T/C New Englander Misfires

[Bullwinkle]

I've been using GOEX ffg (50-80 gr.), 50 cal RB, 0.015 lubed patch, and CCI #11 caps. I brush the bore and clean the nipple every couple of shots and then it's a crapshoot when the trigger is pulled if there will be ignition.

Three times at the range, and three times leaving early after a misfire with a stuck ball and charge still in the barrel. But once extracted it cleans up nicely w/ hot soapy water. I run a coulple of dry patches followed by a light coat
of Ballistol.

Bore Butter doesn't seem to help at the range. I even swabbed inside the barrel with alcohol before the first shot and that didn't work. I don't mind the cleaning between shots, I just want the darn thing to go BOOM! when it's supposed to.

As always, I appreciated the wisdom and experience from the people here on THR. After months of reading many posts, I took the BP plunge and love shooting it. Thanks in advance for all of your help.

[Curator]

It sounds as though your flash channel is fouled/plugged. We have 8 of these rifles at our Scout Camp for the past 15 years. They are shot 50,000 times a year with hardly a misfire. When we have the occasional reluctance to fire we make sure to clean out the flash channel with various wire sizes to get all the gunk out. Many people clean these guns with patches and solvent but that will not keep the flash channel open. We take the barrels off, remove the nipple and submerge the breech in warm water. Then we use a proper jag & cleaning rod to pump water in and out of the breech. This combined with judicious use of the forementioned wire or pipe cleaner used on the flash channel keeps the New Englander firing without a hitch.

[Bullwinkle]

Thanks Curator. When finished for the day,I always remove the nipple and put that part of the barrel in the bucket of hot soapy water. Then like you, I pump the solution through the barrel via the flash channel with a patch and jag.

So when at the range, should I be removing the nipple and running a wire through the flash channel every now and then to make sure it's clean? I wish I could find a small nylon or brass brush to fit in there. That 90 degree turn and small ID make it difficult to get anything in there. Could I spray something in there to help loosen the crud?

[arcticap]

A replacement nipple will deliver more flame & hot gas which could help keep the flash channel open:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0012627210270a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=nipple&sort=all&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0012627210268a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=nipple&sort=all&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1


A .30 caliber bronze brush, or a smaller one wrapped with a cleaning patch or a fouling scraper can be used to clean out the powder chamber that's located within the breech plug:

http://huntingnet.com/forum/black-powder/308213-how-do-you-clean-cavity-breech-plug.html