Your comment on a "black and slimy" flintlock pan seems curious unless you are shooting in 99% humidity. You may be using too much moisture on your between shot swabs? Check your pan after swabbing and before loading. Your pan should be dry and grey to black.
Problem with ignition on my new Hawken
- Thread starter ligonierbill
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You probably used too much spit. I always swab between shots with a spit dampened cotton flannel patch. Wetting the patch pushes gunk down the bore to the breech. Damp allows the patch to pull burnt powder back out.
Thats what I had to do when I dryballed my .36 last year. Works pretty well.
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A patches used for cleaning between shots should only be damp. IF it is wet you will have misfires.
The OP has a Hawken made with the cast patent breech as sold by track? Like this? https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/664/1/plug-jb-18-3
When I made a Hawken replica I got one of those. I refused to use it.
There was a 1/8" hole drilled at an angle to connect the plug face with the are under the nipple. The edge of the plug face was notched by the drilled hole larger than the bore, creating a fouling trap. The hole was extremely close to the junction of the plug threads and barrel face creating a weak place. The hole is very long and narrow, I expected to have ignition problems.
So, I machined a rough casting to satisfy my OCD sensibilities. I cross drilled a much larger hole. The hole was plugged on the side of the barrel opposite the lock. I then made the powder chamber as large as practical. When you load it the powder finds it's way under the nipple, as I believe it should.
I am sure others with more experience can comment on this. Maybe I did it wrong? But, not having powder near the nipple seems to me to be a bad idea. And, how are you going to clean that long tiny flash hole? When shooting , if there is a little oil in there it will foul up quickly.
The OP has a Hawken made with the cast patent breech as sold by track? Like this? https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/664/1/plug-jb-18-3
When I made a Hawken replica I got one of those. I refused to use it.
There was a 1/8" hole drilled at an angle to connect the plug face with the are under the nipple. The edge of the plug face was notched by the drilled hole larger than the bore, creating a fouling trap. The hole was extremely close to the junction of the plug threads and barrel face creating a weak place. The hole is very long and narrow, I expected to have ignition problems.
So, I machined a rough casting to satisfy my OCD sensibilities. I cross drilled a much larger hole. The hole was plugged on the side of the barrel opposite the lock. I then made the powder chamber as large as practical. When you load it the powder finds it's way under the nipple, as I believe it should.
I am sure others with more experience can comment on this. Maybe I did it wrong? But, not having powder near the nipple seems to me to be a bad idea. And, how are you going to clean that long tiny flash hole? When shooting , if there is a little oil in there it will foul up quickly.
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