Misfire/hang fire time

[4v50 Gary]

Worst for me was Dogon (African tribe) made flintlock. It seemed forever but was probably less than 10 seconds.

 

[Mike OTDP]

With a muzzle loader? Control the muzzle and address the problem immediately.

The danger of a hangfire is opening the gun...right when the cartridge goes off. No containment of the pressure = Bad Things Happening, usually right in your face. With a muzzle-loading firearm, there IS no opening of the gun. The pressure containment holds while you address the problem. If you have to pull the nipple to work powder in...give it a minute. But if it's a matter of a new cap, or repriming the pan, just keep the gun pointed downrange while you solve the problem.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Lots of hangfires with black powder guns, but it is dependent on the humidity and your cleaning routine.

I'd narrow that down to cleaning routine and prep. Snow sleet rain nor hail has ever caused me a misfire, hang-fire, or flash in the pan.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

Had several, all in one day, on a pronghorn hunt with my newly built 25-06 on a 1903 action. First with my handloads, and then with two brands of factory loads I borrowed. The delays were maybe 2-4 seconds. It was a frustrating day because I saw the biggest buck I've ever seen, and, hangfire. He took off and I couldn't keep him covered long enough.

Later, I took the rifle to my gunsmith friend. He discovered a tiny ridge of wood that swelled with the heat, and was delaying the cocking knob. A few minutes with sandpaper and some linseed oil solved the problem. This was over 20 years ago.

 

[Mosin77]

Last time I shot 8mm, it was old Turk stuff. I wasn’t sure if it was hard primers, a weak firing pin spring (or slightly too short/worn firing pin), or aged primers… but nearly every round required a second strike, and about 2 (of 50 or so I shot) stubbornly refused to go bang no matter how many times I lifted the bolt to recock the striker. The first couple I waited a while to make sure it wasn’t a hangfire. After that I just worked the bolt as briskly as possible for second strike and resolved that they’d all need it. I was shooting a WELL worn old Chinese Mauser, so very possibly could have been the gun. But I’ll blame the ammo for now. Next time I try it, I’ll take a Yugo K98k refurb, that should be mechanically good to go.

 

[FROGO207]

Some time ago I purchased a pile of 303 POF ammo made in the early 50's we went target shooting and had anywhere from click-bang to 1 and a half mimutes hang fires. Complaining on a forum, possibly here I was advised to let the ammo sit on the dash in the hot sun for a while before shooting it. That solved the problem for the rest of that crappy ammo. Now it's reloads only and no more problems. Other than those particular rounds I have not had a hang fire either centerfire or rimfire in 50+ years of shooting.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

1 and a half mimutes hang fires.

Dang, how far did you have to lead a running buck???

 

[FROGO207]

Dang, how far did you have to lead a running buck???

My brother and I used to make a game of it to guess how long each shot would hang. Yeah I would have starved to death or been shot up if my life depended on that ammo LOL. What did I expect for 3 cents a round surplus.

 

[hawg]

I had a box of old .22 LR ammo when I was a kid. Most didn't work at all but a few had about a half second delay before firing. I've never had one with a centerfire or a muzzleloader not even with Pyrodex. I've had a few duds with centerfires and I've had priming compound missing with Remington percussion caps. So many that I won't buy Remingtons unless there's nothing else available.

 

[Shawn Dodson]

Zero wait time for self-defense guns. Tap, roll, rack, recover, and drive-on during training, practice, and SHTF.

 

[Scooter22]

I have a bunch of vintage 30s Turk 8x57. Some of it you can stand and stretch after pulling trigger. Pretty accurate though. Just put a heavy bag over the rifle when stretching so it doesn't move.

 

[Barmcd]

I've never had a hang fire, but I've had a bunch of Winchester pistol primers just not go off. I wait ten seconds before doing anything when that happens.

 

[rust collector]

Consensus seems to be wait at least 10 seconds, then work the action smartly. Some may retry later, others will dump or pull down. I have experienced one centerfire round that took 1-2 seconds. A few rimfire duds, especially during covid shortage, but no hang fires. I have heard many stories of Paki 303 events, but have a belt of ancient Egyptian 8mm that is for decor only.

 

[AMraider]

I shot a lot of surplus 8mm and 7.62x54r rounds. Very common to have the click/bangs. My early FTF's I counted out 30 seconds then after a while I shortened to 15 seconds. Had one go off after 5 seconds whilst I was still on the sights and target but relaxed. Round hit the target.....but guess what...I am back to waiting 30 seconds and being more prepared for the bang!

 

[Arkansas Paul]

In 30+ years of shooting I've only had one hangfire with a centerfire cartridge and it was this year on a deer. It was less than a second, just a click, then immediate boom but it was enough to take me off target and miss the deer. I figure I either didn't seat the primer all the way down, or had a piece of corn cob in the flashhole.

On fail to fires, I usually wait about 10 seconds or so to be sure. Hasn't happened very many times, but it has a few times.

 

[Gardner]

I use to have a bunch of POF .303 Brit that was click...bang. Not really hangfire but delayed ignition. I gave it away

Most recent was the end of a case of Yugo 8mm. I had a few that did not fire on the first FP strike. Re-cock and they fired, usually. Again not hangfire, but close