I started a discussion at work today about leaving your flintlock loaded at the end of your hunt, and wanted some opinions. One has had his rifle loaded for two years! Most will unload at the end of the season, but I think all said they will leave it loaded btw hunts. Questions. Is this safe? Is it legal? Will it hurt my rifle.
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I started a discussion at work today about leaving your flintlock loaded at the end of your hunt, an
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ohio ramrod
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There was an article in muzzle blasts about a year ago (or there abouts ). Where they left several barrel segments loaded for a period of time. ( I cann't remember how long ) They discocvred that some of the loads had corroded the ball in so tight that a steel rod could be driven through the ball with out loosening it! So aside from the powder drawing moisture there is the problem of balls in so tight the breech plug may come out before the ball! While I have known people who leave their rifles loaded for long periods I my self don't leave one loaded more than three days. I had a friend who often left his rifles loaded from one season to the next. Several of his guns were so bad in the bore you could not get a four inch group at fifty yds!Pluss the problem of getting the old loads out to put in a new one.
No loaded firearm is ever truly safe; and all firearms should be treated as if loaded.
It is legal hereabouts. Even in a vehicle if unprimed. May be different elsewhere.
It will not hurt the rifle if it is protected from moisture (and idiots) and the lube stays stable. I left one loaded for 11 months as a test and it went off first attempt . . . though it hit high on the target. The lube is what I was testing.
It is legal hereabouts. Even in a vehicle if unprimed. May be different elsewhere.
It will not hurt the rifle if it is protected from moisture (and idiots) and the lube stays stable. I left one loaded for 11 months as a test and it went off first attempt . . . though it hit high on the target. The lube is what I was testing.
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Stumpkiller said:
I was told... :shocked2: if your caplock or flinter is in the car..the caps or flint must be in a locked compartment..like the trunk..(in N.Y.)
(i don't!)as fer the post... I leave mine loaded during huntin season...how long,? depends on the weather,usually, but two weeks is no big deal(to me!) haven't had a problem..usually a week..i shoot clean reload.. :thumbsup:
mar 18 / 5:50pm
did i miss something or are these people first cleaning and then reloading the weapons or just leaving a load in the uncleaned gun ?
personally, i have a "bedside" bp revolver that i keep loaded (and capped) for .... uninvited guests, but it is thoroughally cleaned *before* loading and then unloaded at the range every month.
i would not store a loaded *uncleaned* rifle or pistol, but my experience is that it works - in the short run - for cleaned and lubricated weapons.
~d~
did i miss something or are these people first cleaning and then reloading the weapons or just leaving a load in the uncleaned gun ?
personally, i have a "bedside" bp revolver that i keep loaded (and capped) for .... uninvited guests, but it is thoroughally cleaned *before* loading and then unloaded at the range every month.
i would not store a loaded *uncleaned* rifle or pistol, but my experience is that it works - in the short run - for cleaned and lubricated weapons.
~d~
db3 said:
I can't say from personal experience...but its just something that I personally don't do...I load a Flintlock to go hunting, and I unload it when I get back to the house.
As far as I'm concerned its too easy not to and I never have to worry about all those things like hurting the bore, safety, will it go off when I need it to, etc, etc.
Life has enough "Murphy's Laws" hiding around every corner as it is...but that's just my .02 cents
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Don't worry RC, if the cops come after yaRC said:I was told... :shocked2: if your caplock or flinter is in the car..the caps or flint must be in a locked compartment..like the trunk..(in N.Y.)
i use powerbelts 295 in my .50 cal.for hunting buck.i may go back to .490 rb .
they are too expensive to shoot out each day.
so, i leave it in until done hunting, about 4 weeks.
also i dont put gun in my truck, i have case for bed of truck so it stays same temp as outside.
also at home, i leave it in garage so gun stays at outside temps.
if i used rb,i would unload it every day.
from a safety way at looking at it, unloading is always best way.
as for rust, i heard you will get rust and i heard you will not.
i even heard of rust after 3 days.
they are too expensive to shoot out each day.
so, i leave it in until done hunting, about 4 weeks.
also i dont put gun in my truck, i have case for bed of truck so it stays same temp as outside.
also at home, i leave it in garage so gun stays at outside temps.
if i used rb,i would unload it every day.
from a safety way at looking at it, unloading is always best way.
as for rust, i heard you will get rust and i heard you will not.
i even heard of rust after 3 days.
Flintlocks can fire with no prime in the pan so somebody who dropped the hammer with a flint in it could get a surprise.
Leaving it loaded from year to year is penny wise and pound foolish. Shoot the load and clean the gun. Big deal there goes 10-12 cents down the drain. Beats not filling a tag.
As for the guy who left it loaded for two years, I guess he doesn't see much use in practice, checking for POI, etc. so a missfire in his case is probably a good thing.
Some people are so lazy its just $#@#$ unbelievable.
Leaving it loaded from year to year is penny wise and pound foolish. Shoot the load and clean the gun. Big deal there goes 10-12 cents down the drain. Beats not filling a tag.
As for the guy who left it loaded for two years, I guess he doesn't see much use in practice, checking for POI, etc. so a missfire in his case is probably a good thing.
Some people are so lazy its just $#@#$ unbelievable.
I agree with Bakeoven Bill.
Flintlocks are a special breed that can fire without priming. There is no external indication that the gun is loaded (without measuring) and any nincompoop can pick it up, cock it and pull the trigger without suspecting that the gun will actually fire even if he knew it was loaded.
