Gun left loaded

[michael paul]

Is it ok to leave my flintlock loaded (without pan charged) between a few days of hunting? I would keep it at the outside temperature.

 

[Big Iron]

Under dry conditions, yes. I have done it often.

BI

 

[MSW]

f you're not using a spit patch, and there's some indicator that the rifle is loaded, you should be OK. I stick a feather in the touch hole when I leave one ready to go.

make good smoke :wink:

 

[ohio ramrod]

when hunting in DRY weather, my loaded rifle stays in the barn loaded and covered with a saddle blanket. Never had a problem. In wet weather it gets discharged each evening and reloaded the next mourning. :idunno:

 

[caddo]

You can do it, but the feather in the vent hole is a good rule to follow. I wouldn't do it in wet weather but under normal conditions I have done it for a week or so with no problem.

 

[pa woods roamer]

I might be wrong but quite a few Pa. late season Hunters leave them loaded. As was said plug the Touch Hole and leave them In a cool area. I also put a " Gun Is Loaded" sign on My Ram Rod as A reminder....

 

[Stumpkiller]

I do it often as long as the flintlock has remained dry (no rain).

 

[Nessmuck56]

I might be wrong but quite a few Pa. late season Hunters leave them loaded. As was said plug the Touch Hole and leave them In a cool area. I also put a " Gun Is Loaded" sign on My Ram Rod as A reminder....

X-2 ...I have left mine loaded in dry conditions for 7-10 days....and also mark the gun as loaded.

 

[Ken Cormier]

All good advice.

 

[Grumpa]

Ditto, Lead Slinger. I also hang a "Loaded" tag on the gun. Years back, a few times, I left it loaded most of a year, and it went off when I tried it ('though once it flashed in the pan, but went off on the second try - but that happens sometimes on a fresh load :redface: :grin: )

I wouldn't leave it loaded more than a day, if I had fired it before the last loading.

 

[slumlord44]

The loaded tag is important for a couple of reasons. We are human and we sometimes forget things. We are also human and we all die. Cleaned up an antique muzzle loading for a friend once that was his grandfather's. I mentioned to him that the first thing I would do was check that it was not loaded. It was. Been that way for probably 50 years or more. Thank got it never went off. That is why the loaded tag is important. I leave my percussion gun loaded all during deer season. Always tag it just in case.

 

[azmntman]

I leave the ramrod in the barrel when loaded AND a post it not rolled up and stuck in the barrel.

Dry here so I can leave loaded longer than back east. When in field I put it in a gun case. I do however fire the gun before I hunt (EVERY morning) to assure it fires, only leave loaded if not fired and not feeling like cleaning it. Then I take it out and shoot it and clean it. Got a .50 loaded as above in gun case as saw no bucks this season. Will shoot in a week or so and clean it up.

 

[Semisane]

Yep!

 

[the Black Spot]

Left my firelock loaded with a feather in touch hole for 13 months. Fired right off. Was kept in the house up high.

 

[vacca rabite]

Ive done it.
Left the rammer in the barrel as a flag to remind me that it was loaded.

However....
I lost a Doe this year in the early PA muzzleloader season. I left the charge in the rifle for a week. There were big temp swings and I think that barrel sweated or somehting.
Next saturday I had a nice doe walk up to my stand. Click- FLASH, but no bang.

I reprimed, but the doe was gone. At lunch I walked to the range and tried to shoot it. Three more flashes in a row. I eventually had to pull the vent liner and found damp, clumped powder.

That was a good lesson. I won't leave it loaded any more, even if I think its going to be dry.

Zach

 

[Col. Batguano]

I put a covering of electrical tape over the muzzle of all my guns (except shotguns) when I'm taking them in to the field. You never know when you might inadvertently slip and jam that muzzle in to the ground or snow. The tape keeps it from becoming an obstruction. I don't care if it's HC or not. It's a safety issue, like blaze orange clothing.

 

[Shooey]

There is some good advice here. One more thing I might add is to open the pan, and ease the cock down into the "fired" position. Don't leave it cocked.

I also use a frizzen stall (a leather sock that covers the frizzen).

 

[swathdiver]

In times past and those who follow those old ways, there's no need for a reminder that a gun may be charged as they were to be treated as always being charged or loaded and mostly were always charged and ready to go. Otherwise, it's just a club when needed most.

 

[smo]

I don't like to leave one loaded for an extended period of time (more than a day or two) I think one other thing to take into consideration is the type of lube your using. If there is a possibility that the lube could be wicked into the powder charge I would use a buffer like corn meal, wasp or hornets nest material just to name a few. I just finished hunting for a week, after the first couple of days I tried to fire my flinter and had three klatches before she finally fired. The was with a damp olive oil patch not wet just damp. The gun was stored in it's case in an out building. After I cleaned the gun and reloaded it using wasp nest as a buffer the gun fired after the next couple of hunts without any issues. :idunno: I think I'm going to start pulling the ball if I don't fire the gun while hunting verses leaving it loaded over night.I sure would be upset if a nice deer walked up on me and she didn't fire. :redface: :bull: :cursing:

 

[vacca rabite]

Having a rifle flash at a deer and not go boom is, indeed, quite frusterating.

Use one of the CO2 ejecter rather then a ball puller. That way you don't waste the ball (as long as it gets pushed into something soft, like an old pillow).

Zach