Traditions Lightning Bolt Misfiring

[oldschool31]

Good Morning,

New to this forum...have been muzzleloader hunting for 15 years with a traditions lightning bolt with the 209 primer setup. I have never had an issue until this season when I had 2 misfires. Luckily I was able to recover and fill the freezer, but now I have trust issues with the rifle and I am hoping for some advice.

The problem is that when the trigger is pulled the bolt head only goes about half way resulting in the firing pin not contacting the primer. I can re-bolt which cocks the bolt head back and it will fire. It does not do this every time but maybe 1 out of 5 times. And of course as luck would have it it did it twice this year with crosshairs on a deer. I have disassembled and cleaned every aspect of the gun and bolt and still having the problem.

I'm not really sure where to start I was thinking maybe a bad spring or something in the trigger mechanism hanging, but I'm not sure.

Any advice appreciated


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[GoexBlackhorn]

I would order-up a mainspring and may-as-well buy another firing pin too, just to have (as backup) in the future.
Traditions Inc will sell you the OEM parts for it BTW.... Give them a call.

Curious thou! How cold was it when it misfired and what are you lubing it with?

 

[oldschool31]

I would order-up a mainspring and may-as-well buy another firing pin too, just to have (as backup) in the future.
Traditions Inc will sell you the OEM parts for it BTW.... Give them a call.

Curious thou! How cold was it when it misfired and what are you lubing it with?

The first time was early season probably in 60's. Second time it was about 15 or so. Manual cautions against putting anything on it that would gum up so I've always used just a drop or two of gun oil.


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[MrTom]

I think I'd take it apart and wash all the parts clean, then use a bit of dry graphite powder when re-assembling.

 

[oldschool31]

I wonder how much any parts would cost? A local store has a brand new Traditions buckstalker with a nickel barrel for $99.00.


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[oldschool31]

I think I'd take it apart and wash all the parts clean, then use a bit of dry graphite powder when re-assembling.

Do I just dust the inside of the bolt and spring when reassembling?


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[WV Hunter]

My first thought would be a thorough disassembly and cleaning. Its probably gummed up in there after all that time, and it doesn't sound like you've had it apart.

 

[ShawnT]

How did you clean the inside of the bolt body? If there is carbon build up in there you may not get it all with just solvent and a q-tip or such. You might need to use a round brush to scrub it. You might disassemble it again and Check to see if the firing pin will slide back and forth freely by hand. Next be sure you do not have the firing pin screwed into the cocking piece too far. The Manual will explain this to you on how far it should be screwed in before locking it in. When pushing the bolt forward is when it "cocks" or pulls the firing pin back, does the spring tension feel like it is still heavy, or a lot lighter then before this started? Also you may need to flush out the trigger assembly, I use lighter fluid for flushing triggers as it don't leave excess lube behind when it dries out.

 

[oldschool31]

I appreciate all of the advice. I had some time today so I took the components out of the bolt got the pin, spring, and inside of bolt shiny clean and put back together to test fire some caps. On the first trigger pull it locked up again. This time I slowly opened the bolt taking more care to look at what was going on and realized the cap had fallen out of the nipple and the pin had hit the side of the cap. So I reloaded and pointed barrel up and sure enough cap fell out of nipple...so all along my problem has been cap dislodging....didn't notice that in hunting situations or the first time I test fired. Live and learn I guess...so anyway does this mean I need a new nipple?

Second question the gun came with 3 nipples the 209 I have always used, one for musket cap and one for #11. Should I replace the 209 or switch to one of the other ignition caps, I've never considered switching until now and don't know the pros and cons of each.

Thanks


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[MrTom]

No real reason to switch from the 209 primer if that's what you've been using. What powder do you shoot?

 

[ShawnT]

So the primer was falling out. That would do it. Those 209 breech plugs have a retainer spring on them that fits into a groove on the end of the plug to hold that 209 primer in so it don't fall out. Sounds like your spring is broke, worn out, or missing. Traditions has a pack of them on their web site. I would say you just need to swap out the spring for a new one.

 

[ShawnT]

Does your plug look like this one? Notice the groove with the silver spring in it. The small tail on the end of the spring goes on the inside (Primer side) of the primer pocket.

This is the spring pack.

https://www.traditionsfirearms.com/prod ... on-springs

 

[oldschool31]

No real reason to switch from the 209 primer if that's what you've been using. What powder do you shoot?

100 grains of pyrodex pellets with 295 grain power belt bullet


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[oldschool31]

Does your plug look like this one? Notice the groove with the silver spring in it. The small tail on the end of the spring goes on the inside (Primer side) of the primer pocket.

This is the spring pack.

https://www.traditionsfirearms.com/prod ... on-springs

Yep that's it. Thanks


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[ShawnT]

Glad to help.

 

[oldschool31]

While looking for replacement rings and nipples I came across a 1 piece breech plug with 209 primer nipple made in. Talked with customer service at Traditions today. They verified that the one piece setup can replace the older 2 piece design I currently have. I have ordered the part...should make cleaning the gun a little easier. I went ahead and got a new oem nipple to keep on hand just in case I have another issue I will have a quick replacement.

This is probably already known, but I was advised by traditions that the Winchester primers which I have always used expand more and are harder on nipples.


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