So, this morning, a friend was driving for me, and out pops a pretty little doe at about 50 yards. I line up on her shoulder, squeeze the trigger, and hear "pop!" No fire.
I was afraid more deer were coming so I reseated the bullet and powder and replaced the primer. Sure enough, a buck walks out at about 100 yds. I put my sight on his shoulder and pulled the trigger and... NOTHING. Just click. No pop. I saw another buck pop out immediately, re cocked and tried again, and only got a click again. I unloaded and reloaded and tried different primers and still couldn't get ignition, even after two more tries with my primers, though I did end up popping my bullet out the muzzle. I did check my flash channel and it looked pretty clear. FINALLY, I had the bright idea to fire a couple primers down my barrel. Then I reloaded, and was able to get a trouble-free ignition.
This has never happened to me before and it's most disturbing. I'd like to get to the bottom of it and hopefully never have it happen again.
Here's the details.
I'm shooting a Traditions Pursuit Ultralight, loaded with 110gr BH209, and using Fiocchi primers and a 260 sabotted Harvester.
Here's what I THINK I did wrong. 5 days ago, I was hunting and it was really nasty, with freezing rain and sleet. The dewpoint was the temperature all morning. At one point, it was raining enough that I pulled out a latex glove and put it over the muzzle. I knocked off without seeing any deer came home, and brought my gun in with me. I did NOT unload it. Then, last night, I pushed the load out from breech to muzzle, and then immediately reloaded with a fresh sabot and powder. I did NOT fire a couple primers down the barrel because I had already done that on Monday and hadn't cleaned the gun yet.
To make matters worse, it was very warm yesterday, and very wet in the evening, but the temperature fell to the upper 20's this morning.
So, what what do you experts think happened? I THINK I got moisture in the barrel on Monday and in letting it sit, I left moist BH209 at the bottom of the barrel. I may have gotten some moisture inside the breech plug too, either directly or condensation. I think the solution is to immediately push the load out after a wet hunt, run a patch through, and either clean the gun or, if hunting just a few days later, just fire a couple primers down to make sure it's dry. Thoughts?
M
I was afraid more deer were coming so I reseated the bullet and powder and replaced the primer. Sure enough, a buck walks out at about 100 yds. I put my sight on his shoulder and pulled the trigger and... NOTHING. Just click. No pop. I saw another buck pop out immediately, re cocked and tried again, and only got a click again. I unloaded and reloaded and tried different primers and still couldn't get ignition, even after two more tries with my primers, though I did end up popping my bullet out the muzzle. I did check my flash channel and it looked pretty clear. FINALLY, I had the bright idea to fire a couple primers down my barrel. Then I reloaded, and was able to get a trouble-free ignition.
This has never happened to me before and it's most disturbing. I'd like to get to the bottom of it and hopefully never have it happen again.
Here's the details.
I'm shooting a Traditions Pursuit Ultralight, loaded with 110gr BH209, and using Fiocchi primers and a 260 sabotted Harvester.
Here's what I THINK I did wrong. 5 days ago, I was hunting and it was really nasty, with freezing rain and sleet. The dewpoint was the temperature all morning. At one point, it was raining enough that I pulled out a latex glove and put it over the muzzle. I knocked off without seeing any deer came home, and brought my gun in with me. I did NOT unload it. Then, last night, I pushed the load out from breech to muzzle, and then immediately reloaded with a fresh sabot and powder. I did NOT fire a couple primers down the barrel because I had already done that on Monday and hadn't cleaned the gun yet.
To make matters worse, it was very warm yesterday, and very wet in the evening, but the temperature fell to the upper 20's this morning.
So, what what do you experts think happened? I THINK I got moisture in the barrel on Monday and in letting it sit, I left moist BH209 at the bottom of the barrel. I may have gotten some moisture inside the breech plug too, either directly or condensation. I think the solution is to immediately push the load out after a wet hunt, run a patch through, and either clean the gun or, if hunting just a few days later, just fire a couple primers down to make sure it's dry. Thoughts?
M