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

[hawkeye2]

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.

I've been shooting original '61 Springfields in competition for 35 years and have found them to be every bit as reliable as a supository gun. I've had a half dozen cap (RWS) failures and the few other times the gun failed to go boom it was strictly my fault like not fully drying the bore when cleaning between relays and a couple of times I forgot that black stuff that makes smoke. I've had a higher FTF rate with .22s over a lifetime. I bought my wife and myself nipple primers, filled them with 4f and in 25 or more years neither of us has ever used one.

 

[Stantheman86]

I like to keep a nipple primer full of NulB just in case I get a misfire.

I have not owned an original 61 , I had a Chiappa repro years ago but from the brief time I had it I recall it going off without any issues. I have read that these have a long flash channel.

My P-H Enfields have been dead reliable.

Barring that, this summer I swabbed a bore in my Renegade and forgot to run a dry patch.....had to pull the nipple and sprinkle powder into the flash channel to "bloop" the wet charge and ball out.

Also had to pull a bullet from my Zoli Buffalo Hunter, even the Co2 didn't work. I'd rather have another tool in my bag in case I get a stubborn charge (nipple primer) I suppose it may have an application for bench rest shooting maybe?

 

[BlackHillsBob]

as to writing, way to old to change. with a 30 year career in the medical field i was told by the state of n.dak and s.dak i was the best charter on the west side of each state. they didnt judge by grammer, they judged by content. people from the medical field ususally dont get awards for grammer and such. it is content. usually when i post the complaints i get for posts are from canada. they have better english classes up their it seems. i really believe it goes back to personality, the more anal you are the more critical you are. its alright to be anal, but glad im not nor is my wife. one oh crap knocks out a thousand atta boys. please dont delete this as it is apart of how we view these post. some are expressed feeling and some are expressed facts. i like them both and learn from every one of them.

 

[Eddie2002]

The only real miss fires I've had with my side locks were caused by pieces of the caps getting stuck in the hammer of the firearm. The cap would blow apart and leave just the tip of the cap stuck in the hammer. This would deaden the next hammer strike on the nipple and cause a miss fire.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Perhaps a good choice is a percussion nipple that is designed to direct a jet of hot gas into the powder chamber. Two brands that are available are the Hot Shot and the Spitfire. I have used a #11 Hot Shot nipple in my Hawken replica with a long flash channel in the breech plug. The relief hole is in the nipple cone to allow the sudden burst of gas a place to go along the cone before the heat from setting off the cap goes through the tiny hole at the base of the nipple. I just don't like the having that tiny hole in a percussion locked rifle especially since these improved nipples work. You can also use magnum caps for a bit more flash and heat. The bigger problem is caused by fouling build up in the flash channel making a bridge that blocks the channel. If we haven't pushed fouling into the channel and learned how to remove that blockage, a tiny hole in the barrel isn't really going to help when the flash channel is blocked by moist fouling. I use a jag that rides over the fouling on the way down and bunches up to pull the powder out. For the I don't want to wipe between shots practitioners, be aware that fouling will build up and will attract moisture at the breech on humid days. Some synthetic powders don't make a lot of solid fouling, but they do require a higher temperature flash from the cap.

Yes, cap fragments can lodge in the recess in the hammer. After firing a shot, I pull the hammer to half cock to look for cap fragments, remove the spent cap from the nipple, make sure no residue is blocking the tip of the nipple and wipe fouling from the nipple before lowering the hammer to reload. (Hammer down to reload is a range safety rule at my club.)

At the target range, I fire a cap on the empty barrel to blow fouling out of the flash channel. My flash channel remains relatively clear and powder will settle through the flash channel to the base of the nipple.

Okay, I have a flash hole in my flintlocks. I know where the jet of gas is going. My flash channel for my percussion lock guns is large enough to allow powder to settle under the nipple. Since I use GOEX 3fg powder, I don't have a problem with ignition.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

My Lyman’s plains rifle and Harper’s Ferry horseman’s pistol are both “dead nuts” with Remy 10s.

I can fire both dozens of times with 0 issues. No “nipple primers”, NullB injections, or anything like that thank you. The key is to keep the nipple and flash channel as clean and DRY as possible, and “tend the nip” every half dozen shots or so by poking it with a pick and cleaning the outerior sections. Also do not use a sopping wet patch if you wipe between shots, only one barely dampened, and don’t go crazy with too much lube as these are both ways of sure fire spoiling of the charge.

 

[Kansas Jake]

I've never really had problems with ignition in my percussion fire arms. I do have a traditions 32 Deerhunter purchased second hand with the "vent hole" drilled in the drum. I have no way of knowing if it helps or not. It was a popular theory 30+ years ago.

 

[Carbon 6]

The #1 cause of misfires is operator error.

 

[30coupe]

The #1 cause of misfires is operator error.

Yup!

 

[Rat]

The myth of the 1861 is a.....myth. Somebody, once, on another forum started the rumor, and I've seen the exact same post plagarized (or however you spell it) by others, word for word, but supposedly in their own words. It may have possibly been written in an article once and maybe that's where it got started. ??

My '61 has never failed to fire. If you pull the nipple, you'll see the flash channel is right there. There is not a "twisted and contorted" path to the flash channel and main charge, as some are so fond of repeating. The '61 is not more prone to miss-fire than any other rifle.

 

[Gene L]

nope, forget the paragraphs, im not in english class, im retired and please dont read any of my posts if dont like the way they are posted. no intentions of making anyone mad, some people are just more anal than others, im not very anal.

I am definitely not anal, nor do I think those who appreciate writing on at least a 3rd grade level are anal. Nor am I from Canada. I learned grammar in GA in the third grade and fourth, and see no advantage to seem semi-literate, no matter how useful or not the posts are.

