HOW LONG IS TOO LONG

[COTNTOP]

The dog and I walk every morning and afternoon weather permitting. I like carrying a BP rifle instead of modern stuff for pesky coyotes that sometimes challenge the dog. I hate having to shoot and clean barrel every day. Question is can I leave a load overnight and maybe get 2 days without cleaning? I load 3f Goex with ticking.

 

[deermanok]

During our 9 day muzzleloader season, I sometimes leave my rifle loaded for a week or longer, if I know my charge hasn't gotten wet.

 

[cynthialee]

I have a pistol that has been loaded for the last five years and I know it will discharge as soon as I call on it.
Just shot another pistol I had loaded for 2 years a week ago. Went off as intended and there was no waoory.

See black powder has a theoretical shelf life of forever. And in its unfired state it is not going to harm anything at all.

Old guns have been found loaded decades after loading and they fire.

 

[leadhoarder]

I think he is asking about taking g a shot reloading and leaving it loaded to take on a walk everyday for a whole week.

 

[TreeMan]

The other posters I think missed where you wrote that you shoot it every day then reload. I’ve shot and reloaded during a hunt and left the gun loaded for up to a week without shooting out the second load and cleaning. I did not have any rust. I think shooting and cleaning every other day would be fine. Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on the steel in your barrel, humidity blah blah blah. I’d do an every other day. If there isn’t rust then go a third day if you feel comfortable. I also use a good mink oil lubed patch which pushes that fouling down the barrel on top of the next powder load.

 

[COTNTOP]

Thanks for the reply. I shoot everyday because did not want to leave powder in barrel. I always load a clean barrel and would not shoot at end of day if it did not hurt anything.

 

[andy52]

With a clean barrel to start this past deer season I left mine loaded for right at a month, when the time came for a shot on a deer it fired just fine.

 

[TreeMan]

Thanks for the reply. I shoot everyday because did not want to leave powder in barrel. I always load a clean barrel and would not shoot at end of day if it did not hurt anything.

If you’re not shooting it and you keep it dry you can leave it loaded for infinity. Blackpowder itself does not cause rust. Burned Blackpowder residue will.

 

[COTNTOP]

Thanks TreeMan that will keep me from unloading and cleaning every afternoon.

 

[FPDoc]

The dog and I walk every morning and afternoon weather permitting. I like carrying a BP rifle instead of modern stuff for pesky coyotes that sometimes challenge the dog. I hate having to shoot and clean barrel every day. Question is can I leave a load overnight and maybe get 2 days without cleaning? I load 3f Goex with ticking.

I don't see a problem with that. I would not do it if spit patched and wouldn't go too long if it had been fired and reloaded without cleaning.

 

[tenngun]

Britsmoothie has remarkable success with out being as aggressive with cleaning as this oc boy.
I’ve wiped and oiled the bore in the field after a shot spending the night in the woods with out any problem

 

[dave951]

The issue with leaving a PRB gun loaded is the patch lube possibly contaminating the charge. My CVA sewerpipe on a stick likes a load with a cork wad over the powder and then the PRB. With a load like that that separates the charge from any lube on the patch should be able to be left for quite some time.

 

[Brokennock]

Thanks for the reply. I shoot everyday because did not want to leave powder in barrel. I always load a clean barrel and would not shoot at end of day if it did not hurt anything.

If it was clean, which also means clean of storage oils/greases and you didn't shoot it or get it wet, it should be good indefinitely.
@Britsmoothy shoots pheasants, foxes, crows, squirrels, rabbits, and all manner of things a few times a week and doesn't always clean the gun in between. Nothing seems to have suffered ill effect.

 

[Malamute]

If youre talking a clean loaded gun, yes, indefinitely. Ive also left percussion revolvers loaded for years, 5 being perhaps the longest Ive tried. They mostly shoot fine, with one or two fast hangfires in a Colt Navy copy one time I shot it after being left loaded for years.

I have one thats now been loaded about 8 or so years, not sure when ll get a chance to shoot it. I generally load them right after cleaning from the last time they were fired, so the gun is clean and dry, no oil to contaminate the charge or cap. Any oil for preservation in the bore is done after loading.

 

[Sidney Smith]

I loaded my GPR in early November. I haven't shot a deer yet this season, and I have until Jan 29, which is the last day of flintlock season. I know the gun will fire when needed. As long as you haven't fired the gun, you can leave it loaded for a long time. If fired then reloaded I'd fire again and clean. I would not leave a load in long on a dirty bore. When you fire is when you run the risk of corrosion. Unfired powder in a clean barrel won't do anything.

 

[hanshi]

On rare occasion I've left a fired gun and cleaned it a day later with no ill affects. Normally, if the gun hasn't been fired I leave it loaded until I have the chance to fire it days, weeks or months later. Mostly I clean it all or in part the same day it was fired. If it has gotten the least bit damp or wet I clean it that day whether or not it's fired.

 

[Art Caputo]

I have always left my rifle loaded from the first day of deer season which can be as long as a month.. with no issues. I’ve experienced no issues with powder contamination using TOTW Mink Oil(which is a grease) applied to the barrel contact surface of the patch.

 

[ohio ramrod]

For deer hunting in wet weather(which is almost always the case in Ohio ) I load my rifle , then use a waxed patch to "coat the barre;l inside and out. " Never a problem.Two weeks easily.