Singleshot Pistol Fails to Fire

[Sakima]

I built a singleshot caplock .45 pistol from a kit over 20 years ago. Until today, that pistol resided on the endtable collecting dust. I decided that I wanted to shoot it since I recently started shooting blackpowder when I aquired a .54 cal rifle.

I loaded it with 20 grains of FFF (per lyman manual), ball, patch, etc. I placed a cap on it and on firing just the pop of the cap. I tried two more caps...still it failed to fire. On recomendation of another blackpowder shooter, I removed the cleanout screw and put in a dozen or so grains of powder into the cleanout hole, installed a fresh cap...bang, the pistol fired.

I cleaned it, and reloaded...same as before...only a pop. Again, a few grains in the cleanout screw hole. and bang. I decided to call it quits until I could sort out the problem.

What is causing this failure to fire? I plan to stop by the local muzzleloader supply on Saturday and seek out an experts advice.

Maybe the best place for it is back on the end table

 

[P95Carry]

''Cleanout hole''????

I am imagining here a std percussion pistol .... with nipple, and flashole.

If the flashole is very small in diameter then the fire from the percussion cap might not reach the charge. More info would be useful .. a pic even.

Is the nipple a usual type? What size is the flashhole when inspected with nipple out? Is this connecting properly with breech area?

Can you add some descriptive info?

I used to have an old kit .44 cal .. and it was all but foolproof and reliable.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Remove the barrel and leave the nipple on. Place barrel in a can of hot water. Put a patch on the ramrod and push it all the way down. As you pull the ramrod up, it should draw water into the barrel. Keep the barrel (nipple end) submerged and continued pumping.

Now, fill the barrel like a syringe. Remove it from the water such that the nipple isn't submerged. Push down on the ramrod. You should have a strong flow of water. If not, there's something obstructing the channel or the nipple.

Suggest you change nipple anyway as there are some that allow for more flash through. Also suggest trying some other caps.

 

[Sakima]

Yes, it is a standard percussion ignition. The flash hole in the nipple is small, but no smaller than the ones in my rifles. The threads are course and my rifle ones are fine so I could not do a swap-out to rule out the nipple.

I am unable to attach pic of the area in question to this thread...I can email one to you if you wish. I feel that the cap/nipple are extended too far out from the center of the barrel for the flash to ignight the main charge without assistance of some additional powder. I looked through the barrel with a strong light, and there is onlly a small hole in the very center. I would estimate that the cleaning hole is approx 3/16 in diameter and extends past the center of the barrel.

I cleaned the pistol in hot soappy water along with the rifles. While there was water flow being drawn in and pushed out, it is far less flow than the rifles.

I will see what nipplles are available at the local supply house on Sat.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Tom Bri]

Probably got a bit of rust in the nipple from sitting around so long, not enough fire getting through to touch off the charge. Try scrubbing out the nipple.

 

[Sakima]

Update...

I dropped by the local muzzleloaders supply today and had the pistol examined by them. They could find absolutely nothing out of order. They suspect that there were some metal filings/shavings in the cleanout area that had become lodged partially blocking the path of the flame. Whatever it was must have been dislodged during cleaning.

I plan to try it again soon...I picked up a hotshot nipple just in case...

Thanks for all the inputs...

 

[Sakima]

Success

I shot the pistol today...absolutely no problems. There must have been some filings or rust down in the chamber area that the initial shooting and hot soapy water cleaning got rid of. Thanks for all your ideas...

 

[P95Carry]

Glad it's behaving properly now ..

 

[foghornl]

I had a single-shot BP pistol many years back. Was (I think) a CVA brand, a .45-cal "Prospector's Pistol" Wasn't reliable the first couple of times I tried it, but after a few firings/cleanings, etc, worked like a champ. Probably the same rust/metal shavings issue. As I sort of very vaguely recall, it used the standard #11 nipple/cap.