10mm4me said:
The nipple was as clear as it could be. I fired 2 caps, took the nipple off, cleaned it w/pipe cleaners, poured about 5 grains of powder down the nipple hole to ensure ignition, loaded up, and headed out. That gun has never failed on the first shot. Usually fails around #8 or 9 without cleaning. I think it may be due to the extreme cold in the morning, it was 29F and the warmup later around 50F. I believe there may have been some condensation on the primer or in the hole from the temp change.
After hearing you discribe your cleaning procedure, I'm convinced that the pyrodex was probably your problem. I assume your 5 grain prime was pyrodex also. Had it been real black powder, my bet would have been that it would have gone off on the first attempt. I remember when pyrodex was first introduced. Us old timers were initialy quite interested in its possibilities, but quickly avoided it like the plague. It was hard to ignite, loss strength with time, and seemed to attract moisture rendering it useless. As a replica powder it will work fine, but always keep in mind its limitations. A fresh jar each year might be advisible. It's a shame real black powder has been made so difficult to obtain. I think that if it were more readily availible more would try it and prefer it over all this replica stuff.
Been there done that!
