My first time shooting black powder

[The_Tinman]

One of my hunting buddies got out of the army last year and bought himself a welcome home present... He wanted something that he'd never see the guy on the next bench over shooting... What'd he buy? A Henry-Martini chambered in .577-450 thats a damn intimidating round compared to my 7.62x54r!

Well four of us went out that day and he brought out 5 rounds. We all took turns firing the monstrous rifle and each of us had different results...

Squeeze the trigger...
Click...
...
...
Bang!

All the rounds we fired came from the same lot manufactured in the 1950's, and each had a different delay while the powder burnt!

Is this normal? I've never shot black powder before so when nothing immediately followed the click I immediately thought misfire... Light strike? Bad primer? Did the hammer spring snap? BANG!! Damn I missed by 3 meters!

I'm strangely intrigued by this rifle. It's supposed to be accurate and have the ability to take down a hippo... Was this poor quality rounds? He said they weren't the best, but how much delay should be expected? I kinda want one now...

[GOEX FFF]

It probably wasn't the powder itself, but the delayed full ignition of the priming compound.
Primer deterioration usually comes from poor storage, climate/humidity over the years. Much like the click-bang issues with POF .303.

A while back, Century was selling some berdan Kynoch .577/450 that was loaded with cordite that had many click-bangs and was sold at a discount.
I'm unsure of the year production of it, but it very well could be the same stuff.

Do you know if it was for sure BP?

Were the projectiles paper-patched?
Did it look like this?

[The_Tinman]

Those are exactly the rounds we were shooting. We were pulling those hairs out of the barrel after each shot. He said they were kynoch but I didn't want to misspell it lol.

[bruceflinch]

Those are exactly the rounds we were shooting. We were pulling those hairs out of the barrel after each shot. He said they were kynoch but I didn't want to misspell it lol.

So what are those strings? packing?
Another day, Another lesson on C&Rs I like it!

[GOEX FFF]

Those are exactly the rounds we were shooting. We were pulling those hairs out of the barrel after each shot. He said they were kynoch but I didn't want to misspell it lol.

Yeah, that would probably explain it. A bit of this ammo is still out there.
While the Martini-Henry was rated for BP, this Kynoch cordite ammo is loaded down to Martini specs and is safe to fire nonetheless.

And you're right in your first post. Comparing the original Martini .577/450 cartridge which carried a 480gr bullet over 85 grains of BP, vs. a 7.62 .30 cal 182gr heavy ball.....it packs a wallop!

[GOEX FFF]

So what are those strings? packing?
Another day, Another lesson on C&Rs I like it!

Bruce, what you see in the pic that looks like spaghetti is cordite or "cord powder". Unlike a flake or a ball powder, cordite is a smokeless propellant composed of nitrocellulose, nitroglycerin, guncotton, and a petroleum based substance that is then gelatinized by the addition of acetone, then pressed into cords and hardens.
The Brits and the commonwealth were a big user of cordite propellants, from small arms ammunition to artillery shells. Cordite also has a tendency to burn a lot hotter and can erode a bore faster than your normal smokeless ball, flake and extruded powders.

Normally all the cordite would be ignited contained in the case, but with poor primer ignition, un-burnt remnants could certainly be left behind.

[TheExpertish]

Sounds like fun. I've been wanting to get a Henry lever action.

[rojocorsa]

OP, keep in mind that over time, the chemicals in the ammo deteriorate. C'est la vie.