New to Muzzleloading

[rjakin]

Hello,

I am new to the muzzleloader world. Pick up a new GPR and love it but have a few questions that I cannot seem to find a answer to.

What is your normal routine when shooting as far as how many shots you take before you do anything to your rifle. Can a person figure on taking ten shots before cleaning or do you run a swab down after only a few shots. Also what about the nipple. Do you try to clean it out while shooting?

Just trying to avoid any frustration to make this enjoyable.

Thanks,

Rob

 

[mykeal]

Unfortunately there is no 'normal' routine - just a lot of practitioners who vary all over the map as to how they perform the task you are asking about. What that means is that there is no 'right' or 'wrong' way, and you should feel free to develop whatever you feel comfortable with and works for you.

Having said that, I will say that my 'normal' routine is to clean after each shot, first with a damp -not wet - patch (water or bp solvent), then with a dry patch. The damp patch is pushed down to about an inch short of the breech; the dry patch is pushed all the way down. The intentional 'short stroke' with the damp patch is to prevent depositing the fouling that patch picks up in the breech area and possibly plugging the flash channel.

I do not pick the nozzle unless there's an FTF in which the cap fires but the main charge does not - a very rare event.

 

[David W.]

Hello, and glad to hear you've joined our ranks! How many shots one can fire between cleaning depends the type of lube you will use.

Wet patches typically keep the bore cleaner longer. Some here seem to like moose milk. I have not tried it yet, but it is worth investigating. Another very good one is Ballistol. I have tried this with very good results. The patch should be damp, but NOT dripping wet. Next are greases such as Old Zip patch grease. Old Zip is beeswax and tallow mixed and really good for cold weather. I prepare my patches by heating Old Zip in a pot and dipping them. I use old 35mm film canisters to keep them in. If you don't have any of these, you may try an Altoids can. Some like Bore Butter, I tried it once, don't like it and never will.

 

[rjakin]

Is it fairly common to have misfires? This seems to be my problem right now. The nipple that came with the GPR does not allow the cap to seat down all the way so I got a lot of misfires. Just about every other one. So I got a new spitfire nipple and it works a lot better. I am using the CCI # 11 caps. I was out shooting today and shot about 10 shots with it finally misfired. Had to take it back to the shop and clean out the nipple to get it to fire.

Thanks for all your replies!


Rob

 

[nkbj]

Welcome rjakin.
Some pieces prefer damp patch / dry patch each shot. Some work just fine letting a wet patch on the ball take care of the cleaning. Some prefer powder then a wad or folded up patch followed by damp patch. And, different methods have results to suit different situations. That part of the sport of working out what it takes for your piece to be accurate and reliable is a huge reward.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

What are you using for powder?

Every gun is different, but mine is more accurate if I swab every shot. Even though I can take 20 shots without swabbing.

I blow down the barrel after every shot, and that shows me if the nipple is clear by the smoke coming out of it. If I feel a restriction, or don't see the smoke, I pick the nipple clean.

 

[rjakin]

Capper,

I am using the Pyrodex ff select 90 grains and the patches are prelubed.


I see I got A LOT TO LEARN!


Rob

 

[WALT53]

the people hear are very knowledgeable. you well learn alot if you take the time to read all the posts on the site. so welcome and enjoy. :thumbsup:

walt.

 

[Zonie]

Welcome to the forum.

If your using Pyrodex you can probably shoot all day without wiping the bore. At least I can.

Pyrodex RS also explains your mis-fires.

Pyrodex takes a lot more heat to get it to fire than real black powder. It isn't any worse than the other synthetic black powders but it can still be a problem.

There are a few things you can do to improve the mis-fire problem and maybe your doing these. If you are not, give them a try.

Switch to Pyrodex P and reduce your powder charge about 10 percent to accommodate the finer P's faster burn speed and higher pressures.

Always make sure the spent cap has been removed from the nipple and the hammer is at the "half cock" position before loading.

Before ramming the ball/bullet give the side of the stock next to the breech a slap or two.

All three of these things will help to get the loose powder down thru the small hole that connects the breech of the bore with the nipple.

Properly done, when you ram the ball or bullet the compressed air under it will blow back thru the nipple and carry some of the loose powder with it.

If you get another mis-fire that won't fire after popping a few caps let the rifle rest for 20-30 seconds. Then remove the nipple.
Pour a small amount of fresh powder into the hole where the nipple was and try to work some of it down into the connecting hole. Then replace the nipple, cap it and fire the gun.

This procedure is also a good one for those times you forget to pour in the powder charge before ramming the ball/bullet (known as "dry balling").
By working 5 grains or so of powder down into the connecting hole (flame channel) firing the gun will blow the ball/bullet out of the bore.

Always point the gun in a safe direction when doing this because even 5 grains of powder can create quite a bit of velocity when it fires.

