Hawker nipple issue- help

[James Kopp]

Can anyone recommend a good nipple for a Hawken .. I was shooting mine today any after 3 shoots it got fouled. Cleaned bore, removed nipple, cleaning it real good … put it all back together and new primer and nothing. Primer went off , no boom — had to use ball puller and remove wad and powder, reloaded again new primer… Primer went off , no boom . Thoughts.

 

[BruceHH]

If you nipple was cleaned good, it is probably not the problem. Assuming your Hawken has a Patent chamber or at least the flash channel going from the nipple to the charge - I would venture that your problem is in that channel/chamber. Can you take the barrel out and pump water/cleaning solution through it?

 

[Grenadier1758]

I too think that the nipple is not the problem. Fouling in the powder chamber and the flash hole is the problem.

I assume that you can remove the barrel and flush it out. You can fire a cap and watch grass or dirt looking for movement.

 

[Dwight Rutherford]

What BruceHH said

 

[bubba.50]

Quit pushing that crud down your barrel.

 

[mooman76]

Sounds like you are pushing fouling into the breech area. After 3 shots and you clean, you need a jag/patch combo that is somewhat loose. That way you push the patch down the bore over the fouling and then when you pull it out, it bunches up and pulls the fouling out rather than push it down the bore. Also you should foul after just 3 shots. Maybe your lube causing this, not adequate or too much.

 

[ohio ramrod]

My boy's rifle has a CVA style breech and will not fire if you swab all of the way down. We just swab to about the last inch and have no problems. If we run the ramrod all of the way down the fouling often plugs the breech.

 

[Dibbuk]

My club requires swabbing after each shot. One of my favorite rifles is a CVA with this problem. My solution is to remove the nipple between shots, making sure it is clear. After reloading, when I am on the firing line, I drop a bit of 4F powder from my pan charging flask into the drum before replacing the nipple. Cap and fire. Has not failed me.

 

[Justin.44]

My boy's rifle has a CVA style breech and will not fire if you swab all of the way down. We just swab to about the last inch and have no problems. If we run the ramrod all of the way down the fouling often plugs the breech.

I do the exact same thing with 2 of my rifles that have that problem and it works great. I have my range rod marked where to stop and they never give me that trouble anymore.

 

[jdw276]

My club requires swabbing after each shot. One of my favorite rifles is a CVA with this problem. My solution is to remove the nipple between shots, making sure it is clear. After reloading, when I am on the firing line, I drop a bit of 4F powder from my pan charging flask into the drum before replacing the nipple. Cap and fire. Has not failed me.

How do they monitor that? I mean that is how i make it go bang if i have a ftf, 4f in under the nipple. And is that a range rule? Sorry but huh?

 

[BruceHH]

Fellas, no bad will intended here, but if you can't shoot your rifle w/o removing the nipple each shot or if you can not swab the bore w/o causing a problem - there is something wrong. There are many variables that could be the issue, so it is hard to come up with a solution w/o a lot more information. I think it is a safe bet that a rough bore, rough patent chamber and a small/obstructed/rough fire channel from the nipple to the chamber are things that should be looked at. Just trying to help.

 

[Dibbuk]

How do they monitor that? I mean that is how i make it go bang if i have a ftf, 4f in under the nipple. And is that a range rule? Sorry but huh?

Swabbing between shots? That is a range rule. We mostly rely on the honor system, and remind those who forget. Putting a bit of 4F under the nipple is my personal solution to the caps failing to set off the powder charge.

 

[jimairwin]

I always use a sharp angled countersink to make a tapered/flared opening from a minimal length flash channel to the main charge. Both in flint and percussion rifles. I also always open up the whole flash path (except for a short length of 1/16 in dia) and polish the whole path to powder. Seems to work for me.

 

[beardedhorse]

Don't remember all the hyped stainless steel nipples out the last several decades. Spitfire was one. If you have a breech design problem you can try pushing a pipe cleaner through the hole after you remove the nipple to clean out crud. Turning down the diameter of your jag that you use or using a thinner patch can remedy pushing crud into the breech area. I like to know the breech design of any rifle I don't build myself. Build up of fouling in that area can lead to safety issues later such as an unintended discharge while loading.

 

[rafterob]

I agree with those stating fouling of the fire channel not the nipple. Before loading the gun be sure to run a dry patch down the barrel to remove any oil. Then fire a cap or two down at the ground towards a leaf or blade of grass and you should see movement. That cap flash should burn off any oil in the breech area.

 

[jdw276]

I agree with those stating fouling of the fire channel not the nipple. Before loading the gun be sure to run a dry patch down the barrel to remove any oil. Then fire a cap or two down at the ground towards a leaf or blade of grass and you should see movement. That cap flash should burn off any oil in the breech area.

Man, thats 20 cents a pop these days!

 

[rafterob]

Man, thats 20 cents a pop these days!

You've got some expensive caps then. I'm looking at 6 or 7 cents a cap. And that only needs to be done at the beginning of a shooting session. I only ever pop one cap off and that seems to do the job.

 

[jdw276]

You've got some expensive caps then. I'm looking at 6 or 7 cents a cap. And that only needs to be done at the beginning of a shooting session. I only ever pop one cap off and that seems to do the job.

The small gun shops if they have them think they are small pistol primers and price accordingly. Get a lot of folks hopes up around here and go away disappointed. But they do not drop the prices either.

 

[SDSmlf]

Man, thats 20 cents a pop these days!

The small gun shops if they have them think they are small pistol primers and price accordingly. Get a lot of folks hopes up around here and go away disappointed. But they do not drop the prices either.

So you are paying $20 for a tin of 100? Seems way too high. I thought I was overpaying at 5.6¢ a piece for RWS caps at the beginning of the year. If you don’t want to online order a quantity (have to order enough to spread out Hazmat charge) you may want to check some big box stores like Walmart and Academy. It recently has been reported here and on other forums that these stores have CCI caps in the $5 per tin range.

 

[Stony Broke]

I'm guessing your problem is either in your flash channel or the patent breech chamber. The nipple should not be a problem if you can see through the hole. If a person has to swab between shots, use a suitable solution to clean without just shoving the residue in the barrel into the channel or chamber. I never swab between shots and never have a problem such as you are. I use a fairly wet patch with a mix of windex and murphy's oil soap on it and just load the ball with it. The bore is somewhat cleaned when you shove the ball down this way. When actually cleaning the barrel, make sure to clean out the chamber area and run a pipe cleaner through the flash channel. You can use any of the damp patches when loading such as spit or moose milk and it should do just as well.