My fowler doesn't fire everytime?

[Tony Logan]

The gun is new, it has a large siler lock, you can put a 1/16 drill bit in the touch hold and wiggle it around,It has a white lightning liner.
The touch hole is level with the top of the pan bottom. I get good sparks and burn pan powder everytime. I fill the pan 1/2 to 2/3 full of 4f in pan and 80 grains of 2f goex in the main load.

the first time I shot it It didnt go off 3-4 times in maybe 8 shots. I figured the barrel had not really been cleaned. I cleaned it good and shot it another day. It didnt fire twice in 12 shots, i started wiping between shots and it seemed more reliable.

i took it turkey hunting and lo and behold it went off when it needed to. i will post pics and story later, but the scary thing is I reloaded in the woods and when I got home I went to shoot the gun again for some extra patterning info. It did not fire 3-4 times and when it did fire it was a slight hang fire. I felt so lucky it went off when it needed to but I am concerned about its reliability.
What are some things that I need to look for or do to troubleshoot this concern???

 

[Capt. Jas.]

The touch hole is level with the top of the pan bottom.

Explain the above part. Will an imaginary line drawn across the top of the pan nearest the barrel cut thru the middle of the touch hole?

 

[jethro224]

Just send the gun to me and I'll figger it out for you. Of course this may take some time... Probably until I get my own fowler built... :wink:


Sounds to me like you may be having a touch of moisture in the touch hole or breech area. It doesn't take much. I know one guy who insists on cleaning his pan, every time he fires, using some kind of spray cleaner. Then he loads up and missfires probably half of the time.

If you wipe between shots and the patch is too wet it can leave moisture down in the breech. If your gun has a "patent" breech the problem can be aggravated due to the fact that the drying patch doesn't go all the way to the bottom.
If you over-do it on the pan wiping, like the guy I know, you may get moisture in thru the touch hole.

Have you tried picking the touch hole after you load?
When hunting, you can even shove a few grains of prime in thru the touch hole with your pick.

Good luck figuring the gun out.

 

[Tony Logan]

actually a tooth pick in the touch hole sits slightly above the top of the pan. does this mean the touch hole is too high?

I just wipe the reside out of the pan after firing or brush it out. I do always pick the hole. I pick the hole after priming sometimes before. I try not to let the powder get up next to the touch hole.

 

[Stophel]

It could actually be too high.

And don't be afraid to fill that pan full, and cover the touch hole. :wink:

 

[ericb]

I had similar problem with Pedersoli Charleville. Touch Hole was too low, plus breech plug was interfering and partially blocking. Relocated touchhole to top of pan, installed White Lightning Liner, and relieved breechplug enough so that it didn't interfere. Check with rod to see if face of breechplug is interfering with the touch hole. If it's really interfering, you should be able to feel it with a vent pick....

Eric

 

[hanshi]

The prime SHOULD be up against the touch hole. This alone might help reliability a bit.

 

[Stubert]

If you are getting just the pan going off, I would look for moisture, or a fouling problem. Is it possible that the liner is sticking to far into the powder chamber, blocking powder? You should be able to see powder in the touch hole. If the priming charge goes off and you can see powder at the touch hole, that might be a cleaning, or moisture issue.

 

[Tony Logan]

I will try that the next time for sure, i also need to get check on the fouling possibility. I have a 45 caliber rifle with a Durs Egg lock and the only time it doesnt go off is when my flint needs attention. This Large Siler makes a ton of sparks and fires the pan everytime. I dont know about moisture because I had already shot the gun yesterday, it was the 2nd shot that would not go off. I always wipe out with at least 4 patches before it gets the first load. well I actually primed it and shot it before loading it yesterday, because I was so paranoid about it not going off on a turkey.

 

[Tony Logan]

I measured the back of the bore with my rr and cleaning jag. There was less than 1/8 inch from the back of barrel to touch hole. I hate to say it, maybe I did not use enough prime or maybe I had not scraped the back of the bore good enough when cleaning it the day before. It is clean now, I scraped it and got a lot of powder out of it yesterday after the misfires

 

Did you get a lot of powder out on cleaning or was it fouling? I'm guessing you meant fouling. The fact that the priming always goes off but the main charge doesn't is the first clue. The problem isn't the lock. Something is impeding the flame from getting to the main charge. The usual causes are a touch hole that is located too far above the pan, a liner that sticks too far into the bore, a breech plug that extends too far forward and partially blocks the flash hole, fouling blocking the flash hole from the inside, or moisture or oil killing the charge. You will just have to eliminate each possibility until you find the cause.

Either that or you can send me the gun and I'll track the problem down...eventually. :v

John

 

[jethro224]

T.O., I saw your turkey hunting post over on the hunting forum. Nice bird. :thumbsup:

Nice gun too.

...but I think I know what the problem is now... somebody put the lock on the wrong side of the gun!
:haha:

 

[sc45-70]

The vent hole may be too small.
I use White Lightning vents all the time but drill them out with a # 51 drill bit.

 

[Tony Logan]

New post: my fowler does fire every time now.

I gave the bore a thorough scrubbing, took it hunting didn,t fire a shot, pulled the charge with my ball puller, scrubbed it good like I had been shooting it all day.
Took it hunting today primed it up reall good, didnt fire a shot, got home, primed it up real good, picked the touch hole and shot it 5 times, it went off like old dynamite everytime. I think it has been suffering from poor hygiene, I totally trust it now. I shot some good patterns today by using only 2 over shot cards and no fiber wad, It is all still a mystery to me.

 

[torn moc]

That is how we learn...Bit by Bit....and its all
enjoyable! :thumbsup: by the way: Thats a Beautiful gun !

 

[Britsmoothy]

:hatsoff:

B.

 

[jethro224]

New post: my fowler does fire every time now.

:thumbsup: :hatsoff: