Traditions Vortek StrikerFire NW Magnum

[whacker1]

I had a Traditions Vortek Strikerfire NW Magnum and returned it because it would not fire the musket caps reliably.  Note the picture of the caps with a firing pin dimple yet did not fire.  I am no expert, but I believe musket caps and #11 caps are designed to be struck with a full face blow to fire the priming.  The strikerfire system does not appear to be properly designed.  Looks like they just jerryrigged the 209 striker to get into the NW market.  They do not have all that good of reviews as I am not the only one with this problem.  I really like the concept of the vortek and it is well made, but if does not go "boom" it is no good.  Still in the market for an inline, question is which one?  I am kind off turned off by Traditions.

if you are buying new.  Knight Disc Extreme with Western Kit or knight Mountaineer western kit.
These seem to be the two best.  Sabotloader compared the two for us here
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,139815.msg1855923.html#msg1855923

[ErikJS]

Thank you whacker1.  I did allot of research on Knight and called them. Too much info to put on this thread.  I ended up ordering a Bighorn western.  Main reason was the simple solid design and then price.  $400.00 out of pocket (less $ than the Vortek Strikerfire) and I have a solid well made rifle.  The Disc is a step up and the Mountaineer is at the top, both bolt guns.  Bolts have a slightly faster lock time and the Mountaineer has the 27" barrel.  Money aside, the Knight Mountaineer with the western kit is the best ML for these parts, allot of money for me though. I can put up with less accuracy, less velocity because they are known factors that with practice I can over come.  But the gun not going boom when you need it to, well I just can't abide. 

[kerrdog]

I had a Traditions Vortek Strikerfire NW Magnum and returned it because it would not fire the musket caps reliably.  Note the picture of the caps with a firing pin dimple yet did not fire.  I am no expert, but I believe musket caps and #11 caps are designed to be struck with a full face blow to fire the priming.  The strikerfire system does not appear to be properly designed.  Looks like they just jerryrigged the 209 striker to get into the NW market.  They do not have all that good of reviews as I am not the only one with this problem.  I really like the concept of the vortek and it is well made, but if does not go "boom" it is no good.  Still in the market for an inline, question is which one?  I am kind off turned off by Traditions.

This exact thing happens with my T/C NW Explorer.  It dents the primer without setting it off.  Usually it will go off the second time.  I always assumed that the hammer spring was too wimpy, or the hammer itself doesn't pack enough momentum.  Now I wonder if the firing pin is just too narrow?  Anyway, I've pretty much given up on that rifle.  It's been back to the factory twice, and it's proven (over and over) that's it's just not reliable at setting off caps. (the hammer is made from pot metal, and broke in half one time).  I always loved the design of that action, but after being let down so many times…..I'm done.

[Red Duckworth]

I bought a strikerfire at Christmas time when Cabelas had them on sale. I finally had the chance to take it to the range on Saturday and was completely disappointed. It misfired at least 20 times although it seemed to be denting all the musket caps. I tried fourdifferent kinds of  musket caps and could not find any that would fire in my gun although my buddy had a muzzleloader that was not strikerfire and it fired every time with all brands of caps except 1 misfire with CCI. So completely pissed off i went to Cabelas and the guy at the gun counter says he was not surprised that i had this problem and had returned other strikerfires because of the same issue. Although they are very like and easy to handle guns it appears there may be some design flaws that are going to plague this particular gun. Also i was told that strikerfire cannot be switched to #11 because of the firing pin design.

[Red Duckworth]

I had a Traditions Vortek Strikerfire NW Magnum and returned it because it would not fire the musket caps reliably.  Note the picture of the caps with a firing pin dimple yet did not fire.  I am no expert, but I believe musket caps and #11 caps are designed to be struck with a full face blow to fire the priming.  The strikerfire system does not appear to be properly designed.  Looks like they just jerryrigged the 209 striker to get into the NW market.  They do not have all that good of reviews as I am not the only one with this problem.  I really like the concept of the vortek and it is well made, but if does not go "boom" it is no good.  Still in the market for an inline, question is which one?  I am kind off turned off by Traditions.

This is what my musket caps also looked like but I had 6 fires out of about 75 different caps. From 4 different manufacturers.

[carpsniperg2]

I will never own another traditions they are having way to many problems and the one I had was a nightmare.

[Red Duckworth]

I will never own another traditions they are having way to many problems and the one I had was a nightmare.

I agree 100% mine was a complete disaster.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

[Yelper Guy]

I've got the Traditions Vortek NW edition and when I pull the trigger it goes boom.
Try using the German caps, with the four fluted edges, they work great!

[MountainDevil54]

watch out for some of the newer cci musket caps, they are called "reinactment" and are made just for that. Could be one of the main problems some are having.

[Red Duckworth]

I've got the Traditions Vortek NW edition and when I pull the trigger it goes boom.
Try using the German caps, with the four fluted edges, they work great!

I was using these caps primarily there was no bang from my gun. Although they worked great in my buddies gun.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk