Just flubbed my second deer Big thanks

powdergun

powdergun

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I've been hunting whitetail with my Savage ML II. Last sat I lined up on a doe and the gun just went pop but no boom. I believe I solved the problem in that some grease from my breech plug fouled the charge.
Took the gun home and cleaned it up properly being sure not to get grease in the wrong places. Tonight I loaded her up again and went to sit on the stand when a nice 5X5 walks right up to my decoy. I line up at 15 yards and

THE SAME BLOODY THING HAPPENED ( Just a little upset :D) Pop and no boom.

I have never had this issue with my savage muzzle loader. Has this happened to anyone else?

Help..... all suggestions accepted. BTW I was using smokeless powder and the primers are going off but the powder is not igniting.

If I miss thems the breaks but equipment failure really makes me mad.
 
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Are you popping off 1 or 2 primers on the rifle before you load? This is always recommended to dry out the powder-holding section of the barrel from any water or oil that may still be there. Are you using 209 primers? Have you taken the time to run a small wire through the flashhole in the breachplug? Check these things.
 
Yeah I guess I should edit. No I didn't shoot off a couple primers. I put the charge in at the house and it was cold out. I think you fellas may have found the problem. You think hunting twenty years with a muzzle loader would of taught me a thing or two:runaway:

On a more positive note the buck just moved off slowly and was not spooked. I hope he'll stick around. This is the first year I tried a decoy and it worked text book perfect tonight. Gave a few doe bleats and 5 mins later there he was just staring at the decoy only ten feet from it. After the gun issue he even came back ten minutes later for another look. Cool to watch non the less. ( BTW the rye I just finished has calmed the frustration a bit )
 
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I've got the same ML and have never heard of having to pop off a couple of primers. Which powder, primer, sabot and bullet are you using? The most common cause of this is a loose sabot. How much pressure does it take to load?
 
Ikantski said:
I've got the same ML and have never heard of having to pop off a couple of primers. Which powder, primer, sabot and bullet are you using? The most common cause of this is a loose sabot. How much pressure does it take to load?
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A loose sabot :confused: Do you mean a sabot that is not fully seated on the powder charge??? Even if this is the case it would not prevent ignition of the main pwder charge.
And firing off a couple of caps before loading is standard practice. It cleans out the flash hole through the breech plug. A smart and simple thing to do to prevent misfires. :D
 
Yup, firing a couple caps is most definitely a good idea. Dries any oil, grease or condensation in the powder chamber. I think your problems are a bit more serious, however. It's rare for smokeless not to go bang. I suspect either your powder is damp or your ignition hole in the breech plug is plugged. A loose sabot still allows the powder to burn....you just don't get full velocity.
 
The only thing I can figure is that because of a temp change ( Warm to cold ) there was condensation and the charge got damp. I've never had problems before and it sure was frustrating loosing two deer because of it.

The rifle was properly cleaned and the bullet and sabot loaded as usual. The load is a 300gr XTP in a black sabot with 45 gr of 4227 IMR. The primers are firing. I'll fire a couple of primers next time as well as using a fresh can of powder and switching to CCI mag primers. If it happens again I will rap that gun around a fence post and switch to archery.

If I had a bow it would of been a 8 yrd broadside shot at a deer looking away from me.
 
Ikantski said:
Right, I fire a primer after cleaning the gun but not every time I load.

With smokeless you need a tighter seal than BP or subs. If you are using EZ load sabots, it may not ignite. Sheephunter is probably right with the breechblug too, it might be time to drill it out.

http://ridgerunner20.tripod.com/thesavagearchivepages/id25.html
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The powder will still burn regardless of the sabot seal and at the very least offer up a big "whoosh"

You should always snap a cap or two prior to loading....no need to really doing after cleaning unless you are loading right away again.

I'd still be checking the ignition hole in the breech plug! No sparky....no boomy!
 
I've never used pyrodex and don't know much about it. My suggestion would be to find a pound of 4759 ideally or 5744. Both have reliable ignition with the 4759 giving a bit more MV.
 
Was this the first shot or shots after cleaning the rifle? How did you clean it?

What kind of grease and how much? I'm using a solid antiseize compound. Its hard like a crayon and you get it in a stick at the auto parts store. It won't be contaminating any charge.

I've been using IMR's SR4759 and not had a single misfire. I am now using EZ load sabots and they shoot great. As the weather is getting cooler, the standard sabots were getting to be a ##### to load.

Forget the pyrodex, go to SR4759. Very clean burning. I removed my breach plug last week to inspect it, and not much carbon buildup at all. Cleaned the barrel, and there was not much to wash out.
 
The Blackpowder Gods are showing you their anger. Immediately buy a T/C Hawken with primitive sights. Then use a lead conical, or patched ball. You will be ok if you use 777 or Pyrodex.


Flame suit on.:)


I do agree with firing a cap before loading, and have always used that practice.
 
Where did you buy the antisieze stuff and what was it called. If I can't find some different powder I think I'll switch to pyrodex as I have some on hand. There is only about ten days left in the season then I switch to my 308. That gun I know will go boom. And reloading is pretty simple too.

Anyone want to trade on some 4227:D
 
powdergun said:
Where did you buy the antisieze stuff and what was it called. If I can't find some different powder I think I'll switch to pyrodex as I have some on hand. There is only about ten days left in the season then I switch to my 308. That gun I know will go boom. And reloading is pretty simple too.

Anyone want to trade on some 4227:D
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Partsource, Canadian Tire, Princess Auto, Piston Ring, Napa etc will all have automotive anti-seize. You won't need a very large container of it. A little goes a long way and too much will ooze out and contaminate the load or at least create a sticky mess to which powder and residue will accumulate. I bought a stick of antiseize ("Thread Magic") and its just like a crayon or lipstick. Just rub it on the threads of the plug and vent liner. About 50% coverage will do. You don't need to fill the valleys of the threads with it. It will spread out. Also, you should back off the breach plug before putting the rifle into storage. No point leaving it tightened down.
 
x2 or 3 or whatever on the loose sabot. My buddy just bought one of these guns and a box of ez load sabots. Most of the ez loads went poof, you could literaly see the bullets shoot out of the barrel and land 15' ahead of us on the grass. When we tried the conventional sabots, it went bang everytime. After firing, (or not) some of the unburnt powder would fall out of the barrel if you tilted it down.

I don't remember which powder we used, but whatever it was ignited every time with regular sabots just not the ez loaders.
 
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