Muzzle loading firearm and adaptor

An ignition system for use in a muzzle loading firearm having a receiver and a barrel with a blocking means slidably mounted on the receiver and mounting a firing pin mechanism, the ignition system comprising:

• (a) a plug having a first end and a second end with a sidewall extending therebetween and with a center bore extending therethrough along a longitudinal axis of the plug, the plug being configured to be inserted into the barrel in a sealed relationship to the barrel with the first end adjacent the blocking means;
• (b) a nipple mounted in the center bore of the plug and having a first end and a second end with a sidewall extending therebetween and with a center bore extending therethrough in communication with the center bore of the plug, the sidewall at the first end having an angled outer surface wherein the sidewall of the nipple is spaced apart from the sidewall of the plug;
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• (c) a cartridge configured to be mounted over the first end of the nipple and into the center bore of the plug, the cartridge having a head with a casing extending outward from the head, the head having a well on one side with a primer held in the well and an opening into the well adjacent the primer wherein an end of the opening opposite the primer is configured to accommodate the first end of the nipple such that when the blocking means engages the head of the cartridge with the firing pin mechanism adjacent the primer and moves the cartridge over the nipple, the first end of the nipple moves into the opening of the head such that the center bore of the nipple is in fluid communication with the primer, wherein during firing of the muzzle loading firearm, the firing pin mechanism engages the primer and produces ignition of propellant material in the barrel through the center bore of the plug and the center bore of the nipple.

In a muzzle loading firearm having a receiver mounting a barrel and having a blocking means for holding a cartridge during firing of the firearm and mounting a firing pin mechanism, a head of the cartridge having a well with a primer held in the well with an opening in the head into the well from an inside of a casing of the cartridge the improvement which comprises as part of the barrel:

• (a) a center bore provided by an inside wall in the barrel having a first section adjacent the receiver and an opposed third section with a second section therebetween extending along a longitudinal axis of the barrel, a diameter of the first section being less than a diameter of the third section and the second section having a frusto-conical shape with a first end adjacent the first section and a second end adjacent the third section wherein a diameter of the first end is less than a diameter of the second end;
• and
• (b) a nipple having a first end and a second end and mounted in the first and second sections of the center bore and having a first section adjacent the first end and a second section adjacent the second end with a bore extending therethrough in communication with the third section of the center bore, the first section having an outside wall in spaced relationship to the inside wall of the barrel, the second section of the nipple having a frusto-conical shape and configured to be mounted in the second section of the center bore, the nipple configured to mount the casing of the cartridge so that the casing extends into a first section of the center bore adjacent the inside wall of the barrel and the nipple extends into the opening of the head adjacent the primer wherein during firing of the muzzle loading firearm, the firing pin engages the primer and produces ignition of powder in the third section of the center bore through the bore of the nipple.