nipple.

 

[Roguedog]

Vinman,
I'll add my two cents here. First of all, I congratulate you on perservering and figuring out why the gun didn't fire. Every rifle is a little different but much of what has been said here applies to all. One thing I might add is that I NEVER put oil in my gun prior to a hunt. However, I do oil my gun when I am done for the season. Prior to loading for a hunt, I will take my barrel off, take the nipple off, and submerge the nipple area of the barrel in warm, soapy water. I will then plunge the barrel, getting water all the way up the bore. This pressure rinse forces water through the nipple cleaning out any crud that might be in there. Second, I will rinse with fresh, clean water. After that, I keep running dry patches down the barrel until everything is nice and dry. While this is going on, I soak my nipple in some solvent. I then rinse the nipple out with good, hot water. I then dry the nipple and use a pipe cleaner to get down inside the nipple and clean it real good. I then reassemble and I'm good to go. I use blackpowder and standard #11 caps and have NEVER had a misfire since doing this procedure. It also helps to spend some time at the range shooting so that you can figure out your gun. Bottom line, anything inside a clean barrel other than powder is bad in my opinion. I have had oil in the barrel cause a misfire before. Stick it out buddy. It will get better and before you know it, those deer will be falling down rather than running off. Good luck.

Jeff

 

[M. De Land]

I've been using acetone to degrees barrels and bolsters with.It evaporates faster than alcohol and dissolves gun oil better.
Also, I've been trying out the new Gunzilla cleaner and lubricator given to me as a present and it seems to clean BP fouling very well and is not petroleum based. So far it has protecting from rust also . I leave a bit in the barrel in leiu of gun oil and it seems to protect against rust just as advertised.I'll need some more time to give it a real shake down but so far I'm impressed.I still use plain ole water to begin with then dry wipe, followed with a Gunzilla patch and cleaning is done. MD

 

[vincent a walker]

A hearty AMEN on taking special efforts to keep the flash channel clear. Some will say it's not necessary, but my experience has been that removing the little plug screw in the side of TC, Lyman, etc. rifle breeches and gorming out the passage with one of those pipe cleaners with stiff bristles aids ignition.

The center of the cup in the hammer needs to be well aligned with the nipple. Misalignment is usually lateral, so scrape away wood or shim with bits of business card until its right. When cleaning be sure to scrape away any crud that has built up in the cup of the hammer. One day at the range I helped a guy who had no less than three fired caps stuck inside the hammer nose.

The other thing I make a point of when headed out to hunt is to use a brand new nipple.

Regards,

White Fox

Bravo,the cup was not centered on the nipple and there was some crud in the cup as well. I couldnt get the screw on the side of the flash hole to back out though. It just wanted to strip the head so I left it.