Muzzle Loaders Association of Great Britain - hotter caps or wrong powder ?

Dec 12^th, 2011 at 2:26pm

Chippie Minton Offline
Member

Posts: 54

Hello all, just a quick question..... I have been using a 12g m/l percussion cap shot gun and running it on Swiss no4 {its what I had in the box } every 5/6 shots I get a misfire....not all-ways the same barrel. It has a patent breech and no11 caps are a snug fit. Is this powder to coarse for small caps ?can I get "hotter" caps? Is the powder to coarse to make it into the patent breech? or should I be making a point of taping the butt on the ground to help it in.....does any one use a loading tube?.
It has been sujested that I try a finer powder but not by an experienced muzzle loader and the faster burn rate and stub twist barrels worry me a bit.
Any ideas any one ?
Kind regards,
Minton..

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Reply #1 - Dec 12^th, 2011 at 3:51pm

Feltwad Offline
Senior Member

Posts: 630

Misfires are mostly due to loading .First of all you will need medium grain powder equal to FFg ,or FFFg.with a load of 2.3/4 drms to 1.1/8 oz of shot this is a volume load , keep of fine grain powder it will create too much pressure if load with the same.
Next check your gun if the hammer is loose on the tumbler square will cause a misfire, also check if the hammer is hitting the nipple square on.
If these are ok next snap a cap on each nipple leave the hammer down on the nipple and load your powder, follow with a 1/8 or 1/16 card wad this is followed by the shot and finished with a 1/16 card next pull the hammers to the half postion and cap the nipples when ready to shoot put the hammer on full position.
This is the method I have used for 62 years I very rare have a misfire and can fire up too 100 shots in a day .
Feltwad

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Reply #2 - Dec 13^th, 2011 at 9:12am

Chippie Minton Offline
Member

Posts: 54

Thanks for your reply Feltwad, good advise. Could you tell me what the equivalent grade is in Swiss powders would be or where I can look it up. All looks good with the hammers and nipples, the caps all-ways go off.
Regards,
Minton.

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Reply #3 - Dec 13^th, 2011 at 9:17am

Chippie Minton Offline
Member

Posts: 54

By the way,thats a lovely looking rack of guns.......one for every day of the week Wink

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Reply #4 - Dec 13^th, 2011 at 12:58pm

Feltwad Offline
Senior Member

Posts: 630

All looks good with the hammers and nipples, the caps all-ways go off.
Regards,
Minton. [/quote]
If this is what happens then you have a void betwwen the powder and the cap,to overcome this load with the hammers down because with the hammers in half postion when you ram home the over powder wad the compression forces powder through the nipple epsecially if they have enlarged vents try replacing the nipples it should help.
Has for the powder in a shotgun forget about Swiss it is too expensive go for ordinary medium which is less than half the price.
Feltwad

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Reply #5 - Dec 13^th, 2011 at 1:18pm

paulab Offline
Member

Posts: 91

Chippie....here in the U.S. one can buy CCI magnum caps or RWS 1075+ caps. Both are hotter caps. Feltwad gave good advice on loading. If his advice doesn't solve the problem you could always give the hot caps a try as a last resort. Paul

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Reply #6 - Dec 13^th, 2011 at 7:47pm

Feltwad Offline
Senior Member

Posts: 630

On the subject of percussion caps I came across this old advert from my records which might be of interest to some
Feltwad

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Reply #7 - Dec 14^th, 2011 at 10:37am

Chippie Minton Offline
Member

Posts: 54

Lovely thank-you gentlemen, much better informed now so off out to put it all to practise.
I did measure the holes in my nipples at a loose .5mm and wondered if the hole is large enough.
Right......in to the woods and squirrels a plenty.

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Reply #8 - Dec 14^th, 2011 at 1:11pm

paulab Offline
Member

Posts: 91

Chippie....just for your info, I like to keep my nipple holes at .025. [Ampco or platinum nipples] When the holes enlarge to .028 I'll swedge them back down to .025.
P.S. fresh squirrel cooked over an open campfire....yummy! Good luck. Paul

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Reply #9 - Dec 21^st, 2011 at 9:01am

Chippie Minton Offline
Member

Posts: 54

Morning all, that was interesting......in to the woods with a new loading procedure and a choice of swiss no4 [11/2fg] and swiss no2 [3fg]. A beautiful day with the dog on his worst behaviour and about an hour behind the local game shoot....why cant they pick up there spent cases ?
I decided to load No4 powder in the left barrel and No2 in the right and see the difference and what a difference there was.
The left was noticeably slower to ignite with the odd cap failing to set the charge off,,quite a large muzzle flash and the wads staying pretty much intact, the right was spot on with no perceptible delay, less muzzle flash and more distress to the wads....all together much better, thankyou.
Back home for a pigeon breast lunch....the dog ate the squirrels, I cant bring myself to eat squirrels...too ratty for me.
Thanks again Gentlemen, problem solved.

Kind regards,
Minton.

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