• Friends, our 2nd Amendment rights are always under attack and the NRA has been a constant for decades in helping fight that fight.

    We have partnered with the NRA to offer you a discount on membership and Muzzleloading Forum gets a small percentage too of each membership, so you are supporting both the NRA and us.

    Use this link to sign up please; https://membership.nra.org/recruiters/join/XR045103

Ignition WOES!!

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Hesp

40 Cal
Joined
Jan 3, 2022
Messages
121
Reaction score
83
Location
W. Montana
Lyman Great Plains 54cal percussion. Lee 300GR REAL. 120gr FF black powder substitute powder. CCI percussion cap. Haven't fired this rifle for about a year. Last time I fired it, never a problem. Now , a lot of miss fores. or delayed fire. Tried two different nipples, squeaky clean with carb cleaner. Also insude drum & hole into barrel. Clean!!! Thought powder was too old.. Opened a new , recently purchased bottle of Tripple 7 FF. No difference. Firing just the cap, seemed to be ample force out of the muzzle. What am I overlooking.. Never before had a problem like this. Perplexed..
 
I use pyrodex rs. It's what i found.. I havnt had a problem but hear real blackpodwer is better. At ignition..

I just found black powder here. Going to try it.

I use number 11 rws.. have cci 11 but havnt tried them yet.. have musket nipples also to try but can only find the cci reenactment caps that are no good.

I don't know 777.. heard it's better for .209.

I used it in my knight to sight in.. didn't know to Crack the breech. Man I cried a little trying and trying to remove the breech. I Crack the breech now every 3 shots lol.
 
He tried 2 nipples and carb cleaner. Nipple poker yea but you should see a little light it's clear.

I don't snap off caps on clean and dry nipples.. it's already clear don't dirty it. With firing just the cap there's no blow back I think that's when a little piece a junk gets stuck in there.

Powder? Caps?

Tapp tap the gun after dropping the powder.. make sure it travels to the nipple?
 
I have tapped on the side of the rifle till my hand is raw. I have shot a GP 54 for years with never a problem like this. Just gave it a very hot water /soapy bath. Bright & shinny every where. I have a nipple pick & have used it over & over. Nipples are clean & clear. I don't see how I can make it any cleaner. Will give it another go tomorrow.
 
My thought also. Possibly week caps? Have you fired a cap on an empty barrel, pointed towards a leaf or some other material to see if it moves and there are no obstructions? Meaning, is the spark able to make it to the charge? Don't know what else to offer as it almosts sounds like you've tried everything.
 

Are you using any of the recent batch of CCI caps? Haven't watched any yet to see what's up but have seen a couple new vids in my feed about bad ones.
CCI caps are perfect. Single greatest cap to ever come off an assembly line. Like an all you can eat meat pizza and beef jerky buffet rolled into one.

It's all the guns out there that aren't being maintained properly. People shooting and putting their guns away. Rusted bores. Plugged breeches.

I'm personally offended that people are bad mouthing CCI. And I wish they would stop.

Can we get that crying Leave Britney Alone video changed to Leave CCI Alone?
 
CCI caps are perfect. Single greatest cap to ever come off an assembly line. Like an all you can eat meat pizza and beef jerky buffet rolled into one.

It's all the guns out there that aren't being maintained properly. People shooting and putting their guns away. Rusted bores. Plugged breeches.

I'm personally offended that people are bad mouthing CCI. And I wish they would stop.

Can we get that crying Leave Britney Alone video changed to Leave CCI Alone?


I do get the sarcasm laced comment though.
 
Last edited:
For the 11 I don't know but hear the "magnum" grade would be better.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20231002_183122_Chrome.jpg
    Screenshot_20231002_183122_Chrome.jpg
    534.3 KB
  • Screenshot_20231002_183024_Chrome.jpg
    Screenshot_20231002_183024_Chrome.jpg
    427.8 KB
I have been using Remington brand caps up till now. They ran out , & am now using CCI. They look bright & shinny . May be a couple of weeks before I can get to town. Will look then for some fresh caps.
 
In 50 years of muzzleloading, I have only had two failures to fire a percussion sidelock when the cap ignited. Both those failures came on the same day, and I was using Triple 7. I've had slight delays as nipples have eroded due to usage, replacing the nipples fixed those problems. 120 grains of any powder, but especially 777, is a stout load. Doubly true when combined with a conical. My max is 90 grains in .54 with a PRB, and I seldom approach that level, as 60 grains will thump deer sized critters just fine. The gun will not fail at the level, but I hate recoil, and tests over the chrono show only vicious recoil with no real gain in fps when using high powder charges. DO NOT believe anybody published ballistics, especially T/C's, they are a marketing tool that are quite, hmmmm, optimistic (falsehoods).
 
Back
Top