After returning home from a hunt

[mazo kid]

Shortbow, we need to watch what kind of feathers we use. Our Possum Cops can fine you if you have a feather from a non-domesticated bird on your person. A friend got a couple hundred dollar fine for having a Cardinal feather in her hat. Many Klatch

Andy, I always thought it was just migratory song birds and raptors whose feathers were illegal to possess. My niece found a dead owl in the woods, brought it home, put it in the freezer and called the Game Warden. Boy!! Did he read her the riot act, but was decent enough not to fine her.

 

[rr11]

I normaly fire the rifle and clean it when I get back to the camp. As damp as it is where I hunt it is cheep insurance.

 

[Trench]

Once loaded for hunting, I leave the load in it until, either I shoot at a deer or the season is over. I have left it outside at times, but I've also bought it in the house after hunting, and never have I had a charge fail to go off. Not that there isn't a chance for the charge to draw moisture and fail, but it hasn't happened in the 25 years since I have been hunting with a flintlock.

Interesting. I missed an opportunity on a deer on my 2nd year of deer hunting due to leaving it overnight in my garage loaded. Funny how mileage may vary, as we're so fond of saying here.

 

[DEWB]

You have to be careful when you leave a charge in the barrel for an extended period of time. I have done this before and haven't had any trouble yet but a freind of mine said he once left one loaded for along time and the powder drew some moisture and it ended up bulging his barrel. Since he told me that I try not to leave mine loaded for more that a few days and if its been raining while I was in the woods that day I want to unlaod it. I have 1 of those co2 dischargers and they work great if you don't want to fire your gun. Dew

 

[rabjr]

:shocked2:

 

[tg]

I am kinda slow at times so help with how just the powder being damp can bulge the barrel, did it shrink away from the ball and bulge the bore near the breech? only thing I can think of and I always ram the ball down now and then if loaded for a long period of time just as a precaution.

 

[DEWB]

I guess bulged would be the wrong term. He said the powder charge and or the patch drew moisture after sitting for a long time and I guess it rusted the barrel at the breech. I think he had to start using wads over the powder after that to get the ball off of the bad spot.

 

[Swtodd]

Ah, internal bulge vs external bulge. I didn't get it either, thank you.

steve

 

[Dphar]

You have to be careful when you leave a charge in the barrel for an extended period of time. I have done this before and haven't had any trouble yet but a freind of mine said he once left one loaded for along time and the powder drew some moisture and it ended up bulging his barrel.


Dew

This is tooth fairy stuff.
It might have CORRODED the barrel if he got it wet.
But good powder in a CLEAN barrel will not draw enough moisture from the air to even keep it from igniting. This requires LIQUID moisture. Dew, rain etc.
POOR powder, made with or containing even a small percentage of SODIUM nitrate sucks up water from the air and may even liquify. Also FOULING will suck up water from the air and then wet the powder it is in contact with.

Dan

PS
OK read the followup post. Corrosion yes if the powder gets wet but it still should not pull that much from the air but there is and was even more powder out there with questionable saltpeter. Lower grade saltpeter (Potassium Nitrate) invariably contains some sodium due the its method of manufacture. So cheap powder is no bargain in many cases.

 

[rr11]

I try to keep a fresh load in the rifle for hunting. I remenber reading that Wild Bill always unloaded his 51 Navy every night, cleaned and reloaded. Granted deer will not shoot back, a fresh powder charge is cheep.

 

[DEWB]

Not trying to argue over this,I'm just going off of what my freind said. I don't know how it happened but somehow or another his barrel got a bad spot in it from being loaded for awhile. Bulged was the wrong term to use,maybe it was just some corrosion or maybe the lube dried out of the patch and it got wet somehow. Next time I see him I'll have to ask him about it.

 

[Boudreaux]

What about the hammer? Do you let it down? Dry Fire it, switch the flint out and with a cloths pin and dry fire? How do you do it?

Thanks
Boswell

 

[Swtodd]

Let it down.

steve

 

[DEWB]

Called my freind today and asked him about the problem he had. It wasn't the powder that drew moisture but the patch. Said it has happened more than once to him. After being on a week long elk hunt and leaving it loaded for however many days it somehow drew moisture and put a bad spot in the barrel. I don't know if the lube dried up or how it happened. Said when he shot it the patch had a hole in it. Also had to start putting a wad over the powder after that.Sorry about all the confusion on this. Dew

 

[Swtodd]

Frizzen is already forward, cuz you dumped the prime. You can put a frizzen stall on also, just in case the frizzen got bumped back, or the flint moved in the jaws. But ease the cock down. Roundballs tape trick is good too, it's just hard to see in his pictures because his gun is so nice.

steve

 

[Boudreaux]

When I try to let the hammer down it seems to catch on the half cock. So I just switch the flint out for an eraser and let it strike the frizen.

Thanks
Boswell

 

[Swtodd]

Keep the trigger pulled back while letting the cock down.

steve

 

[reddog]

I would fire the load, clean the rifle, and leave it unloaded and clean until the next day. Then, when you get to your stand or where you'll start your stalk, you reload it. This way you have a fresh load, you don't have to worry about having temperature changes possibly dampen your powder with condensate, and you're not carrying a loaded rifle around.

Just one guys opinion.

That's the way! I want my guns fresh.

 

[reddog]

That gun is absolutely gorgeous. :thumbsup:

Yeah,,,ain't your average T/C....

 

[Diggerfly]

I've read BP will stay good for a VERY long time. So I'm guessing it's just a matter of what one likes.

About the feather thing. Here in CA we can't have bird of prey feathers because those birds are protected by law. So that makes sense to me. Other feathers are not an issue that I know of.