tn rifleman,, i guess i didnt make it clear, whether its a rifle or a shot gun or pistol,, if the lock, vent, breach, design isnt right youve got an expensive piece of crap... rifling, looks, cost, twist, caliber,stock design lines, wood type, and finish quality wont matter if you sit for 7 mornings waiting for that buck at dawn and you finnaly get the shot and your gun goes pphhhhhhhht....... its not common on the first shot, but pattent breaches (which for some damn reason the mass producers like) have extra distance between the flash hole, or cap.. oiling after cleaning complicates this and can increase ignition problems. hopefully the pedersoli rifles dont have patten breaches on their flintlocks, if they do that is the question you should be asking.. a properly made touch hole liner is coned on the inside, and doesnt go into a patten breach.. jim chambers white lightning touchhole liner is a good example..these liners brings the main charge closer to the primer, and are less likely to clog, and are easier to clean out between shots in the field.. jim sells these liners and they could fix alot of guns that are having touchhole problems... ..the powder should set just below the vent hole and have enough 4fg in the pan to fire a 32 s&w pistol cartrige by my way of thinking.. the flint should be 3/4 inch wide minimum, 7/8 to one inch wide better... the pan in my round faced lock is raised into the frizen cover so it is sealed to some extent from the weather.. the lock should be designed so the sparks fly into the pan, not in front of or behind,but right into the center.. right off, not at the end of the stroke.. this can be checked in a dark room.. the shorter the throw from full cock to the frizzen,the better, and if the flint is too sharp and it gets stuck half way down it should still fire... how does this happen?,, the pan has to be wide, that is front to back so as the frizzen lifts its catching sparks as it opens all the way until it flips over, a good lock can have a pan (front to back) of up to 3/4 of an inch and 3/4 inch wide... a lip curving up behind the pan on the hammer side will throw early striking sparks into the pan... im not a lock smith, and i realize im not entirely correct here, but i just wanted you to see that your not popping a primer in a case thats going to simply go off every time here.. the ignition primer is about 3/8 inch away from the charge in a improperly made gun.. sometimes further.. it has to go from point a to point b every time, sharp flint, dull flint,, dirty frizzen, high humidity, cold weather... all this has to do with rifles or shotguns it doesnt matter which.. whats my point? entry level mass produced, imported guns (rifles in your case) just dont have the quality/ design/craftsmanship to do this on every gun.. ... and pedersoli is an entry level, gun... now the next point, why do i have a hair up my xxxx about pedersolii.. becouse if you contact them after the warrenty for parts, service, questions, or any reason whatsoever, they will probably not answere you, they wont talk to you , they wont care if your even alive.. theyve gotten your money... its not just pedersolli, its the way of the modern world... im just trying to save some beginners the greif of the learning experience.. if you get a good one youve got a good one and they put out many that are good, great in fact... but they are not all great, they are not guarenteed to be great, .. dave...