Ever start a fire...with ML?

[Zip]

Here in California our coastal gun seasons for deer start in August; in the Sierras, September. It's typical for whole forests -- heck, even parts of the state -- to be under a red-flag fire warning when deer season kicks off: no campfires outside of campgrounds and permits for fires and stoves even in campgrounds. I'm heading for the local gun range in two days and it's expected to be 100-degrees. Has anyone ever heard of, or bore witness to, a flinter or caplock starting a forest blaze when fired during hunting season? Maybe that's far-fetched. But flinters, in particular, look like Spark City going off and it don't take much to set the kindling afire in Northern CA. Just sayin'.

 

[nchawkeye]

Nope, I guess if you made a blind out of a haystack it could happen...

 

[BillinOregon]

Zip: I'm watching this thread closely from just over the border in S. Oregon. The possibility scares me to death. I have seen a small fire started at a shooting range where the dry grass was a few inches high. I think it might have been a smoldering patch that was the culprit.
I killed my first buck south of Ferndale in Humboldt County more than 40 years ago in August, and I know how hot and dry it can be down there.

 

[roundball]

Has anyone ever heard of, or bore witness to, a flinter or caplock starting a forest blaze when fired during hunting season? Maybe that's far-fetched.

I have not, and while its probably remote, I think your question is a responsible one...particularly in that region you live/hunt in if the news is any indication of what can happen.

I 'have' seen a patch smoldering in the grass at the range, so it is entirely possible that a too-dry patch could hit the grass and ignite something under those extremely dry conditions.

I personally don't worry that sparks from a Flintlock would be the issue...particularly with you standing right there where any sparks are occurring...but the smoldering patch could be a problem if you're not looking for anything like that after the shot.

I guess the simplest way to deal with the patch possibility would be to keep patches well lubed to prevent the possibility of them burning ?

 

[grousehunter]

last fall i started my coatsleeve on fire with a caplock gun, first time in 20 sum years, thought a bug was gettin me when i looked down i was on fire.

 

[capt_turk]

I've had a couple of grass fires start from burning patches. It's taught me to always watch for smoke after firing for awhile. I've started making sure that my patches were very well lubed since then and have not had anymore fires.

The patches that started fires were spit lubed.

 

[Dave K]

I have not started any fires, but I could have if I wanted to. I have seem many patches smolder after a shot. If I wanted, I could have gathered some tinder and made a fire.

 

[rabjr]

The dufuses on Duel Survival have.... :thumbsup:

 

[Zip]

Well, the last thing I want to do is backpack into remote, steep country, kneel down in tall grass, touch off a geyser of sparks and git more than I bargained for. I don't run as fast as I used to. The thought just lingers in my mind like the pall of powdered dust kicked up on the drive down the dirt roads to the trailhead.

 

[George]

Yes, I have, twice. An old professor of mine was an avid dove hunter, and he used a SxS caplock shotgun which he always wadded with newspaper. Every shot was a shower of confetti. We liked to hunt in corn fields after the harvest, and I've seen him start fires in the stubble on two occasions.

I wouldn't hunt with my ML during a fire warning.

Spence

 

[Zip]

Those are wise words George. But herein lies the problem. On the coast, the entire deer season can be run under a red-flag warning and in the Sierras, most all of the season too. Still, ain't seen a buck yet worth cashin' in the chips for and leavin' my lovely wife and two wonderful daughters. :thumbsup:

 

[Kapow]

I've started several, sometimes multiple small fires in one day's hunting. In the western country when the grass is dry and the weather is 40 deg celsius, those patches smoulder away and take nothing to ignite the surrounding grass.

Obviously not every patch would do it or you just couldn't hunt but it only takes one to cause a disaster. It was one of the reasons I went to conicals.

When its dry I look for and step on every patch, no different to tossing a lit cigarette on the ground. We have major problems with fires every summer. The last big one killed a hundred odd people and destroyed god knows how many homes, whole towns actually, so its a real issue with landowners as well.

 

[russecv58]

i havent started any fires, but it is a very uneasy feeling when you watch burning powder granules landing in dry grass. If your familiar with the Cherry Lake area then you know exactly what i mean. last season i watched in horor as my son fired my GPR, it was something i never noticed while i shot, but after seeing the shower of sparks, that days hunt came to an abrupt halt. :shocked2:

 

[skunkskinner]

I have started a grass fire with the patch, it was summer, hot, windy and hadn't rained for eight weeks. It was a pillow ticking spit patch. Live and learn.

 

[Wolfbane]

I am told that deer hunters in Victoria (Australia) avoid using muzzle-loaders, especially flintlock or with PRB in Summer I am told (we can hunt in any season for deer). That said, I cannot speak with authority on the topic. I have tended to avoid using the MLR in dry times.

 

[Tumblernotch]

This is what comes out when you shoot, so you decide. I've never had a patch ignite anything but I worry more about sparks. If you're shooting while standing up they have more time to cool before hitting the ground, but shooting in a sitting or prone position could increase the chances of setting something afire.

 

[Tumblernotch]

These two pictures are just milliseconds after the first. They're from a video I shot a few years ago. You can see the sparks starting to fall.

 

[Zip]

:shocked2: :shocked2: :shocked2: :nono:

 

[Tumblernotch]

By the way, the feller shooting that rifle is an 85 yr. old former glider infantryman in the 82nd Airborne and disabled miner with one leg. He was one of the guys who got me started in muzzleloading 38 years ago. He still holds an oldtime shoot at his place up in the hills every October.

 

[Kentuckywindage]

yep i sure have started a smoldering ember TWICE on the same day.

shooting a cva hawken with 40gr prydoex rs and patched ball. I was using a log that was very punky and apparently some sparks settled on the punky wood and an hour or so later my brother came running in asking if i knew the log was smoldering LOL.