Keeping powder dry

[smokey90]

I plan on deer hunting with my 50 cal Renegade this season. What is the best way to keep the powder dry in rain or smowy weather? Thank you,

Kerry

 

[BrownBear]

Hey Kerry,

Important question, because hunting is often best when the weather suxx. We get 120 inches a year, so lots of experience whether we like it or not.

I'll come at it back to front. I am happy with a powder horn and tight fitting plugs, but ask yourself how much powder you want to risk day after day. It doesn't matter to me how big of a horn you like to carry, would you really rather pack around a pound of powder or enough for half a dozen shots? Big or small, you don't need to fill it. I happpen to like "day" horns or "priming" horns for hunts in wet weather. Mine aren't even 6" long overall and still hold 1500 grains or more when full, roughly 20 shots. It feels kinda foolish but I don't even fill them half full in wet weather.

There's some little black condoms made to go over your muzzle, but I'm just as happy with a strip of electrical tape. I keep the tag end of a roll in my shooting bag. It doesn't affect accuracy at all, and sure works well to keep rain and snow out of the bore. If you prefer to be original, just keep your muzzle down.

At the other end of your barrel there are lots of strategies. You can simply keep your lock under your raincoat (PC Goretex of course!), cover it with a cow knee, plastic wrap, or use one of the various little protective caps for percussion guns (check October Country for one with an 0 ring even). On a flinter you can seal the pan edges with bees wax, too. I change caps on cappers every hour and change prime powder on flinters every half hour or so.

 

[Rancocas]

I entirely agree with BrownBear.
However, instead of electrical tape, I carry a small, partial roll of duct tape. It serves the same purpose of covering over the muzzle of my rifle when the weather is bad, but it is also useful for temporary repairs to ripped clothing, or broken equipment, and also as emergency protection to put over blisters if they develope on my feet.

 

[Robert Scheffler]

I've never understood why anyone would cover the end of a barrel when you have a tight sealed greased patched ball over the powder and you don't point your rifle upwards so the rain will go into it. I do believe, though, that the lock is very important to keep dry.

 

[BrownBear]

I've never understood why anyone would cover the end of a barrel when you have a tight sealed greased patched ball over the powder and you don't point your rifle upwards so the rain will go into it. I do believe, though, that the lock is very important to keep dry.

I bet you never hunted on a day that got 3" inches of rain, have you? The tight seal of a greased patch ball is a nice theory, but it's pure fantasy.

Notice how easy that patched ball slides down the bore once you get it started? Pour 3 inches of water down your bore and let is sit all day. Heck, pour just a little down your bore and let it set all day.

Pfffffffft.

 

[Robert Scheffler]

Like I said, don't sit there with your barrel pointed to the sky. Makes sense. Also, if it is raining that hard maybe you should consider getting out of it. There's more of a chance of your primer getting wet that water traveling upwards into your barrel.

 

[roundball]

Like I said, don't sit there with your barrel pointed to the sky. Makes sense. Also, if it is raining that hard maybe you should consider getting out of it. There's more of a chance of your primer getting wet that water traveling upwards into your barrel.

You're telling on yourself...

We're talking about hunting here...rain is only part of the equation with respect to sealing a muzzle when moving through woods & fields...losing one's balance, slipping part way down, falling all the way down, stepping over logs, jumping across a small ditch or creek...water splashing up, mud, snow, etc...the list goes on...and its not limited to muzzleloaders...all this to prevent a burst barrel.

In addition, the rifling all around a PRB is not 100% sealed at all by the patch.

For me, going hunting with any long gun includes taping the muzzle just as sure as it includes loading the rifle...but other's mileage may vary of course...

 

[BrownBear]

Like I said, don't sit there with your barrel pointed to the sky. Makes sense. Also, if it is raining that hard maybe you should consider getting out of it. There's more of a chance of your primer getting wet that water traveling upwards into your barrel.

Not much sitting there or pointing the barrel skywards on my hunts. And Roundball nicely pointed out the other problem- Stuff gets down your bore in rough country, and even in not-so-rough. Reminds me when my daughter got a wad of snow down the bore of her shotgun and removed about 6" of barrel when she went ahead and shot it. Okay, accidents happen. But then the other daughter packed some snow into her own barrel and shot it to show that it couldn't possibly have been the snow...... :nono:

And as for getting out of the rain? Nah. I'm a hunter. It can rain for a week solid up here, and what if it's the only week you have off? Better learn how to deal with the water and get on with your life.

