I have a CVA mountain rifle 54/58 that I got from a member here and I love the rifle but I am having ignition problems with Pyrodex. I leave it outside so not to get condensation but sometimes it just doesn't go off. I am pretty green to these weapons and I welcome all suggestions. Some guys locally have told me to go to regular black powder rather than Pyrodex. Thank you
Pyrodex, Triple 7, and other black powder substitutes SUCK in sidelock muzzleloaders for hunting purposes. They require a higher ignition temperature than black and seem to be more susceptible to exposure to ambient conditions. Pyrodex really kicks ass in range sessions; you're typically loading and shooting right away when the weather is nice, vice hunting when the weather might be below 50 F and 90%+ humidity and you carry the gun for three or four hours before taking a shot.
I shoot a T/C Renegade, while my dad alternates between a mid-'70s vintage T/C Hawken and a T/C White Mountain Carbine. All are well-maintained and shot throughout the year on a regular basis. We use Hot Shot nipples and Knight Red Hot nipples and have even tried musket nipples with musket caps. We load fresh charges each morning, thoroughly clean the guns every night, and clear the flash channel with caps each morning. For the past five years, in particular, we have each experienced a consistently maddening string of hangfires. (This leads me to believe that the current formulation of these substitutes has been tailored to high volume, 209-primed inlines.)
I went back to black powder for hunting purposes, but use substitutes for range purposes where I'm likely to shoot a greater amount.
