New to muzzleloading

[volpecg]

I am new to muzzleloading and have just finished a TC Renegade kit my friend gave me 15 years ago.

The only issue is the hammer does not line up with the cap nipple and the instructions that came with the gun are really lame. I do not know what is the best way to adjust it.

My second question is that I am a memeber of a private gun club which has a 2 station 100yd underground shooting station but after reading how to load and shoot a muzzleloader am a little unsure about shooting it. Any advice this forum can offer would be great.
Thanks,

 

[mykeal]

Two ways to fix the hammer/nipple mismatch:

1) remove the hammer from the lock, heat it with a propane torch to almost red hot and then bend it with a pair of channel locks.

2) remove the lock and 'beef up' the wood in the inlet under the front and top of the lock using a plastic wood filler compound.

I'm not sure what you are concerned about regarding shooting your gun. If you are concerned about smoke in the underground range - surely they have fans to keep the air fresh and circulating. They'd need those even for smokeless powder guns; how did they get insurance without them?

 

[volpecg]

Hi Mykeal,
Sorry for not being more specific. Thanks for the tip for aligning the nipple. As for shooting, I am just concerned about a misfire and the ball does not not fire and I am stuck with no way to get the ball and powder out of the rifle.

 

[bioprof]

Spiffy,

It is not unusual to have to bend the hammer to get proper alignment when building a new rifle. It looks like you just have to bend it a bit to the side. You can probably bend it cold, but heating it won't hurt anything and might be safer.

My first rifle build was a percussion rifle and if I recall correctly, I just cold bent the hammer. You might want to give T/C a call and ask them if it is alright to bend it cold. If it has just been cased hardened, it shouldn't be brittle.

It should be an easy fix. Make sure to take the lock out of the rifle and remove the hammer from the lock before trying to bend it.