Extremely cold weather hunting

[wattlebuster]

So mother nature does'nt creep in an spoil the charge

 

[George]

Many believe it's necessary to keep the humidity out of the main charge. I haven't found that to be true in my experience, and I never do it, even in very humid conditions.

Spence

 

[Ron LaClair]

Spence, I look at it as "just in case". It's kinda like closing the windows in your house or car in case it rains. Damp powder don't burn too good

"If a drop of sweat or a falling tear

gets in your pan...goodby deer"

Sorry, I just can't help myself with them rhymes :idunno:

:haha: :haha:

 

[LongrifleDoc]

OK, but do you, or should you, plug the bore also?

 

[George]

Yeah, I hear you, and there's nothing wrong with that. But, if we protected against all those "what ifs", we wouldn't get much shooting done. I like to eliminate all I can. :grin:

Spence

 

[BrownBear]

Have you ever had a misfire?

Only while practicing at the range. Determined the cause, found the solution, and used the solution in the field. Beginning, middle and end of story.

If I hadn't put in the range time in bad conditions, I'd probably still be alternately scratching my head and my hiney, telling stories about the deer that got away due to misfires, and blaming the gun and the weather. T'aint so.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Have you ever had a misfire?

Only while practicing at the range. Determined the cause, found the solution, and used the solution in the field. Beginning, middle and end of story.

If I hadn't put in the range time in bad conditions, I'd probably still be alternately scratching my head and my hiney, telling stories about the deer that got away due to misfires, and blaming the gun and the weather. T'aint so.

I guess its difficult for those who live below the frost belt to understand hunting in cold weather.
I had an Aunt and Uncle that lived in South Florida that didn't even own pants.
It was entertaining to see them come visit for Xmas. :rotf:

 

[Spikebuck]

OK, but do you, or should you, plug the bore also?

The bore is plugged already by the patched roundball.

 

[Ron LaClair]

But, if we protected against all those "what ifs", we wouldn't get much shooting done. I like to eliminate all I can.

During causal shooting I'm not so fussy, but when I'm doin serious hunting for big game I do all I can to make sure she fires when the big opportunity presents itself. I don't carry a cows knee but when it's rainin or snowin I wrap the lock with my scarf and tuck the lock under my arm. I've never plugged the bore, I carry my gun muzzle down or near horizontal. It would take a lot of water to get passed a patched round ball to the bottom of the powder charge.

I've been huntin with flintlocks for over 50 years and most of what I know I learned the hard way through experience.

I use to hate to throw away a flint that I thought still had a little spark left in it.That cost me an animal a few times before I decided to always have a good sharp flint in the jaws. I've also had a flash in the pan a time of two when I didn't plug the vent in the evening after a hunt. Now I always have a couple bluejay feathers or thorns from a thornapple tree in my shootin bag to plug the touchhole.

Bottom line is the older you get the more careful you get...at least in the case of this old coon. :grin:

snow comin down

 

[George]

We are talking about different things. You are talking about hunting in the wet, I was answering LongrifleDoc's question, "...but why must you plug the vent at night?"

Spence

 

[Ron LaClair]

To LongrifleDoc

I plug the vent at night because I leave my gun loaded if I'm going to hunt again in the morning.

I don't bring my gun into my my heated tent or house if the case may be, going from cold to hot can cause condensation.

I plug the vent because it's a tunnel where dampness or moisture can get in to the charge in the breech.

Like I said damp powder don't burn too good. Sometimes I use my pick to poke a smidgen of 4f into the touch hole, that usually guarantees ignition.

 

[George]

"If a drop of sweat or a falling tear

gets in your pan...goodby deer"

Miasma

Foggy vapors in the night
Give frail hunters a real fright.

Creeping thru the open vent
On soggy, soggy mischief bent.

To damp the powder, squelch the flame,
Making poor old Vulcan lame.

Pluck the lark! Plug the hole!
Lest the wild fire be stole!

Miasma, mias.

:haha: :haha:
Spence
Mea culpa, mea culpa maxima.

 

[Ron LaClair]

I savor the smell of burning powder over the most expensive perfume.

My french Canadian ancestors were Catholic but somewhere down the line some of the family including me became protestant. :wink:

touche mon ami

 

[PJC]

Sometimes I use my pick to poke a smidgen of 4f into the touch hole, that usually guarantees ignition.

I quite often do the same thing.
At night I bring my rifle inside and set it someplace warm to make sure any moisture that might have been absorbed during the day will dry off before morning. I wipe the pan clean and keep the vent open to help dry off any evil moisture.

Pat Cameron

 

[BrownBear]

I quite often do the same thing.
At night I bring my rifle inside and set it someplace warm to make sure any moisture that might have been absorbed during the day will dry off before morning. I wipe the pan clean and keep the vent open to help dry off any evil moisture.

That speaks for your dry climate. In our wet climate, quite the opposite happens. Bring a cold gun into a moist, heated building and it quickly condenses moisture all over it and into the charge. I have to plug the vent on flinters or lower the hammer onto a tab of leather on the nipple of cappers, in order to keep out the moisture. I also use a strip of electrical tape over the muzzle while hunting as a matter of course. Then I leave it outdoors overnight to stay cool.

Bringing one indoors without the charge sealed is a sure prescription for a misfire the next day. Same applies even for bringing the gun into the heated interior of a vehicle without first casing it.

That's the point really: There's no prescription that works for all guns in all settings. A guy needs to work with his in adverse conditions to learn what works and what doesn't. Failure to do so is basic fodder for another sad tale of failure to fire, usually blaming the gun rather than the failure to practice.

 

[Tracy]

I don't know where you got the idea I live below the frost belt.Last Jan.We had 2 days all month that it got above 0.

 

[LongrifleDoc]

Of course, but I never thought of that. Thank you.

 

[larry wv]

To nobody in particular I leave my rifles outside after loading during hunting season. They will stay there a couple months or so. A cold rifle in a warm house is bad news for moisture. My flintlock gets the pan wiped out and the hammer down on a dry patch over night. If the weather is more wet than usual a piece of tape is over the barrel.

Larry

 

[Ron LaClair]

Brownbear and Larry, :hatsoff: :applause: :thumbsup:

 

[Alden]

Sorry but, again, the first at least is hardly a poem!

:td:

Oh, and Smelly Woods Guy, you had a misfire but it sounds like you have more than a clue about what you're doing and those super-heated gasses from the pan do get pretty hot.

:thumbsup: