How To Ensure Ignition In Snow?

[Josh Smith]

Hello,

We're expecting up to 8" of snow by tomorrow.

Nice front.

I was out earlier and the snow is more like ice crystals and the conditions are white-out. It's getting into everything.

I figure the folks back in the day tried to stay in during such times unless they absolutely had to venture out.

I figure if they ventured out, they had to be desperate - maybe very hungry and had to shoot a deer, rabbit, or whatever.

How would they go about ensuring the powder in their caplocks stayed dry? I figure most of it would be sealed by a cap, but not necessarily all.

How did folks deal with such types of weather back then?

Thanks,

Josh

 

[luieb45]

I hunted in some fairly hard rain yesterday morning. What I do in the rain is very simple. I keep the gun barrel pointed in a downward direction so water doesn't get in there in case the patch and ball couldn't stop it. Then the cap pretty much seals it all up at the breech but just in case I either tuck the lock area under my armpit or when I'm wearing my blaze orange vest the vest hangs over the lock keeping it totally dry. Yesterday I saw 5 deer but no bucks. At the end of the morning the gun shot just fine.

 

[BrownBear]

Luie B got it. Keep the wet stuff out of the bore and keep the cap more or less dry.

Around here it's steep and there's always a chance of shoving a barrel into the snow on down-carry. To a man, we all just cover the muzzle with electrical tape, but none of us are particularly HC bound.

I've tried different cap covers, and as well as none, and never had a cap failure. They're sealed pretty good when down on a nipple. A litle vaseline or some such around the nipple base would be insurance, but I only ever went to the trouble when waterfowling.

The one place I've seen caps fail is right in the capper. Hang it on a thong around your neck, shove it down inside your shirt, then sweat real good. And you'll have cap failures. Hang it in your shirt pocket and no problems.

 

[necchi]

A thing called a "Cows Knee"; http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/.../252067/fromsearch/1/hl/cows|knee/tp/0/all/1/

,,and just plain being smarter than the snow or rain. If I'm hungry, and my gun is my source of food, I'm not going to wave the gun around like a walking stick. I'm going to know I need reliable ignition and take care it like I mean for it to work when I need it.
Ya kinda gotta give credit to those guy's from "back then" to have some brains. Another point is they didn't have the corner store to go too,,at this time of year items from the harvest and bountifull fall season was still tucked away.
The Starving Time was early spring, March-April.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Saran Wrap over the muzzle held on with a rubber band. You can shoot through it. Then hold the lock under my arm.

I love snow and always go hunting when it snows.

 

[WALKERs210]

At my age and health gone if my powder gets wet it because the roof leaks. But all joking aside on The Possible's Website they have weather proofing for muzzle loaders. Basically just black condoms and plastic covers for the caps.
link to the product http://www.possibleshop.com/s-s-accessories.html

 

[jaw69]

How they did it back in the day.Start with a very dry barrel then they used grease of deer, mink, bear,coon,whale or bees wax or a mix of both to seal the cap use the same grease on the patch and the powder is good for a long long long time Some where around a 100 to 200 years.I have right now a cap and ball pistol that has been loaded for 6 months I have no doubt it will fire when I shoot them. :thumbsup:

 

[William O.]

I have a watch coat made from oil cloth that is supposed to be at least based (in some part) on historical clothing designs, and the arms are very wide allowing the wearer to tuck his firearm inside, at least past the lock. Perhaps clothing was designed in such a way, at least as far as the foul weather gear is concerned, to offer a degree of protection. Also, wasn't wax paper common by then as well? Tying a large square of that around your muzzle with twine would help keep powder fouling elements out at least to some degree.

At least as far as protecting ourselves, wool was available to just about everyone, and the trade blankets had points sewn in them to denote the size as well as how many beaver pelts they were worth (I've read both explainations and don't know which one or if both are actually true, but sound reasonable to me)

 

[ohio ramrod]

I hunt in wet weather the way I have long read about how it was done back when. First I load and cap in the dry, Using corn meal as a buffer between the powder and prb. After capping I run a leather lace smeared with the lard/beeswax patch lube around the base of the cap, Then lay a piece of soft leather or wool cloth over the lock area.If it is raing steadily I have a piece of oil cloth about a foot wide four foot long I drap over one shoulder and use it to cover the lock area sort of like a "gun poncho". Is it ruely the way they did it back when? I have not heard Daniel, Davey, Simon, or Lewis say it isn't! :idunno: :rotf: :surrender:

 

[Pete Gaimari]

They probably waited until the rain stopped. :idunno:

 

[Stumpkiller]

Snow is no problem. Just keep the gun cold and it stays snow. It's only when it melts you might have a problem.

