pyrodex not igniting

shooter50 · 01-12-2009, 07:56 PM

I just bought a renegade off of gunbroker. Today I talked to the seller and he said when he used pyrodex in the gun that he had lots of misfires, but with black powder he never had any. With my renegade I have used pyrodex rs,2f black powder and 2f triple 7 and never had a misfire. Anyone ever had a problem with pyrodex not igniting? I think it may have been his cleaning technique

hometheaterman · 01-12-2009, 08:22 PM

I have but I think it's had to do with the caps. If I clean it then try to shoot it it will usually miss fire. However, if I fire a cap or two through it before loading it it seems to always shoot fine. This was with Pyrodex pellets. I just started firing a few through it after cleaning it and never had a problem.

MountainDevil54 · 01-12-2009, 08:27 PM

Get a stainless steel Spitfire nipple With Hollow Base from cabelas. My renegade did that too. You also have to tip it over and smack the opposite side of the lock to get the powder to shift under the nipple. Knight Redhot * i think its called* is another good one.

Remington #11 caps are excellent as well.

nchawkeye · 01-12-2009, 08:28 PM

I remember when Pyrodex came out in the 70s...Marketing told us it cleaned up easier and some believed it...

Want to know a secret??? Pyrodex was developed so dealers didn't have to keep in a fireproof safe and it could be shipped by UPS...It has a higher ignition temp than real black powder does, so it's considered safer...

So, if you want the propellant that has a lower ignition temp and is more reliable, it makes sense to use real black powder...

cayugad · 01-12-2009, 08:52 PM

Get a stainless steel hot shot nipple, clean the rifle properly, prepare the rifle properly, slap the lock when you load it, and use a high quality #11 cap like the CCI Magnum, RWS, or Remington and you should not have any problems shooting loose pyrodex.

sabotloader · 01-12-2009, 08:54 PM

shooter50

Does your Renegade have a clean-out screw in the bolster, if it does take it out and see what the flash channel into the barrel looks like... you may have to clean it out further with pipe cleaners... The other thing is how much crud (hard crust) material is in the bottom of the breech plug. The make an attachment (fouling scraper)for you cleaning rod to scrape that out if it is necessary..

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/(S(tslz1aji0tfupsny13eacb22))/categories/tableList.aspx?catID=6&subID=49&styleID=15 0

Are you using #11 mag caps?

I just can not beleive that Pryro would not ignite without problems. I shoot T7-3f in all of my sidehammers.

The key in my mind is to get as much heat and flash to the powder as you can especially in cold weather.

One way to do that is to make sure that the flash channel is clear... Then if possible always get powder out nder the nipple - that is the reason that I use 3f powder - I know I can tap that out under the nipple fairly easy.

The last point I think is important is the nipple - for years we used the standard #11 nipple with the longer stem and at times we did fight them, especially in cold weather. What we found, even with all the fancy nipples out there, the standard short stem TC nipple worked best - it cuts the distance that the flash has to travel.

This picture kinda shows what I am talking about... the3rd nipple from the left does not count- it is a musket cap nipples.

The 4th nipple from the left is a standard long shank nipple, Hot Shot the nipple on the far left is the short TC nipple - you can see how much that shortens the flash path to the powder. I firmly believe that this helps ignition of the powder.

Just my 2c's -

shooter50 · 01-13-2009, 11:53 AM

Im not sure what kind of caps he is using in the rifle, or the kind of nipple that is on it. I know with my renegade I use a winchester magnum #11 cap and after swapping between shots I fire off 2 caps to make sure its clear and I have never had a problem. He told me that he had problems with misfires when using pyrodex thats all I know. I personally feel it was his technique, Im sure it was something he was doing wrong. I should get the gun by friday I hope, if so Im taking it out saturday to try it out.

UncleNorby · 01-14-2009, 03:42 AM

One thing about Pyrodex is it should be compressed to work right. I push the bullet down until I feel contact with the charge, then compress the charge another .25 to .375 inches or so. I have a reference mark on the ramrod at that point. I have not used any other nipple than the one that came with the guns, and these are Renegades and White Mtn. Carbines. The only caps I've used are RWS.

Some of the guys I knew that used BP, would just push the bullet to the charge and then "bounce" the ramrod once or twice. They tried that with Pyrodex and they did see slighthangfires.

Semisane · 01-14-2009, 07:18 AM

I'm with Sabotloader on this one. The original TC short nipples are the way to go with a Renegade. I have no problems with either Pyrodex or T7 in mine with the TC nipple. When I put one of the longer nipples on it, including a hot shot, I would get a few misfires unless I made sure to slap the lock after pouring the powder.

bronko22000 · 01-14-2009, 09:00 AM

As stated. And the tapping on the lock side seems to work with the Pyrodex RS. It is pretty coarse grained and this tapping knocks a bit into the snail for better ignition. I do this out of habit now.