doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Black Powder Ignition Problem

Last weekend hunting in Ks I had some poofs and a delayed ignition with some brass magtech 28 ga loads and also some in plastic hulls. I have never had a problem before. The shells sat in the truck overnight and there was a lot of moisture in the air. The brass hulls were loaded two years ago and have sat in my load room. The were glued on top with duco cement. I have not taken any apart yet. The powder was Goex FFF. Any ideas on what could have caused this would be appreciated.

Moisture.
In trash.

Never heard of but two reasons for ignition problems with black.
1st & foremost "WET" powder.
2nd; fire not getting to powder, most common on a ML'er with a plugged flash channel.
If black Powder is dry & gets a spark, it goes "BOOM", & it'll still do it 100 yrs from now if those two conditions are met.
Could moisture have seeped in around the primer??

The magtech uses the small rifle primer so I don't have a lot of experience with those brass hulls. The other was a regular shotshell 209 type primer. Seems to me moisture too. Perhaps will set some outside and take apart this weekend.

I had a brief stint in BP buffalo shooting. Though against the rules a lot of guys (myself included) used 3 grains of Bullseye pistol powder right over the primer before loading the black. This gives extremely reliable ignition. Doesn't seem to have adverse effects on pressure either. I think in a shotgun shell I would try 1.5 grains, use a trickler and weigh it out. ALWAYS make sure your powder is packed tight. The 3 grains of Bullseye was used in 45/70 and I shot an 1884 trapdoor that was original. Always used Graff 3F

I've used 2400 under black in the same manner. Positive ignition and reduced fouling. Never tried it with shotshells.

I little charge of smokeless under the black dates "Way" back. In their early days Lyman even offered a "Double Barreled powder measure which dropped alternate charges of the small smokeless one & the main Black one. I was always under the impression this was for the purpose of reducing fouling though & had little to do with ignition. Generally speaking Black is one of the easiest igniting of all small arms propellents, which is why restrictions are more severe on its storage, handling, shipping etc.

I'll line up behind 2-Piper on this and go a step further to say that the likelihood of #1 is far greater than #2.

Pull 'em & dry 'em.

Black powder has sulfur in it so it soaks in any amount of moisture like a sponge. You might not think there is any moisture but one tall tell sign of moisture is it doesn't go off.

Don't forget the potassium nitrate... very hygroscopic stuff. I deer hunt exclusively with a flintlock. A damp day will often turn my pan powder into a damp lump that is near impossible to ignite. This has happened on some days that I was sure there would be no problem, so did not check. At the end of the day, I was left wondering how long I had been carrying a dead rifle. Then often, while hunting in the rain, I check my pan every hour and am surprised to find it is still dry. Go figure. "Keep your powder dry" was good advice 200 years ago, and still is. A few grains of bullseye under a charge of damp black powder and shot might be just enough to leave an obstruction in your bore.