Ok so I bought this gun new and I didn't get it out of Cabella's so the gun is legal to Washington standards, and I have had mis fire problems with this gun like a son of gun. I have been using black powder pellets with musket caps and this gun definitely doesn't like to fire on the first cap and is hard to get going after that. I talked to the dealer I bought the gun from and he was able to get it firing as have I but not consistently. The gun is clean, dry, etc. So I switched to firing black powder grain and the gun shots a tad more consistent. Any ideas or "hey idiot you must be doing this or that wrong." thanks in advance and I hunted the 550 and saw nada. Well does but they are in protection there. Didn't really hone in on any herds either.

Well, I've hunted muzzleloader long enough to make about every mistake, so I'll take a crack at helping.

I assume this is an inline rifle? Either way, musket caps ought to be plenty to make it go boom every time.

SO, the troubleshooter in me says there are limited possibilities - only three I can think of:
1. The cap is going off each time? Easy to check and you must know. I'll assume the cap is popping....
2. Is there moisture or oil in or near the breach? Best way to do this is to ALWAYS fire off a couple of caps before beginning to load. I know some people who don't believe this.... most of them have missed good animals.... :-) I won't hunt any other way than with a cap-dried barrel.
3. Possible poor spark path? Best way I know of to check this is to clean the gun thoroughly and then put a clean patch on your cleaning jag, run it all the way down, leave it all the way down and and fire off one cap. One musket cap should be plenty to really blacken the exposed part of the patch. I mean really blacken.

I'm guessing spark path. If it's an inline, you should be able to remove the hammer and peer thru the hole straight into a light source to see that you've got a good straight path.

Good luck. Let me know if you ever figure it out, whether I was on the right path or not.

Thanks,

Hey thanks mucho for the tips, the only thing I haven't done is to fire the cap off with the clean cloth down the barrel, so I will try that. Do u have any opinion on the black powder pellets versus loose powder? I have found that my gun will fire more consistent with the loose powder.

I use pellets... Never had a mis fire. Musket caps are the best... Should have bought a knight...
And i always put 3 caps through it right after cleaning it...

I would say that if your gun fires better with loose powder that you don't have a good spark path. (loose powder can get farther up if you do have a devious spark path).

Finicky muzzleloader weapons have often been known to prefer loose over pellets. I do think it's because in the case of a marginal spark path the loose powder gets closer. I've never seen or heard of a muzzleloader weapon that preferred pellets from an ease of firing standpoint. But a well tuned one should shoot pellets easily (all 4 of mine do).

Even if you do have a hard time getting it to go off the first time, it certainly is dry after that and should fire right up (loose or pellets) with the next load.

Since it doesn't, I say yor spark path must be the problem. Can you remove the striker and look thru the barrel towards a light? If so, do you see a nice clear spark path?

I've decided that it absolutely must be the spark path.... unless its something else.

I'll be curious to hear about how a patch looks after firing a cap, and also if you can see a good clear spark path.

Good luck!

Make sure the nipple is clean, run a nipple pick through it. You also might try a hot shot type nipple over the stock ones. Shoot at least one cap through it before loading. I have a CVA inline and shoot standard percussion caps (the german brand), never had a misfire. I also shoot granular real black powder.

Ok well it seems to be shhoting good with the black powder, I am going to do a thourough clean of the gun asap before I head out to hunt Saturday, hopefully I can give you al a report on animal sightings rather than mis fire questions. thanks for all of the help appreciated big time

Well I had a successful gun weekend with no mis fires I think the cleaning of the spark path and the firing off of a cap before loading was a big help, thanks mucho for the advice, it felt good to fire off that sucker without any mis fires along the way. I have a lot more confidence in my hunting now, so that is a big time plus.