A dud is a complete ignition failure. The firing pin hits the primer and nothing happens. Causes range from a dead or improperly seated primer to contaminated priming compound or a light firing-pin strike from a worn spring.

Treat any failure to fire as a possible hangfire first. Keep the muzzle pointed downrange and wait a good thirty seconds before opening the action, because a delayed ignition can still send the bullet. Only after that pause do you cycle the dud round out and inspect it.

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