The cow's knee mentioned earlier is my solution. I use an ancient auto chamois leather that I soaked with molten beeswax.

I don't worry about the muzzle. The greased patch is air tight - so it's better than water tight. ;-) I just keep it pointed down (and that also helps keep the water from running down the barrel/stock towards the lock).

 

[BrownBear]

I don't worry about the muzzle. The greased patch is air tight - so it's better than water tight. ;-) I just keep it pointed down (and that also helps keep the water from running down the barrel/stock towards the lock).

We're not worried about snow falling down into the muzzle, rather it's jamming the bore into the snow while pointed down. That's a distinct possibility in steep, slick country, if less so in rolling flats. For a glance at the kind of country we're hunting, check out the photos I posted in this thread along with those from another area posted by Mike Brines.

A plug of snow in the barrel is a fer sure bore obstruction and can be extremely dangerous. Even with vigilance, it can happen. And I can tell you first hand that snow plugs are a dirty @#$!@#$ to get out of a muzzleloader bore, loaded or not.

I'd happily swap out the electrical tape for anything traditional that worked as well. Haven't found it yet, and I'm not willing to endanger my guns or my bod without bore protection.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Do you cover your centerfires the same way? We always have mud in this part of the state, and I figure I'm no more apt to jamb snow in the muzzle than mud.

I'm pretty good about knowing where the muzzle is and is pointed. Hasn't blown me up yet. ;-)

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

They started with a CLEAN rifle and a dry flash channel/touch hole, without any crud from improper/lazy-a$$ cleaning, that's how!

Have a good, safe hunt and enjoy Mother Nature's miracles as best you can!

Dave

 

[BrownBear]

Do you cover your centerfires the same way? We always have mud in this part of the state, and I figure I'm no more apt to jamb snow in the muzzle than mud.

I'm pretty good about knowing where the muzzle is and is pointed. Hasn't blown me up yet. ;-)

Yeah. It's standard here. I've been on hand for two ruptures- on my own in a 410 and the other a friend's 06 on an elk hunt. The 410 was actually my daughters, and when she rammed it in the snow, she just rubbed off the outside. When I shot it a little while later, the barrel got 8 inches shorter in a hurry.

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen a pro bear guide without taped muzzles. It falls in the "ounce of prevention" category. It's also one thing to clear an obstruction from a bolt action, and another altogether to do it with a muzzleloader.

Just different regional traditions and precautions based on experience and local conditions, I bet.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Most of us in the Lower 48 don't get an opportunity to hunt in deep snow. Worrying about snow getting into a muzzle simply is not on the radar. But, any mid to late December hunt can find you hunting when snow falls, and I suspect that is what the original poster was thinking about.

The one time I got snow in the muzzle of a gun was during a January shooting League program, when my muzzle grazed some piled snow, and I got some in the muzzle. I had to take the time to get my cleaning rod from the car, remove the barrel from the gun and push out the snow.

BrownBear's advice is the best: Tape the muzzle as a precaution. The air in the barrel being pushed by the ball/bullet traveling up the bore breaks or tears the tape off long before the projectile leaves the muzzle.


Cover the lock, whether shooting a flintlock or percussion. First, use a "cow's knee". Then stick the lock up a large sleeve of your coat, or under your armpit to protect the lock from falling snow. If you are wearing a large outer garment, like a poncho, or Blaze orange vest, or cape, you can often stick most of the gun under those garments to keep them dry and safe. :thumbsup:

 

[JMinnerath]

Back when I was younger and worked as a guide we all made sure hunters rifle muzzles were taped.
By the time elk season around here got rolling the snow was getting pretty deep.
But, some times it could be warm and muddy, doesn't matter.
Somebody does a header or in some other manner plugs a muzzle and fires a shot, it will ruin his day at the very least.

 

[walruskid1]

i always wrap my caplock with saran wrap and a piece of electrical tape on the muzzle. always goes bang and the tape is gone. works for me.

 

[Mad Professor]

Sight in with a clean barrel and load for hunting with a clean barrel. Use real black powder.

After capping take your candle (every hunter should have a candle) and dribble some wax around the nipple threads and rim of cap.

Piece of duct tape on end of muzzle.

Don't bring gun inside and back out after loading.