Powder under the nipple .....

[Sparkitoff]

My spouse thinks us men are talking about some weird hygiene ritual. However, you know what I mean. I have started purposely pulling the nipple(s) and using a pinch of FFFg from my pan primer under them. This is regardless of whether I am using Goex or a substitute and in rifles and shotguns for hunting. It is time consuming and I do not do this for every single shot. On a clean gun I run an alcohol patch and use and air gun to blow it dry (usually before leaving the house). Upon arrival at the field (woods, wherever) I started doing the powder under nipple thing. What I am trying to do is increase the odds to maximum favorability that the gun will discharge on the first shot. It is a rarity that one does not without this practice, but it has happened twice in the last year when someone was hunting with my rifle and once with the shotgun. If you add the pre-hunt range session for a total # of loadings it comes out to like 1:35 fail to fire first shot. Since starting this practice I have gone 0:50 - no fail to fire on first shot. Now that I know it seems to work, I am not going to do it at the range or conduct any further experimentation. I plan to keep doing this for hunting - unless you tell me something I hadn't thought of that changes my mind. So my questions are: Does anyone else do this? Is there a proven long-term negative affect to this practice? Suggestions for something else?
Thanks!

 

[Walkingeagle]

My experiences in the 22+ years I’ve been shooting and hunting with caplocks have been very consistant, IF I fail to snap a couple caps prior to loading a new charge in a clean gun, OR after giving the fouled gun a cleaning wipe prior to reloading, there is almost a 100% chance of a fail to fire. Snap a couple caps and I have never experienced a fail to fire or a delayed fire. Now, situational living and hunting areas may prevent the ability to snap caps, in which case I would likely do exactly as you are, but using 4f.
Walk

 

[Phil Coffins]

I’d be thinking about some thing being wrong with the rifle if I had to prime under the nipple. I wipe the bore with a couple of dry patches and pop two caps before loading. Hunting in all weather in Nebraska to the high mountains of Colorado I’ve yet to have a failure to fire. Threads do wear and the breach of the rifle is softer then a nipple.

 

[Britsmoothy]

My method to increase first shot success is to snap a cap on a rodded patch down the bore. It catches the spital and some back pressure clears the nipple.
To go even further I remove the anvil from some really old eley shot shell primers, pinch the brass so it stays on the nipple and use it for the first shot. Them's strong enough to start an engine with!

 

[Carbon 6]

On a clean gun I run an alcohol patch and use and air gun to blow it dry (usually before leaving the house).

You should not have to blow alcohol dry unless you alcohol contains a lot of water. Blowing it dry with compressed air adds more water. Use denatured alcohol.

Also, do you tap the breech after you pour the powder down to ensure powder flows under the nipple in the bolster ?

The real culprit is likely your cleaning regimen and/or preserving agent.

Also, I don't wet patches alone, I also squirt a little down the barrel. If you run a patch down the barrel and alcohol mist shoots out the nipple (do it with force), Follow with a dry patch (pumping). I can use MAP without any issues.
The gun will fire every time.

I load one gun and leave it loaded for months, and it goes off on the first pull of the trigger. It's now been loaded for almost 7 months, want to make a bet as to whether it goes off ?

 

[Rifleman1776]

So much fuss and bother when most if it is not necessary if gun is OK. Removing the nipple to add extra prime is unnecessary and asking for trouble. Drop the nipple in the woods screw back in crooked and you are done for the day. If your flash channel is clogged there are fixes for that. Real bp and a regular cap will set things off 100% of the time if there is no interference. With caplocks, before a hunt I would squirt carburetor/brake cleaner into the nipple, swab bore, wait a minute for things to dry then load. I might do similar with flint if it was heavily oiled before storage. If yer really concerned, look for nipple primers at the major vendors. They look similar to those flint primers with the brass springy thingy plungers. I have one used mostly to help shooters at the range who are having ignition problems.

 

[Stantheman86]

I invested $10 in a Treso Nipple Charger, which I use for target shooting or to get a stubborn charge to go off if I forget to snap a cap after wiping the bore.

Drops a few grains of 4f into the nipple, then you cap. No need to remove anything and takes a second. A fully loaded nipple charger is good for 100s of shots.

