Discouraged

[Mr. 16 gauge]

I had similar problems when I first started hunting with traditional black powder arms. Here are a few suggestions:

1.) Make sure there is no (and I mean NO) trace of oil, WD-40, ect in the barrel. I use several alcohol patches to clean out the oil before shooting my hawken.

2.) do pop a cap or two on the nipple prior to loading the firearm....this helps to remoe any oil that may have migrated into the drum. Take a nipple pick after firing that cap or two and make sure that the channel is clear to the powder.

3.) When loading powder, load it so the drum is to the right, at an angle. This will allow a little powder to trickle into the drum and will help with ignition.

4.) Use a hotter cap.....I started out with CVA caps, and they weren't really 'hot' enough to get the pyrodex to ignite in colder weather. Now I use CCI magnum #11 caps.

Most failure to fires are caused by a contamination of oil on the powder......make sure that you get rid of it prior to loading!

Good luck, and don't be joining that inline crowd just yet......