3 Reasons Muzzleloaders Fail to Discharge

As always, this muzzleloading blog is dedicated to modern, in-line muzzleloaders.  But I’ve been hunting with muzzleloaders for over 30 years, and I still have more time in a stand with a side lock than an in-line.  And I do still remember how fast a side lock will let you down in the critical moment you need it most.

Many of you reading this can recall a time like this: you’re on your favorite stand; it’s a still, crisp, quiet day and you hear something walking your way in the hardwood leaves; you reach for your semi-trusty side lock and think (if even for a moment), “I hope this damn thing goes off”.

Now there's only two reasons you would think that:

1. it’s failed you in the past or
2. you’ve had someone you know tell you about their rifle failing them, and you're letting that get in your head.

Let’s talk about the main reasons a rifle may fail.

• 1. The number one reason any firearm fails to fire is because it’s just simply not loaded, or in the case of a muzzleloader it’s not primed, or both.

• 2. Another, that’s pretty much unique to a muzzleloader is that the primer/powder or both has gotten too wet to fire.

• 3. But the most common reason among us muzzleloaders, is just poor maintenance. In other words, a lot of folks just don’t take cleaning their muzzleloader seriously enough.

All of these reasons you may notice are self-inflicted, and 100% preventable I might add.

So what are my suggestions of things to do?

First of all, pay attention. Make sure you are loaded and primed before planning to hunt. Do your loading procedure the same each time you hunt so that you have a system in place and you will be less-likely to miss a step in the loading process.   Take the time to drop your "marked" ramrod down the barrel to insure it's loaded and prime the rifle as soon as your butt hits the seat of your stand.

Secondly, 9 times out 10 when a modern in-line muzzleloader fails to fire, this is most likely where the problem lies: a dirty breech plug. (in my opinion, outside our selfs, the breech plug is the root of all evil). As much as my rifles are shot, I have a bench plug and a hunting plug. So when I get ready to load a rifle to hunt with, I screw in my hunting plug which is only used for hunting. When the season’s over, I put it away till next year. This is probably over-kill on my part because my rifles are cleaner than most, but it makes me feel good and gives me extra confidence when hunting. (I’ve written extensively on breech plugs and you can find articles all over my blog regarding this subject, but there are two specifically on cleaning the breech plug which you can see here: Part 1 and Part 2.

Naturally, the entire rifle must be clean, not just the breech plug. I have a very detailed post with cleaning instructions you can refer to: 13 Steps To Properly Clean Your Modern Muzzleloader.

Now while hunting in the rain, and I’ve hunted in some real down pours, I make efforts to keep the receiver under my rain gear. Beyond that I really haven’t found reason to do anything more. Course, after hunting in a real heavy rain all day, I choose not to tempt fate and will reload my rifle with a fresh load that night. But if it wasn’t pouring and I was sensible with my rifle, I leave the load in the barrel. (Maybe you’ve seen my extreme demonstration of a wet rifle in a pool in my CVA Accura video?)

It’s really not that difficult to have confidence in your modern muzzleloader’s ability to fire when you pull the trigger, these rifles are extremely accurate and dependable when properly maintained.

Keep your muzzleloader clean, shoot them enough to trust your load components, be sensible in the rain, and they will not fail you.