How do you ready your gun for the first shot, when hunting?

[Lastmohecken]

I have blown that all important shot, more then once, when ML hunting even with a capper. Sometimes I felt the ball went wide of the mark, and it wasn't my fault. At other times I have made good shots and taken my game.

My question is what do you do, when you load that all important first shot, espacally on a flinter.

I know one needs to get any oil out of the gun, and on a caplock, I will always fire a few caps.

What do you do on a Flinter. I have heard that some will fire some powder off, just to make sure. Also, do you just imspect the flint, or do you dry fire it, to make sure it's still sparking good,etc. What is your method of operation?

 

[Vaino]

With a flintlock I run a couple of patches dpwn the bore and then push a pipe cleaner into the touch hole and then load. Before loading, one dry run w/ the flint to see how it's sparking. Have never had a first shot not go off....Fred

 

[rabjr]

I have blown that all important shot, more then once, when ML hunting even with a capper. Sometimes I felt the ball went wide of the mark, and it wasn't my fault. At other times I have made good shots and taken my game.

My question is what do you do, when you load that all important first shot, espacally on a flinter.

I know one needs to get any oil out of the gun, and on a caplock, I will always fire a few caps.

What do you do on a Flinter. I have heard that some will fire some powder off, just to make sure. Also, do you just imspect the flint, or do you dry fire it, to make sure it's still sparking good,etc. What is your method of operation?

From the begining, since 1983 through to using Flinters since 2004, I always used a tight fitting patch/s on my cleaning rod, ran them through the bore a few times then using a another clean patch/s run it down to the breech face and set the gun somewhere upside down the night before the season starts.

Next morning, take the rod out and with the frizzen closed and hammer stall on, whith the gun on half cock, load the gun. Powder charge, bear greased patch/ball pushed down until it stops.

On stand I pick the vent and my rifle likes two charges of the big brass 4 grain primer in it's pan. As long as my flint is tight and sharp, I can guarrentee my gun going off. None have failed yet in 26 years of hunting with muzzleloaders. :thumbsup: I should ad that covers cap guns and flint guns, also I use 3F to prime with.

 

[kherring]

I do the same thing minus the pipe cleaner. I run 3-4 patches to get the oil out of the barrel before I load. I also wipe the pan and flint clean as well. While hunting I clear the pan, pick and prime about every hour.

 

[paulvallandigham]

At home, I flush the barrel and flash hole out with alcohol, to get rid of any oil or congealed oil and grease. Then I run a couple of dry, cleaning patches down the barrel to remove the oil residue and alcohol. I blow down the barrel between the two cleaning patches, as the air forces alcohol fumes out of the vent hole( flash hole). I check over the lock for any screws that are loose, and tighten them. I test the flint to make sure it sparks. If the drive to my hunting location is going to take more than one hour, I put a very light coat of oil on a patch, and lightly oil the bore to protect it from rusting.

At my hunting location, I run another cleaning patch down to remove the excess oil in the barrel. Then, I load, powder, and lubed PRB down the barrel onto the powder.

When I get to my stand, usually before legal shooting hours, I use a vent pick to poke a hole in the main powder charge. When its legal to shoot, I prime the pan, and close the frizzen. The cock is left at half cock, until I see a deer within range. Then I cock the hammer back to full cock, holding the trigger back, to prevent an audible " click" as the sear bar passes the full cock notch on the tumbler. I release the trigger, and slowly lower the hammer back into the full cock notch. Then allI have to do is aim, and fire. As long as I do these things, I have no misfires.

The only misfire I have experienced when I was aiming at game was when I hunted in rain, and the moisture condensed on the bottom side of my flint, and lower jaw of the cock. That moisture put out my sparks as they were made, leaving a line of wet on my frizzen from water in the top jaw. I dried the frizzen, reprimed the pan, aimed and fired. I was hunting my first wild boar on that occasion. The second shot fired, and hit the boar in the spine.

 

[Stumpkiller]

A few days before the season I will put a new flint in the jaws and dry-fire it two or three times to make sure it is solid and sparking well. I have had one flint in the past shatter to pieces on the first shot after putting a fresh flint on the day before the first day of deer season. That was on a Bess with a mucho powerful hammer spring . . . but a lesson learned I don't want to repeat.

I run a cotton cleaning patch soaked in 91% alcohol down the bore to clear away any old oil and then I wipe the pan, frizzen and edge of the flint with another. I clear the vent with a toothpick, also wiped with alcohol first, to clear any dust or oil.

I then load up with a well lubed patch, but I put a small wad of waxed paper in between the powder and the patched ball. I do this because I may leave the rifle loaded for days if the weather is good and I don't want the lube leaching into the powder.

I also prime with 3Fg and keep a waxed cow's knee over the lock at any sign of rain or snow.

 

[paulvallandigham]

That is a good idea for waterproofing a gun for hunting, when you don't empty the gun daily. I have "made do" with plastic wrap between the powder and PRB, and that also seemed to work well.

For protecting the powder charge from getting moisture in the barrel through the vent hole, I take a large cleaning patch, soak it in alcohol, and fold 1/2 of it down on the pan, closing the frizzen so that the upper 1/2 lays against the barrel and covers up the vent hole. The evaporating alcohol from the patch sucks out any moisture that gets to the powder, and keeps the powder dry. I only have to replace the alcohol about once every 3-4 hours depending on temperature. I carry a small plastic bottle in my hunting bag with alcohol in it, for that purpose, on rainy days. It stays in my range box in my car/truck during the hunt, and I usually leave the field at noon to go have lunch somewhere, warm up, rethink my hunt plan and strategy, before returning to the field in the mid afternoon. :thumbsup: