Lets get some input on this subject....

[Bullseye]

Pete50 brought up an interesting subject in another post.  He said that he does not shoot any primers off in his Encore before loading.  I have always done this just like I always did with my sidelock.  Have always wondered if it was needed with the Encore, just never took the chance of not doing it.

I also still shoot a primer after swabbing the bore about every 3rd shot when shooting.  I have forgot to do this sometimes and it always goes boom.

What does everyone else do.  It is time to ask and learn here.  My neighbors might enjoy not having primers go off in the wee hours of the evening or morning when I load my Encore to go hunting.

[Bim]

I never pop one off. I figger the 209 is hot enough to set er off no matter what. Have'nt had a miss yet.
Bim

[james]

I never pop a cap- it makes my TC Hawken rust around the nipple. I took nine elk and several deer and can only remember one misfire.  It happened on a second (or third) shot when burnt powder from the barrel was pushed into the nipple and plugged it.  After hunting a couple of days we always remove the nipple, clean it and put fresh power or pyrodex under it. I clean the barrel with WD-40 rather than oil prior to loading it for a hunt.  You don't get the rust protection you get with oil but the WD- 40 dries completely and there is no need to dry the nipple and barrel by firing a cap (or primer).  I use a stainless encore 209 X 50 here in my home state of AR and I treat it the same way.
Keep yer power dry!

[DannoBoone]

A few years ago, I tested the snapping a couple of caps or primers theory
in my Encore. A lot of people seem to think it makes a difference to snap
a couple of primers (inline) to completely dry remaining oil out of the
barrel after patching until there is no residue left on the patch. (Some oil
is bound to remain around the plug. Question is -- Is there enough oil left to
be absorbed by enough powder to make a difference? One more -- Will
blasting off a couple primers dry this oil out?)

In T/C's concave plug, firing off a couple primers seemed to make a
difference in that the first round hit at the same height as the second and
third at 100yds. In the flat faced plug, the first round hit a couple inches
lower, just as it did by firing no primers at all.  Apparently the blast area
of the concave plug allowed the primer fire to spread and reach the area
in which any excess oil remained, while the flat faced plug would not.

Guess it should be noted that I spit patch between each round, at the
range or in the field.

[DannoBoone]

P.S.  When living in town, I fired off the primers in the basement. In the
early morning hours, it didn't bother the neighbors. It brought the wife
right out of bed, but she wouldn't call the cops.