How long do you let your powder sit in the bore between sits?

[Brokennock]

What may well happen is that the caps got ruined. If you take a
cold gun into a warm moist place, like a kitchen with cooking
going on , you would get condensation on the outside--just like
a glass of ice tea. And that might affect a cap. It should not affect
the powder unless it was totally exposed. My thoughts only.

Careful, you are treading logical ground.

 

[Sidney Smith]

An unplugged touch hole in a flint gun will allow condensation to enter. Condensation inside the bore can seep through the patch material where it can get to the powder charge.

But you go ahead and keep on doing what you're doing. We' re all just a bunch of morons who don't know what we are talking about.

 

[George]

We' re all just a bunch of morons who don't know what we are talking about.

Now there is a man with insight!!

Spence

 

[Brokennock]

An unplugged touch hole in a flint gun will allow condensation to enter. Condensation inside the bore can seep through the patch material where it can get to the powder charge.

But you go ahead and keep on doing what you're doing. We' re all just a bunch of morons who don't know what we are talking about.

Read what I originally wrote.
All is kept sealed,,,,, and it has NOT ever failed.
Maybe your not, all, morons, and I never said you were. But, there are a lot of old theories and misconceptions, "wives tales," and conjectures, that keep getting passed along from muzzleloading generation to muzzleloading generation. Maybe there is some other explanation for gins left in similar condition failing, than moisture mysteriously entering a sealed steel barrel and forming condensation on the inside.

Nah, couldn't be,,,, I must be wrong and my gun is failing to fire and I don't realize it.

 

[toot]

my powder sit's in my barrel between shootings about 2 minutes.

 

[George]

my powder sit's in my barrel between shootings about 2 minutes.

On Tuesday I fired a double flintlock which was loaded 17 months ago. I had done northing to "seal" the load, touchhole open, etc., but both barrels fired normally.

Spence

 

[goodshot]

I don't post here much but do appreciate all I learn here, if I may comment.
Having done AC and refrigeration work among other things we learned the principle that "vapor pressure is independant of air pressure", meaning that a leak in a refrigeration system will allow moisture in the form of vapor to enter a refrigeration system against the pressue of the gas leaking out. A friend was at a local University where the had a device that showed how water vapor was passing upstream into a room that had positive pressure as it was exhausting that pressure through the slight gaps surrounding the doors.
I, too, have heard accounts of black powder igniting after years of being loaded in a stored firearm, the one that stands out the most is the account of a bedside gun loaded, caps sealed with wax, I don't know about if the cylinders were sealed, that was in a trunk, the trunk itself had not been opened for 100+ years. when unloaded the powder did ignite.
best wishes

 

[Mad L]

Lot of conversations here, now one addressed the OP's question about an "Orange pad coming out, is that a sign of rust?"

Could be, or could be not. A photo might help identify. I could be just the fabric of your patch combined with oils from the BB mixing and contaminating with the black powder.

I also see a lot of Flintlocks saying they like to stick toothpicks in their vent for storage. I was told to use a toothpick or even a pipe cleaner, years ago. But then by one who hunts in very humid climates informed me that:
"Black Powder is like a sponge when it comes to moisture. Wood and pipe cleaners also soak up moisture. Thus becoming a 'fuse' to lead the moisture right into your barrel."

His solution: "Use the quill of a bird feather, by nature it does not absorb moisture and plugs the vent snugly. Also with the feather hanging out it acts as a 'Flag' that the gun is loaded so he dont forget and accidentally drop in a second charge."

 

[Brokennock]

Unburnt blackpowder is not hydroscopic.
That said, the bird feather is a good idea and we'll documented. I treat my toothpicks or wooden skewers with a little beeswax or my wax and fat mix patch lube. Also, the ones used when the gun is charged have the end outside the gun colored red.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Well I went crow shooting after work and rain storm moved in.
After a few shots everything was soaked.
I fired of the remaining loaded barrel and went home to clean the gun. Everything was damp, no dripping. No way was I going to leave it charged in that condition!
Our predecessors must of found having to refresh a gun a chore. Or they read the weather better and were more patient!

 

[stank]

I leave my guns loaded for about a month at a time. No problems.

 

[stink koat]

I don't post here much but do appreciate all I learn here, if I may comment.
Having done AC and refrigeration work among other things we learned the principle that "vapor pressure is independant of air pressure", meaning that a leak in a refrigeration system will allow moisture in the form of vapor to enter a refrigeration system against the pressue of the gas leaking out. A friend was at a local University where the had a device that showed how water vapor was passing upstream into a room that had positive pressure as it was exhausting that pressure through the slight gaps surrounding the doors.
I, too, have heard accounts of black powder igniting after years of being loaded in a stored firearm, the one that stands out the most is the account of a bedside gun loaded, caps sealed with wax, I don't know about if the cylinders were sealed, that was in a trunk, the trunk itself had not been opened for 100+ years. when unloaded the powder did ignite.
best wishes

Why wouldn't it fire!

 

[goodshot]

he didn't say he tried to fire it, he reported he unloaded it and the powder ignited when he touched it off.

 

[Whitworth]

Brother picked up a single shot pistol that had been sitting since it's owner died in 2000. He pulled back the hammer to check the main spring and found it capped Further checking showed it loaded. He got it and upon attempted firing just for fun with the old charge only the cap fired weakly. Installed a fresh cap and BOOM she went. YMMV

 

[Robby]

I remember reading an article written by a marine archeologist stating that many times they have retrieved two three hundred year old encrusted cannons from the seabed that still had ignitable black powder in them.
Robby

 

[George]

Well I went crow shooting after work and rain storm moved in.
After a few shots everything was soaked.
I fired of the remaining loaded barrel and went home to clean the gun. Everything was damp, no dripping. No way was I going to leave it charged in that condition!
Our predecessors must of found having to refresh a gun a chore. Or they read the weather better and were more patient!

Or maybe they knew stuff we don't. From the memoir of Spencer Records:
"That evening a heavy shower of rain fell, so that both our guns got wet, which rendered them useless..... As our guns were wet and out of order, we let them remain so; which I think was providentially ordered; for if we had put them in order that night, which could only be done, by picking powder in at the touchhole, and shooting them off;..."

Spence

 

[Britsmoothy]

Or maybe they knew stuff we don't. From the memoir of Spencer Records:
"That evening a heavy shower of rain fell, so that both our guns got wet, which rendered them useless..... As our guns were wet and out of order, we let them remain so; which I think was providentially ordered; for if we had put them in order that night, which could only be done, by picking powder in at the touchhole, and shooting them off;..."

Spence

So once they dried off they lit up just fine?

 

[George]

So once they dried off they lit up just fine?

No, they lit up with the powder still wet. I posted a little experiment I did to test this out in 2013.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/burning-wet-bp.88104/
Spence

 

[Britsmoothy]

No, they lit up with the powder still wet. I posted a little experiment I did to test this out in 2013.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/burning-wet-bp.88104/
Spence

Wow, I missed this test you conducted in 2013.
You are an inspiration our friend.
Thank you very much.

 

[Stony Broke]

I've left a rifle loaded clear through the deer season, with no worries about powder in it. The only thing I do, is remove the cap, and I put a little piece of leather over the nipple and lower the hammer when I'm ready to go home. Always fired with no problems...