When this thread topic first started I read with interest about all the opinions and possibilities that could cause such problems. I did not keep up with the subject after a time as things of other interest took me away so I admit that I have not read every entry on this topic and beg your forgiveness in that regard. I do in fact blow down my barrel after most every shot, but not before pulling the hammer back and either clearing the remnants of the,cap, or opening the pan of my flinter, in this way, I'm not futilely blowing air down the barrel that has no escape port. Of course, most times, when I do this I'm reassured immediately, that my charge has gone off from the smoke exiting the nipple or flash hole, that was until recently, when I tried being more versatile with the shooters that I have, as I only own large caliber rifles, .54 and above and I wanted to start hunting rabbits and other small game. It was suggested that you could use your big guns for this if you only diminished greatly the size of your powder load, which I did, and you know what? It works, It works well, but when you take 13 pound gun and reduce the load so much that it doesn't kick at all, and very little if any smoke is produced save for the cap, or the primer powder going off, It gives you a concerned pause as to whether you actually expelled a round ball out the end of that gun or not. I actually reduced the powder charge so low on one occasion that I heard the ball poop out the end of the barrel less than ten yards in front of me with the patch only a few feet in front of me, and yeah, there was some unburned powder still in the barrel, I discovered this because I went to pick up the patch while carrying the rifle muzzle down and saw what came out the barrel end left on the snow. Had I just went for another followup reload as is my habit, I would have loaded another charge of powder down the barrel of unburned and perhaps still smoldering powder from the previous shot. I no longer use my rifles in this manner. I am instead looking into a much smaller caliber rifle for small game hunting. Not saying it can't happen will always bring about a situation to prove us all wrong. Had I dropped the butt of my rifle to the ground that time it would have recollected the unburned powder to the bottom of the barrel just as I was close to sticking my face over the muzzle. I still follow this practice of blowing down the barrel(perhaps it isn't wise)but I do always load reasonable loads for the caliber I'm shooting, and there is "never" any doubt as to whether or not a charge has gone off. I expect there will be thought on both sides of this post, but I just thought I'd share some food for thought from my own experience. Wes
