What about Musket Caps?

[friezer]

I had my first misfire today. After three caps and a long minute wait to be sure the gun wasn't in a delay fire situation I gave up and very gingerly worked at pulling the ball and powder load. Not a fun experience by any stretch. I know it's inevitable that I'll have more in the future, but being alone on the range without anyone to guide me through my first misfire was a little tense.

I'm currently using the stock no. ll nipple that came on the rifle, but I'm thinking I just might upgrade to a musket nipple and see if that takes care of the issue before it becomes a problem. What do you guys think? What's the consensus here on musket caps versus no. 11's?

Thanks,

Bruce

 

[cayugad]

Some I am sure will disagree but I personally feel that a well maintained sidelock using a #11 cap as its ignition is as dependable as a musket cap. If the rifle fails to fire there has to be a reason other then the need for more fire being pushed down through the fire channel.

I first look at the kind of powder being used. If the powder is acceptable then I look at how the rifle is maintained and how it is set up before loading. Many people who have misfires I find do not pick their nipple or prior to loading clear the fire channel.

Before you load your rifle, swab the bore of the rifle out well. Make sure there is no lubes, oils, or crud that might have found its way into the barrel. Once your sure the barrel is clean and dry, pop a couple #11 caps through the nipple. You can check to make sure your getting a good fire channel by putting a patch on the end of your jag and pushing that to the breech before popping some of the caps. The patch will show burn marks when you remove it.

Next time something like what you described happens, pull the nipple with a nipple wrench. Run your nipple pick down through the bolster. Now dribble a couple grains of powder into the nipple hole. Replace the nipple and try another cap. I think you will not have to pull the ball that way...

Good luck with your rifle.

 

What brand of caps were you using ? I had problems with some CCI caps a while back .

 

[Zonie]

cayugad is right. Even if you dry balled (forgot the powder) the gun, removing the nipple and dribbling powder down into the hole where the nipple goes, and tapping on the gun to work the new powder down into the flash channel will solve your problem.
Don't put so much powder in that you can't reinstall the nipple, but with this in mind, get as much in as you can.
After reinstalling the nipple, cap it, point it down range and fire it.
If you dry balled it it will go "THump" and you'll see the ball skipping downrange. If you don't see the ball going downrange, along with a little smoke from the muzzle, run the ramrod down to see if it goes all the way to the breech plug. If it stops short on the ball, re-ram the ball back down and try again.
If you did load it with powder, it has been my experiance, it will fire every time.

 

I feel that musket caps are overkill for sporting muzzleloaders and a waste of time converting plus a good chance to screw up some drum threads or something (at least with my luck). Maintaining a clear flash channel and using fresh #11 caps are the way to go in my opinion.

 

[riarcher]

I've had probs like you before.
Found that the Remington #11's were junk, standard CCI's just a bit better.
Finally settled on ONLY CCI's #11 MAGNUM caps and enlarged the hole in the nipple just a tad. Haven't had a missfire in years after adhearing to this process.
Anouther thing, "ARE" the caps igniting? Sometimes they don't seat all the way onto the nipple. Take and ease the hammer down and push it forward to fully seat the cap before firing.
The above is assuming your bore / chamber/ drum & nipple is dry and clear.

 

[sidelock]

Right on Cayugad--- my exp. exactly after shooting BP for 30 years without a misfire. (now I didn't say no dry loads----just a few of these). Your advice is right on.IMHO.I have never in my life pulled a RB load. :RO: :m2c: :results:

 

[friezer]

Thanks, Cayugad. I wish I had been thinking when it happened. The only thing on my mind was, "Is this going to go off or not?"

As for powder, right now I'm using the Pyrodex RS. I'm not opposed to using something else if there's something better I should be looking at.

I have not in the past consistently picked the nipple channel before loading. I'll add this to my routine and see if it'll get things going again. Before I start shooting, I generally do put a few swabs through the barrel and fire a few caps to be sure everything's good to go. During a regular round of shooting I tend to run a patch through after every third shot. In the future I'll swab after every shot.

Thanks for the advice...

Bruce

 

[friezer]

I'm using CCI caps.

 

[friezer]

I haven't dry balled... yet. But I'll keep that in mind for when I do, Zonie. I'm sure it's inevitable.

Thanks,

Bruce

 

[friezer]

I spoke to my Dad and he recommended drilling the nipples out a bit too. So I guess I'll do that. As I said before, I've been using the standard CCI No. 11's, but I'll see if my local shop has the Magnums.

The caps were in fact firing and I'm sure they were seated well, as after I place it on the nipple I always check that it's set with my thumb.

Thanks for your thoughts, riarcher.

Bruce

 

[friezer]

Thanks, Jaegermesiter. I'll add your comments to Cayugad's and get consistent with picking the nipple channel before loading.

