I tried an Inline. I will stick with my T/C Hawken.

[Goex2Fwithroundball]

I drew a quality buck tag this year for Muzzleloader. I am a lifelong traditional guy. My buddy suggested that I use his Inline for my hunt this year to have a little farther range. We went out yesterday. A Traditions NW edition. The breach plug was removed and cleaned. With brand new powder pellets and CCI musket caps. He loaded it with 2 pellets then a copper jacketed bullet with a sabot. I applied a musket cap....clicked the hammer back....took aim and fired. Snap. Misfire. I put on another cap...snap....another cap...snap. He then unloaded it and reloaded it. This time it fired but with a serious hang fire. A second shot also had a noticeable hang fire. I handed the rifle back and said thanks but no thanks.
I could never shoot that rifle with any confidence. I will gladly stick with my old trusty .54 T/C Hawken any day! I have never had a misfire in over 30 years. A dry ball once or twice but never a misfire.

[BULLBLASTER]

The combo of cci musket cap and pellets is the culprit I think. I saw that combo cost a guy a 340 bull elk. I use an inline with loose pack and rws musket caps and have never had a misfire or hangfire.

Being able to hit what I'm aiming at is my biggest problem. 

[wadu1]

I agree with BULLBLASTER, CCI and Pellets. I don't think the CCI's have the power to setoff a pellet. My only hang-fire in my .54 T/C Hawken was with a CCI and it cost me a nice bull, I only use RWS now and. And for powder it's FFFG GOEX and an Uncle Mikes Hot-Shot nipple. 

[Sabotloader]

I drew a quality buck tag this year for Muzzleloader. I am a lifelong traditional guy. My buddy suggested that I use his Inline for my hunt this year to have a little farther range. We went out yesterday. A Traditions NW edition. The breach plug was removed and cleaned. With brand new powder pellets and CCI musket caps. He loaded it with 2 pellets then a copper jacketed bullet with a sabot. I applied a musket cap....clicked the hammer back....took aim and fired. Snap. Misfire. I put on another cap...snap....another cap...snap. He then unloaded it and reloaded it. This time it fired but with a serious hang fire. A second shot also had a noticeable hang fire. I handed the rifle back and said thanks but no thanks.
I could never shoot that rifle with any confidence. I will gladly stick with my old trusty .54 T/C Hawken any day! I have never had a misfire in over 30 years. A dry ball once or twice but never a misfire.

You do not mention what type of pellet you were using... It really does make a difference.  If they were Pyrodex pellets you need to load the blackened end first into the muzzle. The blackened end is true black powder.  The cap should ignite them that way.  Even if they were T7 pellets a cap should ignite them also.  The only other thing might be if they were OLD pellets that have been exposed to the air and have absorbed moisture.

I do not trust pellets and would really suggest that you use loose powder.

Another question before the first shot did you pop a couple of caps to insure that the BPlug was clear?

[Goex2Fwithroundball]

I am not sure the brand of pellets we had. They were black and stacked in 2's in the container. The pellets and caps were brand new.  The gun was clean. The breach plug was removed and clear prior to shooting. I agree with you guys about the pellets. I think they were meant to be used with 209 primers. It seems that musket caps and #11's don't produce enough spark to ignite pellets consistently enough for hunting.
I am very confident with my Hawken using 90 gr. Goex 2F and CCI Magnum #11 caps.

[chuck270]

Having confidence in your weapon is paramount!  There are just to many other things you need to have your attention focused on while hunting.  Many an animal has been dispatched with T/C Hawkins.

The problems you experienced with your friends Traditions NW and propellant selection are not what I would call "rare"...  I have one and fought that problem for several years before figuring out:
#1  It is an over-rated, over-priced, POS!
#2  The ignition design does not lend itself to igniting pellets or for that matter any thing else...
#3  It take more tools and time to clean than should be required for any smoke pole.
After lots tweaking and modifying I finally got mine to shoot reliably (it was a test of wills and mine was stronger).  However, it did not develop into hunting confidence in it and therefore I go hunting with my T/C Black Diamond XR.

Yes.  I know lots of people enjoy and use the Traditions NW Vortex Magnum with great success and I was not trying to infer that your weapon choice is less than spectacular.  It was just my experience with it. 

   

[coxral]

I recently obtained a Traditions Pursuit Tracker NW and built a Traditions Hawken, both 50 cal. RWS 1075 caps and loose powder only! No problems. Love both! Wish the ol eyeballs were better though! I'm more into the side-lock though, more of the Mountain Man kinds thing, side-locks and longbows!

[PA BEN]

I have the traditions NW magnum, new last fall. I've shot about 30 shots out of it without a misfire or hangfire. I use T7 loose German musket caps. I would never shoot cci or pellets.

[Goex2Fwithroundball]

I have an update. My Buddy insists on using this rifle for hunting. Saturday he shot and missed a nice cinammon colored bear due to another hang fire.
I did some research and learned the problem is the CCI musket caps. They are garbage! A while back due to some litigation CCI changed their musket caps and reduced their strength for reenactors. CCI musket caps now have the power equal or less than a #11 cap. DO NOT USE THEM FOR HUNTING!
Find another brand. The German 1081 musket caps are known to be very good.

[carpsniperg2]

german is the way to go

[tritt007]

My traditions buckstalker nw goes boom everytime with a 100 grains of pyrodex P and a rws 1081 musket cap . 

[TikkaT3-270Shortmag]

I have the german muskets and pellets never had a miss fire!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[MountainDevil54]

why anyone would expect 100% sure fire with pellets and musket caps is beyond me!

Why anyone uses pellets in the first place is another head scratcher 

[MtnMuley]

 

why anyone would expect 100% sure fire with pellets and musket caps is beyond me!

Why anyone uses pellets in the first place is another head scratcher 

x2

[Goex2Fwithroundball]

why anyone would expect 100% sure fire with pellets and musket caps is beyond me!

Why anyone uses pellets in the first place is another head scratcher 

I hear ya!.
I'm all about original black powder and #11 caps. Fires every time rain or shine.
These youngsters like the pellets so they don't get their fingers dirty and smell the stinky black powder. Then remove the screw in breach plug and run a snake  through it and call it clean.   

[coachcw]

two pyrodex pellets black side down and a german #11 fires every time for me.