Hunting over the past weekend a doe stopped out at 50 yards broadside. I had a akward but stable shooting position in my treestand. I pulled the trigger and heard "click".An audible "Oh $#!^" escaped my lips. I opened thepivot action on the CVA Kodiak Mag and found the primer did not go off. Istuffed the primer in my pocket loaded a new onejust as a bigger doe followed into the same clearing. This timeI was rewarded with a loud bang and watched the 165 lbs doe pile up under 50 yards.
When I got back to the house, I examined what might have happened and found the primer had been struck, but did not fire. I put the primer back into the gun, pulled the trigger and it fired this time.The akward rest I originally had, caused me to be pulling down on the pivot action after the gun was cocked. Much like a pistol grip on a rifle. Since the hammer was cocked, the pivot action was not able to open.However, there is still enough seperation for the hammer not to get a full strike on the primer. Lesson learned, but I did not know if anybody else had a similiar story.

Well believe me, many of us have heard that click, or the pop snap and the main charge not fire. At least you figured out what was the cause of the problem, solved the problem in a quick efficient manner, and made meat. Congratulations on taking the deer.

Nice big doe like that goes a long way for the table fare and sausage table.. What kind of load were you shooting over what powder charge? And what kind of penetration and damage did you get from that load? Always good to get first hand field experence on these things...

Again, Way to go!!!

I hate it when that happens . joe in okla

Thanks Cayugad! Your advice really helped make this more of an enjoyable sport.
I was using a 245gr Powerbelt Aerotip over 50 grains of 777 pellets. The bullet hit just behind her left shoulder and passed through just behind her right. No evidence of any bullet fragmentation in the body cavity. I thought the exit wound would be a bit bigger, but I was only 50 yards out. I get a better pattern with the aerotip over the hollowpoint, but I guess the trade off is damage at close range. The deer still only made it 50 yards with an easy to follow blood trail. I trailed her for pratice even though I saw her go down. The load did destroy the heart. Kinda disappointed as I love to eat the heart. Muzzleloading is so much more fun the regular gun hunting!

Those 245 grain Aero Tips on top of 100 grains of Goex 2f in my CVA Staghorn Magnum are so accurate that you would think something is wrong. Granted the rifle has a RED DOT (since scopes are illegal in our season) but I have shot some very impressive groups at 100 yards with that rifle.

I always figured that the load would get excellent penetration. Perhaps because you hit nothing on the road through is the reason for lack of wound channel.

It sure is nice when you see them fall down and know right where they are... Congratulations on the deer...