Help a newbie understand what went wrong...

[Voltigeur_de_la_Garde]

So yesterday was the day. I went to the range with one of my Muzzleloaders for the first time. For this honor I chose my Sicilian Service Rifle model 1849. It's a 69. Cal rifle. I loaded with 30 grains of 2f and a 69. Cal Minié. I fired four shots without incident, having a blast, but when I pulled the trigger on the fifth shot, instead of a sharp *bang* all I heard was a *thump*. There was no recoil at all so I was covinced the charge hadn,t gone off. After what felt like half an hour of anxious waiting I dared to put the ramrod down the barrel...to discover it was empty. I had loaded both ball and powder no doubt about it, so what went wrong?

 

[2 shots]

cant say for sure, but firing a muzzle loader indoors seems interesting

 

[Voltigeur_de_la_Garde]

cant say for sure, but firing a muzzle loader indoors seems interesting

Asked the employee at the range. They allowed it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Phil Coffins]

The only way I think would result in this is if the load was loose. With the slug well off the charge the pressure had a lot of volume to expand in until it pushed the slug out of the barrel with out causing any damage. Signs of that happening is an unusual dirty bore after the shot.

 

[Grenadier1758]

That is a light load for a Minie', but the service load would have been 50 grains of powder so that would not have been the problem since earlier shots did have a sharp bang.

That thump sounds more like there was no bullet over the powder. For some reason, could the Minie' ball moved off the charge? It should not have as fouling build up would tend to hold the bullet in place. Was the Minie ball short started and only about 10 cm down the barrel? The low powder charge may not cause the barrel to bulge.

@Phil Coffins suggestion to see if the barrel had a lot of fouling after that weak shot is good. That would be an indication of no ball or a very loose ball or a ball not seated down on the powder charge.

Could the powder have gotten wet due to wiping the bore with a very wet patch?

Could @Voltigeur_de_la_Garde please provide all the details of the loading procedure from after a shot was fired until the next shot was fired?

Right now, all we can offer is speculation.

 

[maillemaker]

Is it possible you placed the minie in the muzzle but forgot to drive it home?

 

[reddogge]

You better check for a ring in the barrel.

 

[ZUG]

I will agree with of the other suggestions here - bullet not seated on top of powder - not rammed all the way home. This would give you that odd "blooped" sound when fired instead of a "bang". This is just my guess

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

So yesterday was the day. I went to the range with one of my Muzzleloaders for the first time. For this honor I chose my Sicilian Service Rifle model 1849. It's a 69. Cal rifle. I loaded with 30 grains of 2f and a 69. Cal Minié. I fired four shots without incident, having a blast, but when I pulled the trigger on the fifth shot, instead of a sharp *bang* all I heard was a *thump*. There was no recoil at all so I was covinced the charge hadn,t gone off. After what felt like half an hour of anxious waiting I dared to put the ramrod down the barrel...to discover it was empty. I had loaded both ball and powder no doubt about it, so what went wrong?

You have some good replies already. My two cents: are you sure the 30 grains did not get contaminated or wet? Was the 30 grains maybe spilled and you did not have the full 30? Did you shoot another two or three shots to see if the thump was consistant?
Larry

 

[longcruise]

I know you seem certain that you loaded a bullet but is there any possibility that you didn't load the it? Did it hit the target? Did it impact anywhere?

 

[wiscoaster]

Asked the employee at the range. They allowed it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

You are one lucky son of a gun!!

 

[longcruise]

You are one lucky son of a gun!!

I shot several times at an underground indoor range that had a hefty exhaust system. No problem Not sure if that range is still in business.

 

[Bad Karma]

I shot several times at an underground indoor range that had a hefty exhaust system. No problem Not sure if that range is still in business.

There was one in Lakewood many years ago. I can’t recall the name or the street it was on but it’s probably buried under concrete and asphalt anyway.

 

[longcruise]

There was one in Lakewood many years ago. I can’t recall the name or the street it was on but it’s probably buried under concrete and asphalt anyway.

That's the one. It was on west jewel about a block west of Wadsworth.