On a friend's recommendation I tried a different brand of black powder substitute - American Pioneer - which comes in 50gr sticks. He swears by it and says it is the cleanest, most dependable power around. Well, it was a lot cleaner than Pyrodex but I got 3 misfires out of about 10.
When I fired the sound and recoil was much softer than normal and a thin stream of smoke shot out of my barrel and hit the ground at about 25 yds. I think the powder did not fire, at least not completely, and was pushed out along with the bullet by the explosion of the primer cap alone. Does that sound right? This actually never happened to me before.
Has that ever happened to anyone else? It happened when I tried this new powder but I don't know for sure that the powder was the cause. Could it have been something else like bad primers or a dirty breech plug? Thanks!
OH, BTW, shooting a CVA Accura 50 cal inline with 245gr. Powerbelts using 100gr of pelleted powder.
Last edited by ilsmokepoler; 09-05-2010 at 04:54 AM.
That powder has given me problem also never have any trouble with Pyrodex or Blackhorn 777 work well and is strong but I have to spend more time cleaning the crud-ring out than I do shooting which spoils my fun.
APP is very hygroscopic and can gather water right out of the air if left open for a period of time. I also got 2 bad can that had not been opened before out of a case it shoot so badly that part of the shots did not even hit the target.
Some people swear by it, most swear at it,. I quit using it a couple years ago after it cost me a deer. Clean it is, dependable it isn't, I would switch powders. Anything is better than APP. ( clearly an opinion of course)
Do you take the time to pop off a couple primers before loading? Sounds like moisture. I've just never been fond of pellet's. IMO, they have just never seemed reliable or consistant. Using loose will also give you the opportunity to develope a load your gun will like.
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If your rifle was prepared properly before loading, AND THE STICKS WERE GOOD, then the rifle should have fired properly. I shoot APP in loose form from time to time and get the POOF! shot. One reason I will not hunt with it.
Personally I would change powders. Other powders might no be as clean but what's the savings of the rifle powder can not be trusted. If you're determined to shoot pellets, try the Pyrodex RS ones. I know they are dirty, corrosive, and you have to clean the rifle after each shooting session.. but that's part of the sport as well.
All too often people are picking powder because its easier to clean. And I am not trying to pick on you or anyone else. But I have seen the trend of powder manufactures in their adds.. simple clean up with just water, no swabbing, less corrosive.. Well that's all fine and good. But with me, if a powder .. say Pyrodex RS takes me five minutes more to clean the rifle, but gives me great accuracy.. then it is worth every minute.
Try some Pyrodex RS and see what happens.
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I have never used the 'sticks' but I thought I read someplace that when you loaded the projectile you were suppose to crush the sticks. The way the sticks are formed I believe thay offer to much air space to get a good ignition.
Again please research the 'crushing' aspect because I really do not know for sure.
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I have never used the 'sticks' but I thought I read someplace that when you loaded the projectile you were suppose to crush the sticks.
Yep, the sticks have to be crushed. Recently tried some APP sticks that a friend gave me. The gun was my CVA StagHorn, the bullet was the 240 grain .430 XTP and the sabot was the tight fitting Harvester "Easy Load". My groups strung an average of about 2.5" vertically at 100 yards: This is an indication that something is not right.
All the APP products that i have used require a tight fitting sabot.
I would switch over to loose powder. Yes you have to measure it and buy a few extra things for it but the dependablity is worth every penny. Also being able to really fine tune your gun is plus. 777, Pyro, or Blackhorn would be good choices.
Cause of misfire?