Only time I've had water travel up into my barrel was when I fell out of my canoe, but that's yet another story. :shocked2:

 

[paulvallandigham]

You are not considering the condensation that will occur in the barrel, even with the muzzle DOWN, on a cold, WET, day. That Greased Patch does NOT provide the seal you believe it does. NOW, if you use an Over Powder wad( OP wad), or a filler, on top of the powder, you CAN seal the bore from moisture migrating past your PRB and fouling the powder charge.

With percussion guns, I recommend putting a piece of plastic wrap over the nipple before you cap it. Between the tight fit of the cap, and the plastic, NO MOISTURE is going to get down into the flash channel or to the powder from the Breech end of the gun.

For the reasons enumerated by both BrownBear and RoundBall, I believe its wise to tape the muzzle or use some of those rubber covers to keep EVERYTHING out of the muzzle during a hunt. I once ran out of my electrician's tape, but had some plastic wrap and a large rubber band. I covered the muzzle of my rifle with the plastic wrap, and used the rubber band to keep it there.

For those who don't understand, the air in front of the PRB in the barrel is pushed out of the barrel first, pushing or tearing the tape, or cover off the muzzle long before the ball reaches the muzzle.

I also change my priming powder in my flintlock at least every 1/2 hour, and more often if needed. Its a royal PITA, but the gun fires in the rain.

With flintlocks, consider leaving the pan dry and empty, with a feather stuck into the TH to keep moisture out of the barrel. Unless deer are being pushed by other hunters, they tend to walk very slowly in the rain, giving me, at least, enough time to prime the pan, remove the feather, close the frizzen, cock the hammer back and aim my shot.

The only time I have suffered a misfire with my flintlock in rain, is when I was hunting my first Boar, and I failed to wipe the UNDERSIDE of the flint and bottom jaw of the cock, where there was condensation. The flint sparked, but the moisture immediately doused the sparks, leaving me with an open frizzen, prime in the pan, but the cock down. I wiped the remaining moisture off the face of the frizzen, with a cleaning patch, then closed it on the powder, cocked the gun, Aimed my shot and fired. The Ball hit exactly where I was aiming. That was a Labor Day hunt in East Tennessee, and it was in the 80s, with near 100% humidity. Condensation was not so much a problem as all the rain- I thought. The Heat was soaking water off the ground and up under my poncho as fast as the intermittent rains were wetting me down from on top.

If anyone knows where I can buy a " Goretex" poncho, I would be interested in knowing.

 

[Robert Scheffler]

Once when I was bear hunting in the U.P. of MI, it rained every day. I was hunting with my flintlock and was trying to keep it dry by holding it under my rain poncho. Although I was periodically changing my primer powder, a drop of rain must have gotten the primer wet. Like always, that was when the bear came in, and the rifle misfired. I know now that I should have sealed the pan and possibly prevented the mishap. I have to agree on your fact that the tape or cover can prevent snow or mud accidently blocking your barrel. That would be a safer if you were in conditions that could cause this. I realize that Brown Bear's hunting terrain and conditions are different than they are in northern Michigan.

 

[Dphar]

Full length gun cover. Anything else will fail.

A stiff wool cover is pretty good.
A sno-sealed leather, full grain split cowhide just a little thicker than buckskin is best. Both will slide off a gun pretty easy.
Even the wool cover works well in anything but heavy rain. But I don't generally hunt in the rain with a ML. I got cheap BLs for that. Where I hunt deer if its just right moisture content the mud will build up to a frightening degree on what ever foot gear you have on.
Mountains its usually snow but I have hunted (guided) in a week of rain one "go around".
The problem with a cover in cold weather is taking the gun out of a warm room and into the cover it stays warm for awhile and may result in mirage or snow melt on the gun. So if possible let it cool before hitting the woods.
The leather cover will keep condensation off the gun pretty well if brought in cold to a warm room.
Gun covers are HC back to the 1750s or so. Don't know about the material.
Dan

 

[texcl]

I load my rifle with the powder charge then a big wad of hornets nest with a patched ball on top. If it is really wet I'll tape the bore. I have taken a dunk more times than I care to mention and it always rains like all get out up here in the early season right before we get our 1st 3 ft of snow, I specifically used a "rain proof" lock with rain gutters on my virginia rifle and while it is quite impossible to make a lock truley water proof, it does seem go off in heavy rain (I've only had a chance to test her out in the rain once so far)everytime as long as I wipe her down between shots to remove fouling and keep the water out while loading, of course if you fall through a creek you are out of luck, unless you have sealed the bore somehow and plugged the vent. I always have my vent plugged with a porcupine quill and the frizzen down when on the move in inclimate weather, when I sense game close by I prime, this makes everything go boom, quickly to boot. You don't have to worry so much if you are using a cap gun with a tight cap.

