Muzzleloader failure while hunting...

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EatBugs

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wasn't sure where to post this but figured u guys know all about ML and would appreciate the story to go along with it....

was aiming at a doe.. pulled back hammer and squeezed trigger... click... ? ... open action and primer look fine and unfired.. replaced anyway... doe still there... pull back hammer and squeeze trigger... click....?! inspect hammer area, pull back hammer , look, nothing blocking hammer... doe still there... aim and pull trigger... click.... darn it... push the pin to see if stuck... its fine... doe still there... pull back hammer, aim, pull trigger... click.... I then proceed to repeatedly pull back hammer aim and pull trigger... figured as long as the retarded doe is still just standing there I will continue trying to shoot it... eventually the gun goes off and I finally shoot the darn deer..... put another primer in and shoot at ground... nothing.... get back to house.. put another primer in and now it shoots fine...ran about 9 primers thru it and they all snapped fine... what was wrong with my ML? why didn't it shoot? its a TC omega from last year...
 
TC Omega

To summarize, the original Omega breech plugs were deeply concave at the face, offering a short path from primer to powder. Some shooters, using pellets and hard-to-load sabots, were crushing their Pyrodex pellets. In response to the "too heavy on the ramrod" muzzleloaders, Thompson changed the breechplug by adding a solid ring of metal around the perimeter of the plug to offer pellet support (a ".50 caliber" Pyrodex pellet is about .45 caliber in diameter). Now pellet shooters are happy, and with no exorbitant fouling build up. If your Omega has a buildup problem with fouling residue or you are crushing pellets, an update breechplug from Thompson for about $20 delivered may relieve your headache.:cool:

I did find a Re-Call on CVA.:uhoh:
 
if the primer is not going off there is either something wrong with the gun or you have a bad primer and you stated the primer looked fine and a bad primer is pretty rare but possible but it should still have a good indentation where it was struck if the primer isnt getting struck hard enough there is something wrong with the gun and would contact the manufacturer and see what they recomend they may have you send it back to them or if a common problem may just send the parts needed to fix it.
 
my brother was frustrated once when we were dialing him in for long range and he kept missing the 800 yard target. he finally gave up after many attempts, and declared to me the 'definition of insanity is doing the same exact thing over and over and expecting a different outcome'.

pulled back hammer and squeezed trigger... click... ? ... open action and primer look fine and unfired.. replaced anyway... doe still there... pull back hammer and squeeze trigger... click....?! inspect hammer area, pull back hammer , look, nothing blocking hammer... doe still there... aim and pull trigger... click.... darn it... push the pin to see if stuck... its fine... doe still there... pull back hammer, aim, pull trigger... click.... I then proceed to repeatedly pull back hammer aim and pull trigger...
Click to expand...

i kid, of course... i don't know a thing about muzzleloaders, but really, really miss hunting w/ my brother, and your post brought that memory up!

carry on!
 
Im thinking you got some crud build up in the firing pin channel. Enough of it could substanically weaken your primer strikes-
 
reminds me of a december morning that was so cold my LCD watch stopped. i fired at a spike with a 45 flinter, but had a flash and delayed boom, so all i got was the tree right behind his shoulder. that's the way black powder hunting should be, and is in pennsylvania. primitive ignitions only.
 
my first muzzel loader was a knight inline. It used the musket caps insted of #11's. My father and I went to the range and shot it in before the season started and it was shooting fine. Went out the first day, a little doe came out, I took aim pulled the trigger and click. Pulled back the bolt, pulled trigger and click. The doe ran off and I was seriously frustrated. Went over the weapon aimed at a tree and boom the rifle went off??? Looked back over the rifle and sure enough after shooting it in i forgot to take the spent cap off and I had placed a new cap over it. It took three hits before the primer had gone off and it had blown through the old cap and found the powder.
Just a story I thought i would share.
 
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