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Q. I just starting to use muzzleloaders and know very little about them. Today my gun misfired on a great buck and I never want that to happen again. It was a strange misfire; it was more of a hesitation. The primer popped then about a half-second to a second went by then the charge went off. By that time my sights were off the deer and it was gone. I was wondering if that misfire could have been due to the weather. It was drizzling. Are there necessary precautions to take with a muzzleloader during rain?

A. You had what's called a hangfire. Last week one of the guys in my hunting club had a hangfire that cost him a deer. He hadn't kept the inside of his bolt clean, and the sluggish movement of the striker barely got the primer cap ignited. It burned weakly, but enough heat belatedly made it to the powder charge to cause a hangfire.There are several causes of hangfires, and for the most part they're avoided by keeping the gun clean and dry. Yours was most likely caused by the foul weather. You didn't mention what kind of muzzleloader you're using so here are some general tips to avoid hangfires.

Modern in-lines that use shotgun primers generally don't have problems with moisture infiltrating the powder from the breech end. Some, like the generation of Knight rifles that use disks that seal over the nipple, are virtually waterproof.  If you have an in-line that uses percussion caps or has an exposed breech, T/C offers a breech cover that fastens with Velcro over the breech of most in-line muzzleloaders that will keep out rain. On outside hammer guns, there are little cap covers that use an O-ring and the pressure of the hammer to seal out water. You might also want to visit local hardware or automotive stores looking for small rubber tubing you can slice into little rings that will seal moisture out of percussion caps. Flintlocks can hangfire if you have too much priming powder in the pan, as it burns through the touchhole like a fuse instead of letting the heat from the powder blast through and light the charge. Regardless of gun style, moisture is effectively sealed on the muzzle end by simply putting a piece of tape over the muzzle.