How to make your precussion touch off every shot with out fail

[BlackHillsBob]

first of all lets just talk real black and normal old type primers. the reason a precussion doesnt go off in some guns all the time is two reason. the first one is common to thompson guns. when a nipple is screwed in to the nipple hole the nipple is too long. it butts up against the bottom of the hole it screws into or is too close to it. to fix this problem just shorten the nipple on the bottom with a file. next for all precussion rifles or hand guns, when you patch a round ball you air seal the bore. when the primer goes of it has to go against sealed air pressure that increases in back pressure the closer the fire gets to the powder. sometimes it just cant reach the powder because the back pressure is too great. how to take care of that problem is this. drill a 1/32 to 1/16 hole in the back of your combustion chamber. straight up or to the side, makes no difference. what this does is when the primer goes off their is no resistance any more from a air sealed behind the patched ball. as the fire goes very very fast now the air goes out the hole. instant ignition. i had a shooter who i built a custom side lock for and rebuilt a underhammer for say he had many a miss fires with all 12 of his sidelocks. i told him what to do and he and a machinest friend did what i recommended to all his guns. never has had a missfire since. he uses real black and normal primers. it is not my idea at all. many years ago i got to handle a nice 50 cal rifle from the 1840/s it was built this way. i got courious and did a lot of research on it and found out why it was built this way. believe it or not but many years ago dixie guys helped me figure out this thing that some one figured out in the 1840/s.want your gun to go off every time and never worry about it, do this thing and it will make your gun a better gun. just dont put your finger over the hole as i did once with out realizing it. feel like your finger was hit with a hammer. no difference in groups. lots less fouling in the combustion chamber, you all can tell me why? probably a better burn but how do i know. you tell me? blackhillsbob

 

[Carbon 6]

I'm not sure I fully understand what you're saying, but I don't experience any "back pressure" or ignition problems with my T/C . Powder trickles into the nipple area and ignition is immediate. I would never drill another hole in the breech. Air should exit the nipple when the ball is rammed home.

 

[8 BORE]

first of all lets just talk real black and normal old type primers. the reason a precussion doesnt go off in some guns all the time is two reason. the first one is common to thompson guns. when a nipple is screwed in to the nipple hole the nipple is too long. it butts up against the bottom of the hole it screws into or is too close to it. to fix this problem just shorten the nipple on the bottom with a file. next for all precussion rifles or hand guns, when you patch a round ball you air seal the bore. when the primer goes of it has to go against sealed air pressure that increases in back pressure the closer the fire gets to the powder. sometimes it just cant reach the powder because the back pressure is too great. how to take care of that problem is this. drill a 1/32 to 1/16 hole in the back of your combustion chamber. straight up or to the side, makes no difference. what this does is when the primer goes off their is no resistance any more from a air sealed behind the patched ball. as the fire goes very very fast now the air goes out the hole. instant ignition. i had a shooter who i built a custom side lock for and rebuilt a underhammer for say he had many a miss fires with all 12 of his sidelocks. i told him what to do and he and a machinest friend did what i recommended to all his guns. never has had a missfire since. he uses real black and normal primers. it is not my idea at all. many years ago i got to handle a nice 50 cal rifle from the 1840/s it was built this way. i got courious and did a lot of research on it and found out why it was built this way. believe it or not but many years ago dixie guys helped me figure out this thing that some one figured out in the 1840/s.want your gun to go off every time and never worry about it, do this thing and it will make your gun a better gun. just dont put your finger over the hole as i did once with out realizing it. feel like your finger was hit with a hammer. no difference in groups. lots less fouling in the combustion chamber, you all can tell me why? probably a better burn but how do i know. you tell me? blackhillsbob

Thats quite an answer but bottom line is no matter what you do sometime it will not fire.

 

[biliff]

Funny, my percussion guns (as well as pretty much everybody else's I know) go off just fine without the extra hole. Given I live in western Oregon the extra hole would probably cause reliability to DECREASE as its just one more place for water to get in. I would argue if your gun isn't going off, there's probably an issue with the way you're loading it.

 

[Juice Jaws]

Way, Way, over thinking. Sometimes S#*T happens.

 

[8 BORE]

Way, Way, over thinking. Sometimes S#*T happens.

10-4

 

[Carbon 6]

he uses real black and normal primers. it is not my idea at all. many years ago i got to handle a nice 50 cal rifle from the 1840/s it was built this way. i got courious and did a lot of research on it and found out why it was built this way.

I don't mean to seem like I'm picking on you, but this topic concerns me a great deal. Drilling a hole in the breech would essentially ruin the gun in my opinion.
Perhaps you should share your research, as this is a difficult pill to swallow.

 

[Stantheman86]

Use real Black, problem solved.

If you hunt or have a finicky rifle like a Sharps or 61 Springfield get a nipple primer and use 4f to put a few grains inside the nipple to create a sure fire little "flash" in the channel.

 

[BlackHillsBob]

dont go on me, tell it to the man who built the 1840/s high end gun, way higher end that a hawken. the hole was platinim lined. go after dixie for their article years ago on this. im only relaying something from the past. its science from the past, look it up as i did. its not my invention, its someones elses from long long ago. call dixie and ask them about their article in their catalog from way back when. i just pass on info, thats all.