Bruce

 

[riarcher]

You probably do this anyways, but before your first load of the day, point your muzzle at a blade of grass (2-3" from) and fire off a cap or two. The grass should move noticably, if not,,,,, well something is clogged / blocked / restricted. :thumbsup:

 

[friezer]

Yep, that was the first thing my Dad taught me to do. Three caps through to make sure the barrel's clear and dry.

 

[big bore 75]

way back when the pyrodex powder come out I had all sorts of problems with it and discontinued useing the stuff untill last year when evrything else failed to group with greenriver fast twist lrhunter I could not get it to group no matter what I tried, but knowing musket caps work well out of my costum 1861 fayetteville put it one on my barrel and ptarted back with pyro r ,rs, and select even iwth this rs worked the best and a cci musket cap would throw my hate too admit this but .54 245 grain power belt and 90 grains of rs will shoot out to 100 yards and 2" off hand and less off the bench, but after every round you still have too run a pick into the nipple or what works for me pipe cleaners, it might just be me but this method works for this thing, don't like pyrodex personally love black better but well sometimes you just do what you got to do, all the other posters are right just make sure your barrel is dry and bust as manny caps as nessary, untill the flash hole channel is clear and eather moves a blade of grass or dust or a leaf thats on the ground and you should also be ok another hint that works real well instead of wippping your barrelevery time is use a bore brush of the proper bore diamiter and make sure muzzle is pointed down when you run the brush in the bore and when you pull the brush and rod out other wise all kinds of crude will land in the drum and miss fires will happen again, been useing this method while in the n-ssa and works well others in the n-ssa will say the same thing have fun and burn that powder. :results:
big bore 75

 

[Tahquamenon]

I've never needed musket caps.

I've been shooting No11 RWS Dynamit Nobel #1075 caps for over 30 years with never a fault with the caps. They are excellent.

In addition.

When swabbing, don't use a real wet patch. Only use a damp/moist patch. Sometimes if your swab patch is too wet that moisture can collect in the flash channel and foul your shot.

:imo:

 

[Rebel]

Pyrodex is harder to ignite than real black powder, so the Magnum caps should help. I wouldn't go drilling the nipple hole out. If you get it top big you will get a lot of blowback, and besides, it is REAL easy to break a bit off in a hardened nipple. You would be better off buying a Hot Shot nipple and using magnum caps. Also, make sure you put the hammer on half cock and make sure the spent cap is off the nipple before reloading. If you don't, there is no way for the air to escape and this can cause problems with your powder getting down under the nipple where it needs to be. Also, if you are using Pyrodex, there is no need to swab the bore between shots, as it doesn't foul the bore like black powder does. Good luck.

 

[friezer]

Tahq, the more I think about it, the more I think this is what happened. Thanks for the head's up.

 

[friezer]

Rebel,

My shooting routine already includes half-cocking the hammer and clearing the spent cap after a shot before beginning another load.

I'll look at getting a hot shot nipple and see what that does for me in addition to clearing the nipple with a pick before each load.

I really appreciate all the comments from all of you guys. This is such a great forum!

Bruce

 

[cayugad]

Thanks, Cayugad. I wish I had been thinking when it happened. The only thing on my mind was, "Is this going to go off or not?"

As for powder, right now I'm using the Pyrodex RS. I'm not opposed to using something else if there's something better I should be looking at.

I have not in the past consistently picked the nipple channel before loading. I'll add this to my routine and see if it'll get things going again. Before I start shooting, I generally do put a few swabs through the barrel and fire a few caps to be sure everything's good to go. During a regular round of shooting I tend to run a patch through after every third shot. In the future I'll swab after every shot.

Thanks for the advice...

Bruce

When you load the next time, make sure the old spent cap is off the nipple and the hammer is on half cock. You can sometimes hear the air being pushed through the nipple. It is a good way to be sure that it is clear, but a quick pick never hurt anything.

When you swab be sure to not leave moisture in the barrel. For that reason alone, I swab with 91% isopropyl alcohol in my sidelocks. I used to use some of the other cleaners out there, and spit, and all sorts of stuff, but when I swabbed with a wet alcohol patch then a couple dry ones the hangfires and misfires disappeared. Also I only swab a sidelock when I can not longer reach my loading mark (masking tape wrapped around the ramrod).

Pyrodex RS is a good powder. I've shot a lot of it off in my life although I like black powder better. Goex FFFg for most of my rifles seems to be the best ticket. A friend was over with their new Tradition's Springfield rifle and it was not behaving at all. Misfires and hangfires... terrible really. After I put a hot shot nipple on their rifle and that did not cure the problem, I finally asked how old their powder was. It was 8 years old and not really stored properly. I loaded his next round with 80 grains of Goex 3f and the ignition then was like a center fire....

A hot shot stainless steel nipple is a good investment if you do not already have one. All my sidelocks run a stainless steel hot shot nipple. Why..? I think they work better then some of the standard factory nipples...

Good luck with your rifle..