Be sure it fits snugly to insure the proper draw of air up through the screen in the bottom of the bowl. Clear tobacco from the stem entry hole with the Freedom Pipe Tool by sliding it down the barrel of the stem. These smudges will become less and less as the pipe breaks in and the bottom of the bowl fire hardens. No two pipe smokers smoke alike. The objective is smoking pleasure and achieving that requires a certain degree of patience and experimentation to find what suits you best.
Some tobaccos are harder to keep lit than others, that's just the way it is.
If you are having difficulty you may have packed the tobacco too tight. Use the Freedom Pipe Tool to loosen the tobacco in the bowl, clear the stem entry hole, and try again. To relight your pipe, especially after it has gone cold, you may have to loosen the ash at the bottom of the bowl and tap it out through the screen. This is easily accomplished with the Freedom Pipe Tool by removing the leather lid and probing down through the top layer of tobacco to the ash near the screen. Be sure to tap out all the loose ash before relighting to prevent sparking.