Flintlocks are a special breed that can fire without priming. There is no external indication that the gun is loaded (without measuring) and any nincompoop can pick it up, cock it and pull the trigger without suspecting that the gun will actually fire even if he knew it was loaded.
jtmattison
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db3 said:
I hope he doesn't expect it to perform well once he decides to pull the trigger.
I unload every day and clean the bore.
If you take care of your rifle it will take care of you.
HD
slowpokebr549
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Yep, my dad picked up my flintlock that was laying on the shooting bench. I had dumped the pan and wiped it out. He thought it was empty and scared the manure right out of both of us when he sent a ball downrange.I would never leave one loaded for long. I leave loads in during season but not for more than a few days, shots at game are too precious to risk misfires on.
Leonredbeard
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Bill,
I once came in from hunting birds with my twelve guage smoothbore flinter. I had pulled the os wad and dumped the shot. But I had not pulled the op wads and wormed out the powder. Perhaps four months later I dressed in costume and took it to church to advertise for the game dinner. I had am impulse to pull the cock to full stand and pull the trigger. Better judgement caused me not to. When I got back into the foyer and the welcome center I pulled the ramrod and checked the bore. I went into a real fast hot sweat when it stopped short at the height of a powder charge. Then I remembered. There would not have been a hole in the roof of the church but there would have been a bunch of deaf people and an empty church while the smoke cleared. Maybe lawsuits, who knows?
volatpluvia
I once came in from hunting birds with my twelve guage smoothbore flinter. I had pulled the os wad and dumped the shot. But I had not pulled the op wads and wormed out the powder. Perhaps four months later I dressed in costume and took it to church to advertise for the game dinner. I had am impulse to pull the cock to full stand and pull the trigger. Better judgement caused me not to. When I got back into the foyer and the welcome center I pulled the ramrod and checked the bore. I went into a real fast hot sweat when it stopped short at the height of a powder charge. Then I remembered. There would not have been a hole in the roof of the church but there would have been a bunch of deaf people and an empty church while the smoke cleared. Maybe lawsuits, who knows?
volatpluvia
paulvallandigham
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Wild Bill Hickok fired his .36 cal. 1851 Navy Colt percussion guns every morning as Practice-, before returning to his room and cleaning the guns thoroughly. Then he put a new load of powder in the guns and reloaded balls in them, to carry the guns for the rest of the day and night. Its how he stayed alive as long as he did.
I shoot the loads out of my gun at the end of each day's hunt. NO, shots do not spook game away. We proved it the one year that 7 of us fired the loads from our guns, and then were standing around a bonfire talking when the largest buck anyone of us was to see that season came walking in towards us, and crossed the meadow we were in about 50-60 yards from us- with not a loaded gun in the camp! Another smaller buck was with him. That was a damp day, and while the 2 flintlocks fired the first time the hammer dropped, the 5 percussion guns failed to fire- only the caps went off-- when they first pulled the triggers. The moisture had gotten into their powder charges in the barrels, and they could not fire them off until they cleaned the flash channels and dut priming powder down the channels in front of the nipples.
When People ask why I fire off the load at the end of each day, THAT IS WHY! As Bakeover Bill said, the cost and time involved of firing off the load, and then cleaning the barrel is next to nothing when you consider the loss of the one deer you might get a shot at the next day when the load doesn't fire.
I also learned NOT TO USE a spit patch when deer hunting, because it dried out in the barrel, and left me a rust ring right where the ball should seat. I spent more than an hour with my bore brush and patches working on removing that ring, because I didn't have a source of steel wool. I had a permanent rough spot in the barrel, there, also. That was after hunting ONE full day. I can't imagine the extent of damage that would have occurred if I left the ball and patch down there another day or two! :nono: :rotf: :surrender: :hmm: :thumbsup:
I shoot the loads out of my gun at the end of each day's hunt. NO, shots do not spook game away. We proved it the one year that 7 of us fired the loads from our guns, and then were standing around a bonfire talking when the largest buck anyone of us was to see that season came walking in towards us, and crossed the meadow we were in about 50-60 yards from us- with not a loaded gun in the camp! Another smaller buck was with him. That was a damp day, and while the 2 flintlocks fired the first time the hammer dropped, the 5 percussion guns failed to fire- only the caps went off-- when they first pulled the triggers. The moisture had gotten into their powder charges in the barrels, and they could not fire them off until they cleaned the flash channels and dut priming powder down the channels in front of the nipples.
When People ask why I fire off the load at the end of each day, THAT IS WHY! As Bakeover Bill said, the cost and time involved of firing off the load, and then cleaning the barrel is next to nothing when you consider the loss of the one deer you might get a shot at the next day when the load doesn't fire.
I also learned NOT TO USE a spit patch when deer hunting, because it dried out in the barrel, and left me a rust ring right where the ball should seat. I spent more than an hour with my bore brush and patches working on removing that ring, because I didn't have a source of steel wool. I had a permanent rough spot in the barrel, there, also. That was after hunting ONE full day. I can't imagine the extent of damage that would have occurred if I left the ball and patch down there another day or two! :nono: :rotf: :surrender: :hmm: :thumbsup:
Robert Egler
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I sometimes leave my flintlock loaded for a week (when it’s going to be a week until my next hunting day), as long as it has not been fired since the last time I cleaned it. When it is loaded and not in the field I cover the frizzen with a leather sleeve (hammer stall?) and I have a small leather pouch that goes over the hammer and flint, and I put a toothpick in the touch hole. I'm pretty sure its not going to go off accidently this way. Since I never do any of those things when the gun is unloaded it's pretty obvious when I pick it up that it is still loaded. You can't possibly fire the gun without undoing all the safety items.
