My first experience with Pyrodex P was ME Missing a Whitetail Buck Due to a BAD Hangfire, This was with Idahoron’s “Hotrod Hawken” when he was here on his Whitetail Hunt. Ron and i had Shot his Rifle, Came home and Cleaned it, Ron Oiled it up Good, I brought the Gun in my House that night, Propped it against my Wall Barrel Up, The next morning Ron and i Ran a Few Dry Patches Through the Bore, Pushed a Clean Dry Patch Down and Popped 2-3 Caps Through the Gun, You could See the Slight Burn on the Patch. Ron loaded the Rifle and we Headed out, Ron had already Filled his Tag, I was gonna be the Shooter, and Hoped to Kill a Whitetail Buck with Ron’s Old “Hotrod Hawken” We found a Buck, i Bailed out, Cocked the Rifle, Set the Trigger, Settled the Pin Behind the Bucks Shoulder and Touched it off, POP.....................BOOM, HANGFIRE! Of course it was a Miss, the Buck was Long Gone
What happened? First off i was a COMPLETE “Rookie” THEN, I didn’t know much about this Stuff? Ron was the Guy with the Experience. When I brought the Rifle in my House the Day before, after we had Shot, Cleaned, and oiled the Rifle, I placed the Rifle “Butt on the Floor”, Barrel up against my Wall. This would have Allowed the Rem Oil To Run down in the Patented Breech, Fire Channel, And Obviously settle under the Nipple. Even though we Ran Dry Patches Down, and Popped 2-3 Caps off on a Dry Patch, There was likely oil residue on the Patented Breech Walls, Fire Channel, and under the Nipple. This is VERY Likely what happened?
Looking back on that situation,
Now that i have the experience that i do, if i had the Above to do over, FIRST OFF i would NEVER have Sprayed the Stainless Barrel Full of Oil, i would have left the Clean Rifle BONE DRY since we were gonna be bunting with it the Next morning. But since the Oil Had been Sprayed LIBERALLY down the Bore, I would have ran a Few Dry Patches, THEN Pulled the Nipple, BLASTED Compressed Air Through the Nipple itself, Then Through the Nipple Hole in the Breech of the Barrel with Muzzle Pointing Down, FORCING any possible oil down in the Bore, THEN Ran a few more Dry Patches to Get what possible oil i had Just Blown out from under the Nipple, Fire Channel, And Patented Breech. THEN I would have pushed a Clean Patch Down til it Stopped at the Breech Plug Shoulder and Popped the 2-3 Caps off. The Gun should have Went off without a Hitch if this Procedure had been done. If it was REAL BLACKPOWDER i GUARANTEE it would have Went off!! Pyrodex P? It Should have? The above procedure is DEFINITELY gonna give it the Best Chance of Going off
I even made a Video explaining this Procedure, I have NEVER EVER Had a Hangfire of ANY Sort with Real Blackpowder after Doing this Procedure with my Sidelocks. EXCEPT when i had the Can of Pyrodex P
I tried Pyrodex P at least 3 Different outings, with a Flash Hole that measured .033, It HungFired EVERY TIME on the First Shot, even Fizzled and Bullet didn’t make it to the Target. After my 3rd outing, It made a final trip out to my Driveway, I poured it in a nice line, and lit on Fire,
BURN BABY BURN!!! Maybe i got a Bad Can of Pyrodex P? I hear it can go Bad? I’ll never know