I'm worried!!

[deadyote]

So I went out today and shot my ML to sight in because I finally bought the Tru-Glo ghost ring sights.  By the way I love them.  I shot a couple then cleaned, shot a couple more, cleaned, then again with no problems.  After that, I could not get the powder to fire.  The cap went off, but no ignition with the 777 pellets.  I am using #11 caps.  I disassembled, ran 3 dry patches through it, made sure the nipple and breech plug are clear, add new powder, and once again nothing?  I did this three times and still can't get the powder to ignite.  I even opened a new box of pellets to see if that was the problem.  Any ideas?  I have a CVA Elkhorn Pro and have never had any problems with it.  One thing I did forget to do was fire a cap before I loaded it, so would that cause a problem?  I ran patches through everything to make sure it was dry.  This is too close to opener for this.  I shot this ML 3 weeks ago and had no problems. 

I also noticed that after the cap going off, the saftey switch would stick until I opened the bolt.  Any ideas on that one? 

[Machias]

You have to have a blockage or you've got moisture somewhere between ignition and powder.

[wazzu99]

 

[Heredoggydoggy]

Your "cleaning probably packed a bunch of crud into the nipple.  Why are you cleaning it so much?  It's a charcoal-burner, not a benchrest rifle.  Snapping caps on a freshly cleaned gun is a must.  Also a must before loading a gun that hasn't been shot in a while.  Point the gun down at some dust or fine stuff to make sure the fire from the cap is getting all the way through.  If there is no movement of the dust in front of the muzzle, it's blocked.

[carpsniperg2]

Pull your nipple out and puch a pick threw it and make sure you can see light threw it before you put it back in. It sounds like the fire is not getting threw to the powder. The paper inside of the caps can sometimes get stuck in the throat of the nipple and block the fire as well. I have seen that happen before. Also are you using the 11 mags? the 777 pellets can be harder to get to go off but should go off just like all your other shots. One of 2 things nipple is blocked by paper or crud on the inside or you left to much moisture in the barrel when you loaded it and the powder is wet and wont go off.

GLAD YOU LIKE THOSE SITES every one that has ever bought them has been happy with them! I love mine and thats why I speak so highly of them

[BOWHUNTER45]

Pull your nipple out and puch a pick threw it and make sure you can see light threw it before you put it back in. It sounds like the fire is not getting threw to the powder. The paper inside of the caps can sometimes get stuck in the throat of the nipple and block the fire as well. I have seen that happen before. Also are you using the 11 mags? the 777 pellets can be harder to get to go off but should go off just like all your other shots. One of 2 things nipple is blocked by paper or crud on the inside or you left to much moisture in the barrel when you loaded it and the powder is wet and wont go off.

GLAD YOU LIKE THOSE SITES every one that has ever bought them has been happy with them! I love mine and thats why I speak so highly of them

[Lcl 66 Tinner]

You might want to try to use granulated powder rather than pellets. Pellets are designed for a 209 primer which burns hotter to ignite the pellets. #11 primers are designed for granulated powder because it dosen't take as much fire to get it started. 

[colockumelk]

Have you ever thought about using musket caps. The nipple is bigger and is far less likely to get clogged. Also it shoots out like 10x more flame.

[Machias]

   Both of those!

[HornHoarder]

Your "cleaning probably packed a bunch of crud into the nipple.  Why are you cleaning it so much?  It's a charcoal-burner, not a benchrest rifle.  Snapping caps on a freshly cleaned gun is a must.  Also a must before loading a gun that hasn't been shot in a while.  Point the gun down at some dust or fine stuff to make sure the fire from the cap is getting all the way through.  If there is no movement of the dust in front of the muzzle, it's blocked.

I'm fairly new to muzzleloaders,  why is snapping caps on a freshly cleaned gun nessesary?

[dupedc]

Have you ever thought about using musket caps. The nipple is bigger and is far less likely to get clogged. Also it shoots out like 10x more flame.

I did that last year and it made all the difference with my Rem ML700.  I also added the TruGlo ghost ring sight this year...AWESOME!
Good luck with late season!

[carpsniperg2]

Also I shoot a cva elkhorn as well. When you bought the gun, it should have come with the musket nipple you might try getting some of them and putting the musket cap nipple in and seeing if it will burn it out

[Lcl 66 Tinner]

Your "cleaning probably packed a bunch of crud into the nipple.  Why are you cleaning it so much?  It's a charcoal-burner, not a benchrest rifle.  Snapping caps on a freshly cleaned gun is a must.  Also a must before loading a gun that hasn't been shot in a while.  Point the gun down at some dust or fine stuff to make sure the fire from the cap is getting all the way through.  If there is no movement of the dust in front of the muzzle, it's blocked.

I'm fairly new to muzzleloaders,  why is snapping caps on a freshly cleaned gun nessesary?

Because the bore butter you swab the barrel with after cleaning can clog the nipple and if you load your gun first without snapping a couple of caps your taking a unnessacery chance. Its easy and cheap to make sure the nipple is clear before loading and point the gun at a leaf or something that will move when the cap goes off to make sure the nipple is clear, if the leaf moves the nipple is clear.

[Heredoggydoggy]

I changed to a musket cap nipple last year, and no doubt, they give out more fire.  That being said, I just cleaned my .54 in anticipation of late muzzy deer hunting, and the flash hole in the musket nipple is still pretty small, and prone to plugging.  Snapping caps makes sure no insect has chosen your nipple to hibernate in.  If your gun is a traditional Sidelock Hawken type, use granular powder only.  The pellet powders are made for the inline type rifles, where the priming charge is closer to the powder charge.  The rule of thumb for powder size is FG=Cannon pwder, FFG=Rifle, FFFG=Pistol, FFFFG=Priming charge in Flintlock Pans.  3F will work in rifles, if 2F isn't available.

[deadyote]

Thanks everyone.  It sounds like I have moisture because the nipple and breach plug are clean enough to eat off of and I didn't fire a cap off before loading.  I ran a brush through the nipple and made sure it was clear.  My problem is the moisture.  Here is another question, Heredoggydoggy, asked why am I cleaning so much?  I cleaned it a ton this time because I was trying to figure out why it wouldnt fire and thought it  might have something lodgede inside.  When I shoot I clean the gun every 3 shots or so.  That is what I was told by a few other ML hunters.  Is that too much?