Wet powder

I just have a question I forgot to ask a few weeks back. When I shot the young sambar it had been pouring rain, i mean pouring too! After the shot it stopped so I was able to take pics etc. my Question is, after I shot the deer I quickly reloaded doing my best to net let any rain down the barrel in case a food up shot was required. It wasn't so that night I pushed out the shot and projectile only to find it was wet and there was a couple of visible droplets of water in there and inside the sabot. I really have no idea how it got in there but my question is, would it have fired? Approximately 3/4 of the powder was dry, just the stuff near the projectile was wet, maybe that's how I got water in there?

Any ideas? With a centrefire or bow a rainy day is my favourite time to stalk because my sounds are muffled and not to mention that I just find the sounds and smells all the more delightful during rain.

Cheers

Jack


I prefer meat in its original packaging

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That's a good question. Threads often come up about keeping that first shot dry but never any talk about reloading in the rain. I have killed two deer in downpours but never needed a follow up. With the first shot just a piece of electrical tape over the muzzle keeps it dry. I have done testing that shows you can shoot right through it and it has no effect on poa. But reloading in the rain is interesting.

Sounds like the breech plug end of the powder "Might" have been ok but the powder in that charge could all become damp and not fire or hang fire. When I have to reload in wet conditions (Rain or Snow) I try to keep a hand over the muzzle while I dig out my little zip lock bag of patches. I swab the bore and then make sure that the dry patch comes out dry. I will keep the barrel as close to me as possible the whole time and keep a hand over the bore when the rod is not in it. As soon as it is reloaded I put another balloon over the muzzle. Never had a problem when I do this.

If your ignition is a 209 primer, it might have fired. I had the same thing happen to me when shooting on the range one wet afternoon. The load went off but you could hear and tell it was not a "full shot." Also the accuracy was bad.

I suspect, after you shot in the pouring rain, you raised the muzzle up to the heavens.. which is a good safety thing, and needed to reload. That's when the water got down the barrel and sat in the breech plug.

Reloading in the rain is the only time I prefer pellets over loose powder. For a follow up shot I keep 3 pellets(130 gr ...two 50's and a 30) and a bullet in a quick loader( it stays dry) and if I need a follow up shot it is easy to turn the quickloader up and dump the pellets and bullet in . If its a real down pour you can load pellets side ways even, with the gun tucked under your jacket . You just need to make sure you know where your gun shoots with pellets .. My POI with the pellets and my loose load is very close. But the pellet group is twice as big, but for a follow up shot it's ok.