BP rifle will not fire

[Mac Attack]

I decided to fire my TC Hawkens rifle for the first time in few years. I normally only use BP but could not find my powder so I used some old pyrodex I had on hand. I validated that it was not already loaded and loaded per SOP. When I fired it the cap fired but not the rifle. I changed nipples thinking the one already in the rifle might be blocked and put in a musket nipple. Firing gave the same results so I pulled the bullet and powder thinking the powder must be bad. I tried a third time but with BP and it still would not fire. What could be the problem?

I always clean my rifle after every shooting day and the barrel was free of rust or visible blockages prior to shooting. I don't know what the problem is as the powder is good and I am getting ingnition from the caps. Could I have a blockage between the cap and powder? I checked the nipple and it is clear.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Chawbaccer]

Did you try the "old point the muzzle at a blade of grass and fire a cap to check that all was clear?"
If you remove the little screw on the side of the snail, you get a straight shot to clean out the flash channel. Over time oil, dirt, or spiders and such can get down in there and plug it up.
Also check the viability of your powder, you mention it is a bit old, maybe it wasn't stored properly.

 

[mykeal]

Could I have a blockage between the cap and powder?

Yes. It's not at all uncommon.

1) As Chawbaccer said, load a cap on the nipple, point the muzzle at and close to a blade of grass and fire the cap. You should see the blade of grass move from the gas expelled from the barrel. If not, it's blocked.

2) Your gun has what's known as a 'patent breech', which is a small chamber in the breech plug that's used as a sort of combustion chamber. The flash channel from the nipple leads to this chamber. It can easily fill with debris/bp fouling and plug the flash channel. Use a .32 cal copper/steel/nylon brush to clean it out.

3) If you swab between shots, use the following technique to minimize the fouling in that chamber: start with a damp patch (your choice of fluids), run it down to about 1 inch short of the breech plug. Remove it, turn it over and repeat. Then swab with a dry patch, only take it all the way down.

4) Between uses, store the rifle muzzle down for a few days to ensure any excess oil/rust preventative drains out the muzzle and not back into that chamber and flash hole.

 

[mr16ga]

Well did you get it to work. I have had the same happen to me. I removed the screw and filled the hole with BP to the charge to fire on my TC when it would not shoot.

 

[frontiergander]

load the rifle and remove the nipple and see if there is any powder under it. If not, thats the problem.

If there is powder under the nipple and its not firing, the nipples flash hole is probably to small and not allowing the heat to get to the powder. I had a nipple like that and it drove me nuts!

 

[ontarget]

I once had the same problem and it turned out to be oil from cleaning settling in the breech and even though I fired a cap before I loaded the gun, it wasn't enough. I had to remove the nipple and pinch a few grains in the hole to get it to go.

 

[bmwsid]

100 PSI airhose might clean out anything blocking the area in question!

 

[mr16ga]

100 PSI airhose might clean out anything blocking the area in question!

Does not involve popping a cap but probably would work. Use one of the air-guns with a rubber nipple on the end for a good fit and seal.

 

[Busyhands94]

try cleaning the flash hole with a pin and then fire off some caps to clear the gunk and stuff out of the barrel.

 

[Mac Attack]

I was able to clear whatever was blocking the powder from igniting. First I tried to remove the small screw that goes into the flash hole area but was not able to remove it and did a fair job of stripping it. I finally removed the nipple, ran a safety pin into the hole as far as I could go and worked it around. Finally I sprinkled some powder into the hole, put the nipple back on, capped and fired and this time it worked.

I then fired a few balls just to make sure it the obstruction was clear and all went well. Thanks for all the advice I really appreciate it.

 

[bmwsid]

airhose

If you have never had the opprotunity to use compressed air, be careful where you point the muzzle!! A bullet comes out pretty hard if you get the air in right!!
I used to tell the youngsters at the plant " An airhose is NOT a toy, but it can be a lot of fun, if you are careful!!"