Misfires

[fasteddie]

Like they used to say in the old frontier movies .... " keep yer powder dry " !

 

[dbHunterNY]

15 hours ago, Pygmy said:

Shucks, DB, I'd never cover THEM up....Most of my body has gone to hell, but I've still got pretty nice nipples for an old fat guy....Hehehehe...

hell flaunt what the good Lord give ya and reel the ladies in!

[Pygmy]

18 minutes ago, dbHunterNY said:

hell flaunt what the good Lord give ya and reel the ladies in!

There are 3 stages in a man's life.....Stud,  Dud,   and THUD....

I'm somewhere between DUD and THUD.....Hehehehe..

Heck, if I take off my shirt I look like the Pillsbury Doughboy....

[wildcat junkie]

On 12/21/2017 at 4:05 PM, Pygmy said:

I had a misfire the last day of MZ season last year....My rifle is a an early 1970s  TC Hawken sidelock and I was using  #11 caps and 3F Triple 7....It is the only misfire I have had in 40 years of hunting with that rifle...

However, one was enough, so this year I bought one of those  nipple thingies for my rifle that would accept 209 primers... It goes BANG every time now....There are a couple of downsides to the new priming system....It employs a screw on nipple that would be very easy to lose in the leaves or the snow, and is slower to reload... Also, the 209 primers tend  to stick in the device after firing,  further slowing the reloading process...

 

Can't you get real black powder?

[wildcat junkie]

From 1976 to 1998 I hunted almost exclusively with muzzle loaders during the muzzle loader as well as general firearms seasons in Southern Indiana, all "traditional" style including flintlocks.

I always used real black powder. Once I learned to thoroughly clean the breech of any trace of oil, I never had a misfire while hunting.

With a tight fitting patched round ball and some fingernail polish applied over the #11 cap, one can walk all day in a deluge and the gun will go off reliably with #11 caps and real black powder.

I did get caught in said deluge once with my flintlock and the priming looked like grease when I checked it so I packed it in. I had to flash the pan 3 times to get it to go off. Flintlocks can be reliable in light rain if shielded from said rain with the body or a poncho, but are not a good choice for a day with steady moderate/heavy rain.

Almost all misfires with traditional percussion muzzle loaders& #11 caps can be traced to oil in the breech or unreliable substitute propellants. If you can get real black powder, there is no good reason to use substitutes in a traditional muzzle loader..

Edited December 26, 2017 by wildcat junkie

[wildcat junkie]

On 12/21/2017 at 10:31 AM, fasteddie said:

I have my 777 in the basement with the cap on tight . I have the bottle inside of a larger plastic bottle with a tight lid . I also have 4 speed loaders that a capped tight . No problem so far . Knock on wood ! 

I rummaged through the unheated milk-house on my barn to find a can of FFFg GOEX that was in there since 2001 and was probably purchases around 1997.

It had been opened, but the cap was tight and it worked just fine when I broke out my .54 percussion plains rifle to take a doe in the late NZ ML season.. 

The powder that was in my flask with a charging spout (I don't use speed loaders) spent a similar rime inside the house and it worked fine for my initial practice shots. I did change it out with fresh powder from the can for hunting. The flask is not a tight seal just having a loading gate closing off the spout.

Many substitutes, especially the early types, Pyrodex in particular, are more hygroscopic than real black powder and much more corrosive to boot..

[sailinghudson25]

Well cleaned and oil free with brake cleaner or alcohol before use.   One thing I do a touch differently.

I leave my breech plug off my inline during storage.  I clean the primer side of the hole with a 1/8th drill bit.  I don't use any storage oil on the stainless breech plug, I put a tiny bit of the CVA lip balm style never sieze on the threads.

On my "modernish" flintlock's like a thompson renegade or a lyman great plains rifle, they have a patent chamber.  Both flintlock ansd percussion have this  The last inch of the bore is about 36 caliber.  It's meant ot make a hotter intiall temperature to make more pressure out of the same powder.  But, it's a bastard to keep clean after use.  I use a breech face brush to clean out this area.  I use a regular bore brush with a small patch on the end to clean the area as well.  I use that same brush with a bit of brake cleaner or rubbing alcohol to remove any storage oil from the area before hunting.   I also remove the flash hole or precussion nipple end use alcohol or brake cleaner to remove any and all oil.  After I did this, I have had very few if any problems.   I also increased the flash hole size in my flintlocks to 1/16th of an inch.  Makes a huge difference with the hawkens type modern day ones.....

I use real blackpowder in my inline too.....  Stuff not only works great, but is much cheaper too.   I only use 70 grains in my thomspon center omega with harvester sabots and a 44 mag hornady XTP hollowpoint.  Still hits good at 150......