You told me so

[adirondack46r]

Bought a new Lyman 54 cal GPR last winter. Broke it in over the summer with over a hundred rounds. Somewhere along the way somebody told me to change the factory nipple and install a hotshot or something like that. I figured I would... someday.

Anyway, to make a long story short I was on a draw hunt here in East TN last weekend. I snapped off 3 caps and loaded up on Friday night. I hunted all day Saturday. Wasn't sure I would get out on Sunday so I decided to unload by shooting into a side bank. By the way, I had seen several deer but had no shots. Hammer back... click. Misfire. Sinking feeling...

I think I'll buy a new nipple pronto.

 

[jhamilt]

ouch! at least you werent shooting at a deer. ive had something similar happen to me while i was holding on a hogs head at 40 yards, would have been a very dead hog but all i got was a click and a sinking feeling in my stomach...

 

[catman]

The hotshot is very good, it's all I run. I may leave my smoke stick loaded for 2 weeks in a ready to shoot hunt clean barrel & never had a problem. Too bad I haven't got to fire that load since Oct. 15th.

 

[Jayhem]

Guys who hunt out west don't get to experience misfires as much. Humidity is a killer! I've had 2 misfires on deer, very annoying. I seal my caps with wax now and it seems to help. Also it is imperative that you have a DRY barrel and flash channel BEFORE loading the powder. I think 1 of my misfires on game was because I didn't take the time to really dry all the oil out of my flash channel and some of the powder got oil on it as it was loaded. This year I'm going to snap a couple caps and then run my swab through the flash channel to clear any loose oil that was dislodged by the caps.

 

[longcruise]

I snapped off 3 caps and loaded up on Friday night.

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Hammer back... click. Misfire. Sinking feeling...

I was along as non-hunter last sunday on a ml antelope hunt. Took the better part of the day to get the hunter into a position for a do-able shot. Snap went the cap but no ignition.

This in a gun that was once loaded for nearly a year and went off flawlessly. The difference? This time around the gun had been loaded for only several weeks but the hunter had fired three caps to "clear" the breech area. I'm thinking that the cap fouling served to draw some moisture and on top of that, the cap fouling had no powder charge to blow back through the nipple to clear it as well.

I never fire fouling caps before loading to hunt and I never have failure to launch :haha: .

I use denatured alcohol or automotive Heet to clear up any residual oil and allow it to dry thoroughly (as in overnight) before loading.

Even so, gotta agree with dumping that factory nipple! They are horrible.

 

[Brent]

I'm with the marmot murderer - clean is good. Firing caps to clear a channel in CLEAN gun is only good if the gun is really not CLEAN to start with.

 

[zampilot]

A shot of BrakeFree or carb cleaner through the nipple will do well to get rid of oil/petroleum grease. Then run a mop in the bore. Buff it with borebutter or bear grease, whatever's your favorite. I can't wait!!

 

[Dphar]

Bought a new Lyman 54 cal GPR last winter. Broke it in over the summer with over a hundred rounds. Somewhere along the way somebody told me to change the factory nipple and install a hotshot or something like that. I figured I would... someday.

Anyway, to make a long story short I was on a draw hunt here in East TN last weekend. I snapped off 3 caps and loaded up on Friday night. I hunted all day Saturday. Wasn't sure I would get out on Sunday so I decided to unload by shooting into a side bank. By the way, I had seen several deer but had no shots. Hammer back... click. Misfire. Sinking feeling...

I think I'll buy a new nipple pronto.

Just quit snapping caps on it. The various nipples such as as "hotshot" are more advertising hype than anything else.
Wash the oil from the gun with denatured alcohol then wipe it dry sucking air through the nipple as the patches go up and down. This will leave a clean dry bore with no fouling to cause grief.
Snapping caps just assures you will have moisture problems or manure in the nipple/flash channels.
The "vented nipple" was invented to keep mass produced MLs with cheap locks from blowing the hammer back with bullet loads a classic sign of OVER PRESSURE. The "cure" was to vent the nipple so the hammer will stay down and folks can keep shooting high pressure loads with no pressure signs. The vent is a source of inaccuracy since it will GAS CUT since not even close to being sealed.

They are also less water proof than a traditional nipple which with a properly sized cap is water proof.
Think about it. The vented nipple vents fire away from the powder charge. They also result in more fire and fragments close to your face.
But of course they are "new and improved" right? gotta be good. :rotf:

Dan

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

I snapped off 3 caps and loaded up on Friday night.

-----------------------------------------------------

Hammer back... click. Misfire. Sinking feeling...

I was along as non-hunter last sunday on a ml antelope hunt. Took the better part of the day to get the hunter into a position for a do-able shot. Snap went the cap but no ignition.

This in a gun that was once loaded for nearly a year and went off flawlessly. The difference? This time around the gun had been loaded for only several weeks but the hunter had fired three caps to "clear" the breech area. I'm thinking that the cap fouling served to draw some moisture and on top of that, the cap fouling had no powder charge to blow back through the nipple to clear it as well.

I never fire fouling caps before loading to hunt and I never have failure to launch :haha: .

I use denatured alcohol or automotive Heet to clear up any residual oil and allow it to dry thoroughly (as in overnight) before loading.

Even so, gotta agree with dumping that factory nipple! They are horrible.

This is an excellent point! I use Barricade, and it requires merely a simple wipe with a single patch on a worm prior to loading the rifle. The patch always comes out clean and dry. No need to fire a cap prior to loading the rifle :wink: , provided that the rifle was properly stored, MUZZLE-DOWN, prior to loading!

Dave

 

[William O.]

If you took a hundred shots using the factory Lyman nipple then there is your problem right there. IMHO they should be replaced before sighting the rifle in. The toughest, longest lasting nipple I have found so far is the AMPCO bronze. http://www.trackofthewolf.com/categories/tableList.aspx?catID=1&subID=9&styleID=984&as=1