Caplock nipple clogging too often

A

ArcherAndShooter

New member
I went to the range yesterday with my T/C Hawken caplock, and had to clean out the nipple about every third shot in order to avoid misfires. :mad:

Is this normal, or is it a problem with a cheap nipple, or bad caps, or what?

Any ideas?
 
What size drill?

I heard you can drill the flash hole a little bigger, but if made to large you can get flash back in your face. I am very interested as to how big to drill. Also I used magnum caps hunting this year. At the range they would last couple of shots longer before misfires.
 
what brand of caps and what kind of powder are you useing ?
And don`t be drilling the hole out in yer nipples ...this is dangerous .
 
I usually shoot a 30 round match with my club and have never had a nipple clog up. Something is wrong. I'd replace the nipple with a t/c hot shot or some other good brand name nipple. This should not be an issue.:eek:
 
You may want to try replacing the standard nipple with a musket cap nipple, if TC makes one. They are much bigger in diameter, and its easier to get the caps on and off.
 
Yes, definitely see if you can find a musket cap nipple. I believe that CVA makes one that fits several brands including T/C. Not completely sure about that though. I think T/C also makes a "flamethrower" number 11 nipple too. Not sure if that is what you're already using or not but it's supposed to have a wider fire channel than standard. I'd definitely try either of those and NOT try to drill.

Failing either of those you could try using different primers. Some foul the fire channel worse than others.
 
If you make sure to always have the hammer at half cock when you load, often the air compressed by ramming the ball home will clear the nipple. The powder can also be forced into the flash channel better. You may very well need to replace something, but you may not, either.

Steve
 
I don't know how many rounds you have fired with the current nipple so I would first be looking at something else. Pull the nipple and inspect the barrel side of the nipple making sure tha it is clean and clear of any soot.

Next consider your cleaning procedures. Are you getting the chamber area clean and dry? Are you using and excessive amount of powder? Remember that every muzzle loader has its own likes and dislikes. It is possible that you are not getting a clean burn and when you load the next round you push everything left in the barrel down to the bottom and this will not ignite properly. Cleaning can and will do the same thing.

Check your patch for signs of how well your rifle is firing. You may need to change your lube to help soften the fowling or you are using too much lube and it is causing the chamber to get damp. This will cause mis-firing.

After a mis-fire, remove the nipple, drop a few grains of powder down the hole, replace the nipple and re-fire.

I shoot at least 5 - 10 rounds of skeet each weekend and I have used the same nipples for the past 3 years. I use RWS 1075 caps.

What ever you find, I hope you get it straighten out because mis-fires while at the bench can create a nice flinch.

Sincerely,
AJ
 
I had a problem last week with one of my underhammers not firing reliably. I picked the nipple, and the pick went all the way through to the other side of the barrel so I thought it was ok.

After a few more misfires I took the nipple out and looked inside. There was enough crude to block the spark. I broke it away, installed the nipple and then had no more problems. You may want to see that the passage is clear.
 
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