You wouldn't be alone when doing this to find out that you DID load the powder and when the gun fires it will be a full power load that's going off. :rotf:

 

[CrackStock]

RJ

A couple of comments:

Examine the nipple and then the caps. Some nipples are a bit cone shaped in that they are slender at the top and fatter at the bottom. Pressing a straight wall cap on this shape is a problem. The first hit or 2 gets the cap fitted and later the rifle fires. This gave me trouble when I started. You can find a straight wall put the nipple in a drill and spin it next the a file to take a bit of the width off of the lower of the nipple.

Another concern is getting the breach cleaned out before beginning shooting as mentioned above.

As to cleaning, many target shooters clean after every shot to keep the bore in a consistent condition. Others just fire and seem to not notice much trouble. This depends upon how well you powder is burned and also upon your lube not leaving residue in the bore. It is the source of endless discussion.

The big question involves how you want to shoot. Are you a hunter, a plinker or serious target shooter type of MLer?

Whichever, we welcome you to the group!

 

[bigbuckdn]

after all of these things are tried if you still have a problem as i did with a cva i used to have i switched to a musket nipple and musket caps.

 

[ebiggs1]

Welcome to the forum, this is the place!
Is this a brand new Lyman rifle? If it is did you THOURHLY clean it? I mean scrub it with brake cleaner? If not do that right now before you shoot anymore.
Second, keep it simple at first until you learn. Just get some across the counter store bought per-lubed patches, some Bore Butter, Hornady Rbs and some caps. You already replaced the awful Lyman nipple, so that is good. I don't recommend swabbing the barrel between shots because it makes more problems than it helps. You can get a nipple prick but I doubt you need it either.
Load, cap, shoot, repeat!

 

[TFoley]

after all of these things are tried if you still have a problem as i did with a cva i used to have i switched to a musket nipple and musket caps.

There isn't a single BP shooter in my club who has NOT done this. Hoping that a piddling #10/11 cap can consistently and reliably fire off a 100gr or so charge every time seems to be too much to ask in damp and dank ol' UK.

tac
Supporter of the Cape Meares Lighthouse Restoration Fund

 

[rjakin]

Gentlemen,

Thank you very much for all you replies!. Yes it is a brand new GPR and I am enjoying this very much. I knew about the nipple problem before I first shot it. When I first put one on I knew it was going to be a problem. The first strike of the hammer would seat the nipple and then the second one would go off. Changed it out to a spitfire and it worked great but then I started getting a few misfires.

I am thinking now maybe I am not getting the breach dried out well enough. I clean and clean and then get paranoid about oiling and making sure I have no rust problems. Actually I might wear it out from cleaning to much.

I would like to use this for plinking and hunting. Use to bow hunt all the time and always wanted to try muzzleloader. Saved up my Cabelas points and got my gun and some extras to get me started. Had know idea what kind of trouble I was getting myself into!


Rob

 

[Stubert]

Its an addiction, not truoble. make sure to clean the breech also. You will get a lot less misfires using real black powder.

 

[hanshi]

My practice is to keep shooting as long as loading is easy. I use Hoppes #9 BP lube and rarely have to wipe the bore and accuracy gets better after a few shots, anyway.

 

[David W.]

Is it fairly common to have misfires? This seems to be my problem right now. The nipple that came with the GPR does not allow the cap to seat down all the way so I got a lot of misfires. Just about every other one. So I got a new spitfire nipple and it works a lot better. I am using the CCI # 11 caps. I was out shooting today and shot about 10 shots with it finally misfired. Had to take it back to the shop and clean out the nipple to get it to fire.

Thanks for all your replies!


Rob

The CCI #11 should work. The best cap I have ever used is RWS 1075. I have found them to be the most reliable and the hottest, but the CCI is a good cap. One of the things I was going to suggest is the Hot Shot nipple. I have never used the Spitfire, although, it may be a very good nipple.

Miss fires happen all too often when petrolium oil is used to clean the bore. The oil left in the barrel will contaminate powder. Before you fire your first shot of the day, I would suggest getting some denatured alcohol or 91% isopropyl and run wet patch down and follow up with a dry patch.

You may have oil all the way into the nipple area and need to flush that out with alcohol too. Use a small funnel that will fit in the bore and pour about a tablespoon full down the bore and then run a patch down. That should help push out anything that is in the breech area.

Finish by firing a dry cap or two. See if that helps, and if not, ask more questions.

 

[jsn]

I shoot until I get a misfire Hehe, but that hasnt happened but one time and that was because oil in powder is bad, but max ammount of shots fired at one trip was 22 soo it wasnt too bad

 

[ohio ramrod]

Welcome to th best forum on the web! :thumbsup:
After a good cleaning including the breech area I like to run a lightly oiled patch the full length of the bore, Then put a large DRY patch down into the breech area and heavily oil the bore. The dry patch prevents the oil from settling in the flash channel/vent hole area. Also storing the gun with muzzle below the breech helps prevent oil from settling in to the flash hole area.

 

[gearheart]

CCI makes a #11 magnum cap specifically for sub. powder. Try it it may solve the problem.