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.