I certainly don't expect much sympathy here, but my percussion cap 50 cal. and I spared the life of a very fine 140 inch 8 pointer Saturday. PAP went the cap, broadside at 35 yds. I had another cap at the ready and opted not to try again as by then he was 70 yds. and with 6 does/fawns. Amazinglynone of them spooked when the cap went off!

I took the gun to the range that afternoon, positioned a cap, and PAP goes the cap again. I had to pull the screw by the nipple, add powder, and off it would go, over and over 8 or 10 times. Obviously there is blockage.

Question: this gun is 30 years old and has been fired maybe 150 times. I'm thinking about pulling the breach plug which has never been done before. I've cleaned the gun at the end of every season. Think there's any chance I can get the plug out? Tips?

Most of the older traditional style rifle .. you can not remove the plug and you can actually damage them trying. When a rifle fails to fire in the circumstances you describe, I always wonder their pre loading steps, and a little more information on the rifle would be nice, but I would leave the breech plug alone.

Take the bolster clean out scew out. Then get a small can and put some solvent in it. Dip your patch and pump that solvent back and fourth through that bolster clean out hole. Also I take a pipe cleaner and dip one of them in a solvent from time to time and push that through the bolster clean out hole all the way into the firing channel if possible. This just helps to make sure it is nice and clean.

After the solvent then run a boiling water and soap bath through the rifle. Be sure and wear leather gloves. After the soap and water bath I like to pour boiling water through the rifle barrel to rinse out anything else that is in there.

Next time you load the rifle ... pop three caps through the nipple before loading. After that run a dry patch down the barrel and remove any fowling caused by the caps. Now push another cap down the barrel and pop one more cap with the patch still down in the breech. Pull that patch and it should show burn marks. If it does, you're ready to load.

When you load, pour your powder, turn the lock down, and slapp it a few times. The tip the rifle up and tap the butt of the rifle on your shoe. This will level the load and also you now should have a little powder in the bolster. You rifle should fire now if the powder is good, the nipple is not some old worn thing, and the caps are quality...

This is what I would do instead of pulling the breech plug. They do make a breech scraper but you can do the same with a .22 or .30 calibercleaning rod and brush. Put a patch on the brush lower it down there and twist in a clockwise motion. Some rifles have an actual cone shape breech and this will normally clean the cone. Don't be surprised if nothing comes out. Water baths really do work.

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.

If your powder is old, replace it. Also I have a friend who's son bought a Tradition's St. Louis Hawkins. We tried everything to make that rifle shoot. I gave the young man a new hot shot nipple. Some RWS caps. Finally I went and got a can of Goex and told him to load that instead of his Pyrodex. The rifle went off like a charm using the Goex. Trouble is I ended up loosing a powder of Goex to the boy, but I hate to see a young man have troubles because he can not find the right powder. He said his Pyrodex was only a little over two years old.

Pyrodex is a great powder but it can cause problems in some rifles. I guess until that time you get this all figured out, when you load to go hunting, take the nipple out and drizzle in just a small amount of powder in there, and replace the nipple. Then you're almost 100% assurred that it will fire.

I went out this morning and saw nothing. My Thompson Center has been loaded for three days with a finger cot over the muzzle and a tire valve stem cap over the percussion cap. I've been storing it in the wood working shop at night since it is unheated. I shot it this morning and was glad to see if fired like a nice spring day. I had been hunting in rain and snow the past couple days and was getting a little concerned before heading out again this afternoon.

Good luck hunting and I hope you get a shot at that big fellow again. I know the feeling of a rifle that refused to fire at the right time. Surprised I never wrapped it around a tree.

FFF or pistol powder, hotter caps like the red & green tin RWS Dynamit Noble 1075 Plus -- plus hotter nipple like Red Hot or Spitfire sold at Cabelas. Water-flush your powder channel with thrusts of warm water with the nipple and cleanout screw removed when cleaning the bore.

Thanks guys.I have always cleaned the bore by removing the bolster screw and nipple, dropping them in hot, soapy water, poured hot soapy water down the bore to drain out the nipple/bolster into a bucket until running clear. Taken Q-tips thru the nipple/bolster holes 'till clean. Run patches wrapped over and around the tip of a cleaning rod down the bore 'till clean. Then run oiled Q-tip and oiled patches thru same, then oil nipple and bolster screw threads before reseating.

I dry fire two caps prior to loading, then pour powder and tap breach as discussed. I suspect a good cleaning and the problem will be gone. Have you ever plugged the nipple and poured solvent down the bore and left to soak for a few hours? Any problem with that?

I'm not too concerned about missing the opportunity on that buck. I sawa 9 pointer that will go over 140" gross and a 14 pointer that would net in the high 160's and all three of those deer are likely still around. Everything for a reason.

Sounds like all you need to do is change to a finer powder - thenchange nipple and caps too. Sounds like your cleaning ritual is fine - as long as you are not overloading the oiling part. After oiling, I keep my muzzle-down for a couple of day & nipple removed. I never oil the nipple and cleanout screw. I use a small tube of Birchwood-Casey Choke Tube Lube spread lightly on threads. A 2nd choice would be a regular tube of auto anti-seize like Permatex.

As already mentioned...I'd go to FFF in real black powder like Goex...Pyrodex was developed in the 70s so it could be transported by UPS...It requires a hotter ignition...

Another thing you might try...I replaced the drum on a CVA for a friend a few years back...the original drum didn't have a taper or cone where it screws into the barrel...I put one on his with a coning tool...this allows the powder to flow into the drum easier...You must have powder under the nopple for a percussion to ignite quickly...Good Luck...

When i saw this post I thought asked myself if you ran a couple caps through before you loaded. I saw someone else say to run 3 caps with a patch in the bore and look for burn marks. I kind of do the same thing except when i run my cap through, I'll usualy point it at the ground toward a leaf or some dirt. The percussionof the cap alone should make dirt or a leaf move. You can also hear a distinct difference between a cap that is firing though and a cap that is firing into a plug.Almost always after cleaning you can tell the difference in soundbetween the 1st and 2nd cap shot on those older cap lock guns. The 1st shot always seems to blow anything out of there.