Accusing someone of being anal isn't fair play.

 

[32 ballard xl]

I am definitely not anal, nor do I think those who appreciate writing on at least a 3rd grade level are anal. Nor am I from Canada. I learned grammar in GA in the third grade and fourth, and see no advantage to seem semi-literate, no matter how useful or not the posts are.

Accusing someone of being anal isn't fair play.

I have noticed that when some people don't like the message, their first attack is always on the poster's grammar, or ability to spell. On the other hand, if the poster's one of the "good guys", regardless of however he writes, not a word is said about grammar, spelling, or education. Even if our hero poster keeps the 'cap lock' key in constant use, not a word is said.

 

[S.Kenton]

The #1 cause of misfires is operator error.

True statement, also sometimes it’s the powder we use. I shoot 3 times a month with my club, that’s 30 balls per outing. I also shoot at home to practice at least twice a week. I always shoot with my buddy dave at the club, Dave uses 777 and I use goex. Both of us swab between shots, both of us use the same lube. Dave has a few misfires towards the end of the day causing him to miss a shot or two.. I have had non ... ever. Dave won’t switch to goex no matter what... no idea why.. but he sure won’t! In Dave’s defense he does win quite a bit and is possibly one of the best shots I’ve ever seen.. period. To be honest, I’m glad he misfires from time to time..it helps me catch up in points..

 

[Carbon 6]

True statement, also sometimes it’s the powder we use.

If he chooses to use 777 in a black powder firearm and has a misfire, then that is also his operator error. bolsters, snails, patent breeches and percussion caps were all designed for use with real black powder.

 

[BlackHillsBob]

trust me, your anal, or you would not have posted what you posted. i dont disrespect you or any of that. you do no have the education i do, not even close, again, im trying to do a one up on you or that stuff. i studied medicine, only had one class to do with writing, did enough to pass it, 92 students started our first class, 5 years later only 7 of us graduated. that says something. glad you can do a good well wrote paragraph, no hate here but leave me alone, that is really nit picking. im not narsistic, nor am i an intovert or a extrovert,im in the middle. im still learning at almost 80. i learning a second language and getting good at it. i go to the gym every day and i still shoot alot. easy for me, just off either of my decks. lets keep this on point, info, no matter how it is wrote. write it in french if you want, my grammer is better in french than english, to tell the truth, im a bit anal about french, english i dont care. blackhillbob.

 

[rafterob]

I have not seen this since the '70's when I was first into this. And the back pressure reason is what was espoused. Whether there is actual scientific evidence, who knows.

 

[Carbon 6]

If I were to guess I would say this practice probably coincided with the development /use of Pyrodex and was probably replaced by the hot-shot nipple, moving the hole from the bolster or barrel to the nipple. Making it more efficient ,safer and appealing.

 

[Desperate Lee]

BHB
I know we are not suppose to talk inlines here but we are talking BP ignition here right? Thompson Center designers put 2 vent holes, in the Scout series of rifles and pistols, at an angle, away from the face of the shooter, from the breech plug to do what? Equalize pressure and get a more consistent burn according to them. My 2 cents worth.
DL

 

[BlackHillsBob]

time for me to reply again, thanks 32 ballard xl for your reply and thanks desperate lee you both gave great relys with meat and common sense in them thanks again. remember every on i first saw this years ago on a very very little use silver mounted 1/2 stock 50 cal from the 1840/s the hole was where i said it was in the back of the combustion chamber and platium lined. that is a fact, pyrodex wasnt invented then, it was real black all the way. then i read in the dixie catalog something similar but with the same reason why to do it. i double it was a fly by night brain anal gas thought that led that unknown builder to do this back in the 1840/s, but high end craftmans ship. now as to use i have customer internet friend that post else where who know how to shoot precussion and has 12 of them before i sold him on and rebuilt one of his. he had a now and then missfire with real black. he drilled the hole in all of them and has not had a misfire ever ever since. you can come down on him in a thousand ways but you dont know him and he is a good precussion shooter. also ive done it on all 15 guns ive built. i havent built 100/s of guns but 15 that are still talked about all over the internet. they all have vent holes except maybe 1 or 2 of them. they look good and they reall shoot to point of aim. never have them shoot any different after i drill the vent hole except they have a cleaner breech area between shots. as to the friend that shoots triple sever instead of real black. triple seven is a very accurate powder but a rotten powder to get that crud ring out of the breech. real black is very very accurate and easy to clean between shots. i sometimes shoot tripple seven in my 38 special ssa colts, its ok for that but i would never use it in a muzzleloader. i always think of the mountain man who was eating wild plums and the black foot pulled him out of the plum thicket in montana and did horrible things to him to make him die slow. his rifle would not ignite. if he had a vent hole in the back of the combustion chamber their would have been a dead black foot and he would have chased the other two off. remember this is not 1970/s science which a lot of posters try to make it, it is 1840/s on a much better gun that any hawken rifle ever was. i will never ever again build a precussion with out a vent hole, they are their for a reason and you can give a 1000 excuses why they shouldnt be but the when i build a gun i cover all bases and never leave a reason for my guns to fail. i dont build guns for money or for a business, i build them for fun and personal pride. the 15 i have built, no complaits.

 

[OLD CROW]

Yup!

and YAP!!!!!! again. I think the O.P slipped across the line from MANITOBA!
Most kanadians ,except those in Ontario don't care about grammer or how its done rote,heck most in B.C speak da king's English as a second language anyhow!!! I'm from quebec...oops,English is MY second language too. again,its the content of the posts / threads and not the grammer......
have a great day everyone....and keep your nipples clean .