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Shaking hands and furrowed brow were covered with cold sweat from the nervous fear that I might drop and loose one, and the stark reality that it could not be replaced

A learned forum member has suggested that I had contaminated the primer compound with oil off my hands when loading. This is the most likely scenario

I left it in the rifle for a minute then ejected it, had a look at the primer and chucked it away. A bloke I used to know had a hangfire blowup in midair with scrapnel in the face - eyes ok.

The...

I had a failure last night, which I cant recall ever previously happening.
Long stalk / approach on a couple of young stags an hour before dark. Closed to 100 mtrs, lined up 'click' checked safety...