 

[Carbon 6]

Some British guns of the era had platinum or gold lined touch holes, but those were flintlocks. In the early beginning of the percussion era all sorts of weird things were tried and problems arose. If a hole was drilled in the breech of a gun back then it was probably an attempt to fix a problem that was obviously fixed later on in development as we do not have Breech holes or ignition problems today.

History is full of things that were done that we would not do today.

 

[biliff]

"Science from the past" also gave us the flat earth, bleeding to cure disease, phrenology, and a whole host of other bunk. Just because somebody did it in the past doesn't mean it's a good idea high end or not. And yeah I read the same DGW article. How many guns do they list in their catalog that have the extra hole?

 

[Idaholewis]

I have a Safe Full of Percussion Muzzleloaders and not 1 of them have any problems going off? Every 1 of them go off IMMEDIATELY. I use Swiss real black

 

[Zonie]

As BH Bob says, Dixie Gunworks published this idea a long time ago.

They didn't drill a hole into the breech of the barrel but they did drill a hole in the drum between the nipple and the barrel. They said, much like Bob did, that it would allow the gas pressure and flame from the cap to get into the breech of the barrel and ignite the powder better.

Quoting from Dixie Gunworks catalog,
"Putting a vent or touch hole in any percussion gun keeps misfires down to nothing because it allows the fire from the percussion cap to go into the nipple and the drum without compressing air in front of it. When air is compressed, it will have a tendency to push the fire from the cap back out the nipple hole almost at the instant it is fired.
Thus, if you will drill a no. 50 drill hole in your drum you will more nearly receive 100 percent ignition each time. A good position is to the left of the nipple between the barrel and the nipple and slightly forward so the exploded gas goes away from the face." (2011 edition, page 622).

A #50 drill bit is .070 in diameter.

I'll admit to trying this years ago on my CVA Frontier rifle. It did seem to improve the reliability of the gun but I wouldn't do it to another one.
I had to increase the powder load about 5 grains to get the gun back to hitting the point of aim and the improvement wasn't nearly as good as Dixie said it would be.

As for doing this to one of the newer rifles with a scroll type breech like the TC's and Lyman guns which don't have any exposed "drum" I suppose the hole could be added thru the barrel wall and into the breech where the powder load sits but the danger of the flame venting thru the barrel wall during firing would be worse than the flame from a flintlock.
With a flintlock, you have much of the flint and cock in the way of the jet of flame which limits how far out it will go.
Drilling thru the barrel wall with nothing in the way to block it off, I think the jet could cause a great deal of mischief.

(As for the dangers of drilling thru the barrel wall and into the breech, I say it is no more dangerous than putting a flintlock vent hole thru a barrels wall and as we all know, that is exactly how their vent is made.)

 

[Carbon 6]

Thanks for shedding some light on this Jim, Seems like I recall reading it now that you quoted it.

Still, My guns aren't broke so I won't be "fixing" any of them in this manner.

 

[8 BORE]

first of all lets just talk real black and normal old type primers. the reason a precussion doesnt go off in some guns all the time is two reason. the first one is common to thompson guns. when a nipple is screwed in to the nipple hole the nipple is too long. it butts up against the bottom of the hole it screws into or is too close to it. to fix this problem just shorten the nipple on the bottom with a file. next for all precussion rifles or hand guns, when you patch a round ball you air seal the bore. when the primer goes of it has to go against sealed air pressure that increases in back pressure the closer the fire gets to the powder. sometimes it just cant reach the powder because the back pressure is too great. how to take care of that problem is this. drill a 1/32 to 1/16 hole in the back of your combustion chamber. straight up or to the side, makes no difference. what this does is when the primer goes off their is no resistance any more from a air sealed behind the patched ball. as the fire goes very very fast now the air goes out the hole. instant ignition. i had a shooter who i built a custom side lock for and rebuilt a underhammer for say he had many a miss fires with all 12 of his sidelocks. i told him what to do and he and a machinest friend did what i recommended to all his guns. never has had a missfire since. he uses real black and normal primers. it is not my idea at all. many years ago i got to handle a nice 50 cal rifle from the 1840/s it was built this way. i got courious and did a lot of research on it and found out why it was built this way. believe it or not but many years ago dixie guys helped me figure out this thing that some one figured out in the 1840/s.want your gun to go off every time and never worry about it, do this thing and it will make your gun a better gun. just dont put your finger over the hole as i did once with out realizing it. feel like your finger was hit with a hammer. no difference in groups. lots less fouling in the combustion chamber, you all can tell me why? probably a better burn but how do i know. you tell me? blackhillsbob

I would like to know if the Dixie Guys
are related to the Dixie Chicks

 

[BlackHillsBob]

thanks isnt enough words, thanks again

 

[Bad Karma]

I would like to know if the Dixie Guys
are related to the Dixie Chicks

Grandparents most likely...

 

[WVAED]

Is that what the hole on the top of my Green Mountain barrel is for?

 

[WVAED]

My 36 Seneca also has a similar hole across on the left side opposite the touch hole in the breech area.

 

[Bad Karma]

Is that what the hole on the top of my Green Mountain barrel is for? View attachment 5109

My 36 Seneca also has a similar hole across on the left side opposite the touch hole in the breech area.

NO! Most emphatically NO!