Muzzleloader wont fire.

[rt2bowhunter]

I have been using Muzzleloaders for years. But i'm up against it lol. I have cleaned and dried the barrel several times. I used a pic to clear the flash hole even ran a .243 brass brush and could fill the brush and pic rubbing. I can see and blow through the nipple. I can blow through the barrel. When i snap a cap it blows out the barrel ( no sparks just air). This morning i loaded about 20 grs and a over shot card. Fired 2 caps and nothing the caps are snapping and are loud.

I thought ok my old (years) powder has got damp. So i bought a new can of RS i had (old) 777. Didn't help at all.

Any ideas?

 

[Stykbow]

Make/model and caliber of the rifle in question?

 

[Old Hawkeye]

Use real Black Powder!

 

[rt2bowhunter]

T/C 54 cal

I have no idea where i could find any locally.

 

[Stykbow]

Unless it’s bad I wouldn’t think the powder is your issue. I shoot Pyrodex RS in my 50 cal and have no ignition problems. If the breach is clean and dry I’d up the powder charge to see if that made a difference. Sounds silly, but what else is there besides switching caps which you could try first.

 

[CapPopper]

Is the powder actually making it to the drum? Is the spark making it through the flash channel? Just cause you could get contact with the brush doesn't mean there isn't something in the way..... I would pour powder turn the gun drum down and give it a couple bumps with my palm and then ram the ball, And would consider pulling the nipple off then and seeing if there is powder in the drum. Then once you are assured you are actually getting powder in the flash channel try it. There's nearly no way it could not ignite that way provided the nipple is clear.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Did you try some powder under the nipple seat? You might have a fuse effect but the burning powder under the nipple should send a ball of fire to the main charge.

You could try some magnum caps to get more heat from the percussion cap.

Has this rifle been firing reliably in the past?

Good suggestions from @CapPopper.

 

[Flintlock]

Seems this FAKE black powder has a very short shelf life after the can has been opened. I guess you should change nipples and toss that fake powder away and buy a new can or better yet start searching for several cans of real black powder.

 

[Stykbow]

@rt2bowhunter take @CapPopper advice. I always give mine a slap or two to knock a little powder into the drum.

 

[TreeMan]

Your small 20grains powder might be in a small cavity behind the drum sitting at the breech. You then put a card over top of it. The flame from the cap may not be able to reach the powder. Pull the card out and put in some more powder.

 

[PathfinderNC]

Your small 20grains powder might be in a small cavity behind the drum sitting at the breech. You then put a card over top of it. The flame from the cap may not be able to reach the powder. Pull the card out and put in some more powder.

Yup. Charge the gun but use no over-powder wad. Keeping the muzzle pointed up, cap and snap. If it fires, good- then repeat using wadding over the powder charge. If it won’t fire now, your powder charge is behind/ below the vent hole and the spark isn’t touching powder. If that’s the case you can up the load or modify the breech.

 

[William Lincoln]

Scrub out the bore again. Triple 7 cakes up badly. Dry with hair dryer or time
completely. Load with real black powder--it is available by online ordering.
All other advice here is good. That gun will fire.

 

[dave951]

Yup. Charge the gun but use no over-powder wad. Keeping the muzzle pointed up, cap and snap. If it fires, good- then repeat using wadding over the powder charge. If it won’t fire now, your powder charge is behind/ below the vent hole and the spark isn’t touching powder. If that’s the case you can up the load or modify the breech.

What Pathfinder said...

 

[rt2bowhunter]

Ok first it failed to fire with 60 grs 3 times. Thats pulling the shot and dumping the powder cleaning the gun and repeating. Then it failed with 60 grs of RS. Fast forward to shooting 20 grs with a patch.
I tried the RS in my GM i had a dud. Loaded it with 20gs of 777 and a wonderwad and it shot. Blew the wad out and i had a smoke cloud.
Tried the 777 in the 54 cal again and a dud. pulled the wonderwad and it just blew the powder out in the snow.

And i tried a few grs of powder under the nipple still nothing.

Forgot to post above LOL.

Cleaned it real good then. I blew out the everything's with my air compressor. Then i added powder under the nipple thats clear. Then i added 40 grs of 777 no wad held the muzzle up. Cap snapped and it blew the powder in the air unburned.

Took the same powder and cap same load in my 50 cal GM and Boom Smoke.

So its not the powder or caps. I don't disagree Black Powder is better. I'm not saying that. I think the nipple is blocked not letting the powder in the drum. I took the nipple off and loaded it with powder and couldn't get and powder in the drum. No matter how i turned it or beat on it. So something has it blocked at least to the point powder and fire is blocked. The load isn't getting any fire.

 

[cynthialee]

when you load have the lock at half cock so the powder can be blown down into the flash channel when you seat the card. Most my guns form a decent seal when the hammer is down. Also give the rifle a few taps on the stock on the other side of the lock, this helps settle powder into the nooks and cranny's better.

a pinch of 4f in the nipple will often end this issue also, burn out your nipple faster, but they are cheap enough

if those 3 ideas don't work then you got a devil pissing down your barrel or some other hex going on

 

[Stykbow]

This issue you’re having is eating me up! Looking across the net I found a pic of a Renegade breach cut in half. If your rifle has this breach type there has to be a blockage of some sort that isn’t allowing the powder to get close enough to the cap to be ignited.
EDIT: For some reason I had Renegade on the brain, but I believe the Hawken should have the same breech.? If not someone here will correct me.

 

[rt2bowhunter]

We got him treed now boys LOL. I had all but gave up then i thought i'm going to give it a good soaking. So i set the barrel on a tilt breach lower. And sprayed a good bit of PB Blaster in it. After it soaked for about a hour. I cut a piece of weed eater string and started to digging around. Then i pulled the old devil out. There was a piece of wire from a bronze brush came out with the weed eater string. And i guess was gumming up the works. Plus there might have been some crud the PB Blaster eat up.

I wiped it dry and fired a cap bingo it blew a hole in the snow. Like the 50 cal did. I shot another and it did the same. I then wiped the bore out again with a clean patch. And loaded 40 grs of 777 and a wonder wad on top. I got a little hang fire but it fired.

Thanks a bunch guys for all the help. We got Fire in the pipe .

 

[deerstalkert]

I shoot with my next door neighbor.
whenever we shoot (Both usually both shooting TC's because that's all he has") he uses 777.
he will have FTF after FTF. every time he removes his nipple and i give him some fffg to trickle into the Snail. never fails to fire.
usually while he is futzing with his gun i will have fired 3-4 shots with my BP.
777 and the other subs will work, sometimes, but BP seems to always come to the rescue when it doesn't. YMMV

 

[Sun City]

Crap powder!

 

[deerstalkert]

Crap powder!

Dang Brother, what do you really mean?!