May I make a suggestion on who to address this question to

May I make a suggestion on who to address this question to: Idaho Lewis is your expert here.

Personally I have never fired one of the Inline rifles, have shot allot of rounds through your conventional cartridge weapons but NO Inlines. Have spent over 60 years with the traditional crowd.

Lewis has done both in his young years ... :07:


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I picked up an in-line early this past January for my birthday. I had several problems with my side locks that caused a charge not to go off and end result miss a nice doe @ 50 yards perfect broad side shot to boot, snap went the cap and no boom. Completely disgusted in said that’s it I’m getting an in line muzzle loader, it took me 3 hours to pull that charge (first I pulled the nipple off and back charged it several time to no avail) my other one had the cleaning jag and patch stuck at the bottom of the barrel. So hence my frustration. I was soon the proud new owner of a brand new traditions 50 cal buck stalker with a 1:28” twist. It’s a breech open type which I absolutely love if there’s a problem I can remove the breech plug and stuff the whole mess right out the back, this one has a few quirks of it’s own but that’s not a bad thing, first I found it likes to be shot on a clean barrel, so I have to clean between shots, second it didn’t like the lighter 200-250gr bullets it likes the heavier 300’s, ( I have some heavier than that to try on the next few weeks but after our black powder season ends) it also likes loose powder and the charges weighed out as well. I wish I had taken a picture of the target though my average group is about the size of a nickel at 110 yards. But I really like this one. I haven’t given up on my side locks yet but they’re just not my primaries any more for now. I just found a certain fondness for the removable breech plugs if you know what I mean.

IMO, if one is not willing to learn the game, willing to learn how to field fix their weapon.. a new gun isn't the fix. Muzzleloading is all about patience and understanding your firearm.

I did end up figuring out the problems with those 2, the one with the stuck  jag was the cleaning patches were too thick and that one needs to be cleaned every shot even in the field when hunting, the other that didn’t fire reliably was the nipple…. I had to switch to a musket  nipple to keep the nipple from mushing and rolling the drum over. (Which wasn’t the cause of this issue this time)It’s not that I don’t know my weapons because I do I thought I had fixed all the problems and another one crept up at the least opportune time so things do happen but when a weapon becomes unreliable it’s time to replace it just like vehicles.I’ve had other 2 for about 15 years and they weren’t always this way, I cared for them every time they were used they were cleaned with scalding hot water and dish soap to clean them then and some rust preventative in the barrel,I pull the locks out and clean them and lube them, when I’d go to the range I wipe the barrel out dry and pop a cap through it to help clear the flash channel and they’d work just fine, but what to do when the weapons fail you. I mean no disrespect what so ever. I’m a certified auto mechanic of 20 years and I am machinist this isn’t my first trip to the rodeo. And again I mean absolutely no disrespect, when I got those 2 side locks they were both well used abused and  deffenitly miss treated it was last year I had decided to take 1 out for muzzle loading season  and it malfunctioned so if nothing is reliable it’s time to get one that is just like a vehicle

Lew, taught/showed via a old YouTube video what he does to ensure his sidelock goes off every time.
1) Swab your bore with a clean patch to remove any possible oil. You can also do it with an Alcohol patch followed with a dry patch.
2) Push a dry patch down the bore until it reaches the bottom of the bore.
3A) If you want, if you have an Air Compressor or Can Air and force air through the nipple. Then remove nipple and repeat blowing air into the breech area. If you wish not to do this, then skip to #3)
3) Fire 1-3 caps to burn off any oil that may be inside the nipple and breach area. Remove Rod.
4) Pour powder down the bbl and while the rifle is pointed in the air, tap on the side of the ML where the lock is. This will ensure the powder gets into the breech area.
5) Load ML and you should not have any problems.

Since I've been following Lew's process I've yet not to have my Renegade not fire on the first shot.

I do believe, if you have to swab the bore after every shot, even when hunting, then you had better get a good clean kill on the first shot. That animal ain't gonna wait there for you to scrub the bore and reload.

I Do truly appreciate your input every one the problem have already been fixed, I can fire 3-4 in the field before I have to clean the barrel. The problem I had last year was a bunch of problems that took time to fix. Fix one thing at a time,  last year at the range before hunting season started every thing was as fine as frog hair everything worked perfect and when I went out to go hunting  it didn’t fire the cap went off but not the main charge and I couldn’t make it for anything. Now how ever I am not so high and mighty that I can’t accept operator error, I usually store my guns after I clean them in the Cabinet barrel down so any excess runs out and not in to the powder chamber so that was my own fault but the drum rolling was not nor was the Miss adjusted dual triggers and so on, all that has been fixed all that is left is to sight them back in , as far as the ram rod and jag getting stuck I got some thinner cleaning patches and wipe the barrel every 3rd. If you’ve watch Lewis’s videos while he’s on the range he cleans every shot but hunting he doesn’t. Last year I didn’t have time to fix all the problems so I got a new one in the mean time got that sighted in so I could finish the season I weren’t going to give up hunting but the range is only open 1 day a week during the season (maine doesn’t allow hunting on sundays) so everyone wants to use the range. I figured this was a modern in-line forum and was simply expressing my experience that lead me to being a new in-line owner is all. As far as making the first shot count only 1 deer in 4 years ran at all, that one made it 30 yards then piled Up the others were dead right there. No tracking required. As far as my in-line goes it hold a group smaller than a nickel at 100 yards, I’ve dropped 1 dead in his tracks this year and the other was the one that made it 30 yards no second shot required. My dad always taught me if you cant kill it cleanly with the first shot don’t bother shooting it at all. And his second statement that always followed was “if you can’t kill it with the first shot what makes you think you can do it better the second time. I’m not some dumb kid guys that don’t know any thing about anything, I’m just about 50 and I’ve been hunting since I was 18 my Father was a navy seal for 23 years so he taught me well on most of that stuff about hunting, firearms maintenance and repair and so on, both my side locks hold groups just about 1” or less now but they’re not quite dialed in yet one need a new rear sight the other I have to shoot it at 200 yards and see. (Not for hunting purposes) but my in-line is all set for shots at 150 if I chose to shoot that far my average long shot is 100-110 yards and like I said they usually just pile up right there.