Question for muzzleloader guys

[jenningsshuter]

My brother had two does within 10 yds of his blind, fired his CVA staghorn, the cap popped, but gun did not fire. Capped it again, squeezed trigger, same result. Any idea on what's up? Only details I know are that the gun shoots #11 percussion caps and he's using 100 gr of white hots. Any help would be appreciated.

[Huntindad]

sounds like his powder got moist.

[Pat Miller]

the powder or powder pellets weren't packed tight enough for the primer to fire them.

[Smokeater]

clogged nipple? doesnt take much to stop it up

[OBU13DAD]

Pull the nipple clean it put it back on add a few grains of powder in the nipple and try again if it still won't fire pull the bullet. Be safe!!

[whitetailfanatic]

all of the above

[billfromtx]

clogged nipple? doesnt take much to stop it up

This

[DFWPI]

Re: Question for muzzleloader guys

How old are the caps? A friend of mine had same problem years ago. Found out he always left gun loaded and was using caps from "revolutionary war."

[jenningsshuter]

Thanks for the help guys. Clogged nipple was what I thought it might be. I shoot a CVA Wolf with 209's, but I'm not familiar with the staghorn.

[ted_kennedys_liver]

Re: Question for muzzleloader guys

make sure beech plug is clear, bad primers, primers wrong kind and not hot enough to ignore powder, bad powder. see what white hot requires for primer.

[jenningsshuter]

He pulled the bullet and powder load out, then pulled the breech plag and nipple and that where the problem was. Nipple was clogged. Gun fired perfectly after cleaning.

[sharkhunter]

Pull the nipple and put a few grains of powder behind it and replace and shoot.

[Winman]

When I first started using a muzzel loader I had this happen....cost me the largest buck I've ever seen while hunting with it....so from then on, before I put the cap on the nipple ,I clean/pick the nipple,then fill it with fine grains of powder,then carefully press the cap over it....have never had a missfire again and that was about 1975.....

[175gr7.62]

Always pop a few caps through an empty rifle prior to loading. Point it at the ground when you do this and you can quickly see if you have a problem. Cap should blow dust/leaves around. If you leave it loaded over a weekend hunt don't take it indoors. Taking an ice cold rifle into a warm room is one of the biggest culprits. The cold barrel gets condensation on/in it and powder sucks it right up.

I will also load my rifle, cap it and then paint over the cap with clear nail polish. Keep it on half-cock is the same as keeping the safety on.

[Txbhunter1]

When putting the breach plug back into any of the sidelocks, you need to make sure the flash channel is lined up from the bolster screw to the barrel opening. Otherwise all the cleaning in the world will not help if the fire can't get to the powder. I always shoot a cap after cleaning to make sure I get a good burn to my powder. Run a dry patch down the barrel with your ramrod. cap it and pull the trigger. Look at the rod and see if you get a good round burn in the patch. If so, load er up.