I'm hunting with my .54 Lyman Deerstalker (stainless, percussion) this year. I've had it for several years but haven't shot it a lot and haven't hunted with it for a few years. Never really have hunted with it much, actually. I went to an inline for a while (T/C Black Diamond) and decided I preferred the more traditional muzzleloaders, so I sold the Black Diamond.

I live in Washington state and this year I'm chasing blacktail deer which I also have not done in several years. So what I'm wondering is what powder would be the most reliable in rainy and humid conditions? I have Triple 7 in double F and the other day I went out and put about 25 Harvester 330 grain hard cast bullets w/sabots through it. Accuracy was acceptable out to 100 yards but I did get a few hangfires.

It could be my fault for not being diligent in being sure the powder was getting all the way down in to the nipple area when I loaded the gun. But still, I have been doing some research since then and I read a lot of comments about how Triple 7 may be difficult to ignite with a sidelock and #11 caps.

So, I'm thinking of either trying Triple 7 in FFF, or Pyrodex, either RS or P. Or possibly even real Black Powder, if I can find any around here. But not even considering which one is easier to ignite, which one is less likely to absorb moisure while hunting in rain? Or is that something I don't even need to worry about as long as I shoot the load out at the end of every day, clean the rifle, and re-load in the morning?

Oh, and I'm also thinking of buying a musket cap nipple to see if the musket caps will provide more reliable ignition. Any thoughts on this?