 

[Grimord]

Every thing said in the previous posts will contribute to ignition in a cap lock gun. I suspect that some have issues if they have a gun with a patent breech. Cleaning the gun is a must for sure fire ignition. One other little loading procedure to follow is once the breech area is clean of debris, pour in your desired load of powder, and rap the off side of the gun opposite the nipple a couple of times to shake some loose powder into the patent breech area. Acts the same as pulling the nipple and placing powder under it, but does not wear out the nipple threads, or cause a loss of the nipple due to bumbling cold fingers.

 

[WVAED]

I don't think it sounds like to bad of a practice myself. The above tips are probably pretty fool proof but for your own confidence and your own methods of doing things, I say, go for it. I have had one snap before without it going off. That doesn't make one happy when a gobbler or deer is running away from your cap gun...

 

[Ames]

I load one gun and leave it loaded for months, and it goes off on the first pull of the trigger. It's now been loaded for almost 7 months, want to make a bet as to whether it goes off ?

I leave mine loaded for months as well during hunting season if success is hard to come by. When a deer needs to be shot, the gun delivers.
Don't bet against him on this one.

 

[Zonie]

Sparkitoff:
Although I don't add any powder under the nipple when I'm target shooting, I always add just a pinch there when I want to always have that first shot fire.

That's why I recommend doing this "under the nipple prime" to all hunters who are shooting percussion rifles. They MUST have that first shot fire when they want it to.

 

[hanshi]

I've only done this one time when I put some 4F into the nipple of a shotgun. I had neglected to thoroughly clean out the last vestiges of oil from the breech. Worked like a charm and never had a misfire in the woods with any other gun.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Lighter fluid works well too, especially with them tiny fine spouts!

 

[Rat]

I tried it once years ago, and got hang-fires, or slight delays. ? This was in a Replica Remington Contract Rifle.

 

[Kansas Jake]

I'm in the drop the nipple in the grass or weeds camp of believers.

 

[Stantheman86]

If you're that dead set on a sure fire first shot just get a Hot Shot 209 primer adapter, he makes them in virtually every thread size and requires 0 alteration, it just goes on in lieu of the nipple.

If you have a rifle like a T/C with a halfcock that makes the hammer hover right above the nipple, the Hot Shot adapter won't let you use the half cock.

It works on my Pedersoli Kentucky pistol, allows me to use the half cock.

Pedersoli also makes one but only threaded for their rifles.

These virtually guarantee ignition , with BP or any sub , I've even touched off Blackhorn in a T/C with it.

I keep it in my range bag when I'm target shooting with my Pedersoli pistol in case I get a charge that just refuses to go off.

I just think #10, #11 and Musket caps were hotter "back in the day" when they were corrosive Mercuric caps.

Or was there guys back in 1857 complaining about caps popping with no "boom" when they were trying to Moose hunt with Hawken rifles.

 

[azmntman]

IMHO my way is easier and just as effective. After popping a cap on the arse of a huge bull, then a nice buck I said NEVER AGAIN. Now when I hunt I stop outside the area I am hunting and load a half load and shoot it into a tree. NOW everything in there is nice and dry and since I started with a "priming" shot I have never had a fail to fire in the deer woods again. Did once piss off some late sleepers as I didnt see the tent the other side of the road when I fired into a tree. They was hot but had no answer on why they was in bed 10 min before shootin light on opening day!!

 

[Stantheman86]

Usually people get up crazy early to hunt , so I mean, why people are still sleeping at opening light means they're probably more into drinking beer and hanging out then hunting

 

[Carbon 6]

So, think I know what the underlying problem is here. Guys who only large game hunt once or twice a year just aren't as intimately familiar with the quirks and nuances of their rifle. Die hard small game hunters and people who shoot weekly have a clear advantage and confidence in their guns.
Just my opinion/observation, Nobody flip out.

I have the utmost confidence in my loading. And it rewards me well.

 

[Carbon 6]

I have the utmost confidence in my loading. And it rewards me well.

Twern't always that way though, 40 + years ago or so I suffered along with the worst of them. School of hard knocks.