cayugad

Actually if the rifle did not fire it could be for a number of reasons. You hate to throw out a rifle that you know is accurate. Old primers ... maybe. Brand of primers.. most likely, just your luck.. I would guess that way.

Yet, since the rifle primer did not fire, I suspect a couple things. Perhaps due to the weather the spring that controls the force of the striker, be it a hammer striker or firing pin, got wet when you reported you fell. Of just the annual snow fall was enough to settle in the wrong place and compromise that mechanical condition of the rifle. That little moisture was enough over time to freeze in place. So when you fired the rifle, it slowed all things down enough that it was not able to hit the primer with sufficient force to cause the primer to ignite. Of course after your first attempt the ice or what ever that might have formed was shaken off the mechanical part of the rifle that assists in the ignition of the primer and hence your second one went off without a flaw. That would be my first guess.

Another perhaps scenario would be that over time the accumulation of oil and dust in the hammer striker area, or the firing pin area also stiffened under the weather conditions you faced and like the last scenario. Oil can be a danger in any cold weather hunting conditions when you face moisture or frigid temperatures. Even modern center fire rifles can fall prey to this one. So it is a matter of proper cleaning and getting the rifle ready for cold weather conditions. When I hunt in the cold, I clean all the oils off the hammer striker/ what ever area and then apply a light coat of silicone spray.

These two scenario could be faulted on just your dumb luck, or not using proper maintenance to meet the challenge of what the rifle was going to beintroduced into. This is not the rifles fault...

Primers are normally water proof. You can drop them, even soak them, and they normally go off. You might have just picked the lucky primer. Again, this is dumb luck and I advise you not to waste money on the current lottery in your state with luck such as you would have displayed.

I would guess, had you simply re cocked the rifle and tried the first primer over.. it would have fired. It could have moved back even a small amount to cushion the blow of the striker, The first strike would have seated it, the second would have fired it. It sounds like instead, you simply removed it and replaced it..

As for buying a new rifle.. as a wise man once said when his better half was not listening.. "Now is the time for all good men to purchase a new rifle and sneak it into the house." Perhaps a T/C product, or a Knight product. It sounds like you have had enough of the BPI line of rifles. Any of them are excellent choices...