Thanks Cayugad. I do load the powder, tap the breech and level on my boot exactly as you describe. When I was at the range, I pulled the bolster screw and ran an allen wrench thru the bolster to the bore. It was odd thatI didn't meet any detectable resistance even running it down each side of the bolster. I did increase my powder charge by 10-20 grains to 80 (pyrodex) just before this happened and wonder if the added weight of the powder in the bore was preventing the powder from moving into the bolster when I did my tapping. Guess I'll do a good cleaning as you describe and head back to the range. Oh yeah, it is a CVA plains rifle.