 

[Little Wattsy]

I plan on deer hunting with my 50 cal Renegade this season. What is the best way to keep the powder dry in rain or smowy weather? Thank you,

Kerry

I use tape over the barrel, a cut square of plastic sandwich baggie between the nipple and the musket cap, and I pack spare shots in water resistant "speed loaders" they will seal the powder and two caps per....I'll carry three of those and a loaded gun.
With all of that I think its still a good idea to keep the barrelpointed down and Ill shelter the lock under the flap of my coat when it gets ugly.
Note: Someone on here was experamenting with primer-sealer and caps....seems like they were getting some good water proofing results... :hmm:

 

[tg]

I have never covered the end of the barrel, I keep the gun pointed downward a bit and either use a cows knee or keep the gun tucked under my arm/coat/cape,I do not build a dam or seal the frizzen and have used a flinter ML for many seasons in Oct/Nov. in the costal Oregon rain forest, and have not had a washout yet when I needed to fire,reloading can be another matter if no large tree is nearby.Everyone must see what works best for them.

 

[DEWB]

I hunted up in colorado a couple years ago[didn't get drawn this year!@#@#$]and a freind gave me a little peice of clear plastic tubing that you slide over the top of your nipple to seal it. This not only keeps the rain out it also keeps moisture from collecting under the cap. For a light weight gun cover you can make a plasic bag out of those sealer bags and make it as long as your rifle and seal 1 end of it. Not quite pc but when you are 40 miles from town who cares. Dew

 

[DEWB]

Thought I might add that you can also use a removable pencil eraser as a safety by putting it on your cap when your rifle is on half cock. I had my rifle go off one time when I was walking through some brush and luckily nobody was with me but it scared the daylights out of me. SINCE THEN I DON'T TRUST A HAMMER ON HALF COCK! I'll use that eraser and that piece of tooling on the nipple and I pretty much have one of those cap covers that you can buy. Although I would like to try a cap cover. Dew

 

[longcruise]

I have never done anything special in the rain. I hunt with a cap gun and try to keep the cap out of the rain and have not had a failure to fire. I'm sure a flinter is a whole different deal :shocked2: .

if you use an Over Powder wad( OP wad), or a filler, on top of the powder, you CAN seal the bore from moisture migrating past your PRB and fouling the powder charge.

Paul, I'm a bit doubtful of that. My greased patch forms a much tighter fit than a wad would and of course if water did get past the patched ball it would probably get past the filler too.

In any case, rain has never been a problem as far as getting down the bore of my rifles. I'll add too, though that I don't stay out in heavy rains much. I never wear any type of specialized rain gear and if it rains too hard or long to stay out without it then I'm back to camp till it stops.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I was thinking in terms of condensation moisture, or a drop of light rain. NO, a filler would not keep your powder dry if you turned a hose loose down your barrel.

I have loaded my gun in the rain, and thanked myself for having the sense to wear my broadrimmed hat to keep the water out of the muzzle doing it. Drying the lock and vent was another matter, but I carried sheets of paper toweling in a plastic bag in a large pocket, and it absorbed enough of the water quickly to dry the action so I could prime the pan successfully. I have used corn meal filler, because I already had some in a metal flask.

I did read another recommendation from some member here who used plastic wrap UNDER his PRB, trimming both the plastic and his Patch at the same time after pushing the ball and patch and plastic wrap into the muzzle. With that plastic placed between the patch and ball, and the wall of the bore, and grooves, it should provide a very good seal against water down the muzzle.

I am not really fond of using plastic in my bore, because I don't want to have to clean it out of the gun barrel! But, for that one crucial shot during hunting season when it could make the difference between bagging game, or going home empty, I could put up with the plastic residue.

 

[roundball]

Thought I might add that you can also use a removable pencil eraser as a safety by putting it on your cap when your rifle is on half cock.

Another thing that seals a #11 nipple if there's no cap on it, is a simple 1/8" rubber "end plug" that you can buy packs of at automotive parts stores...usually used to seal off the end of an unused tube coming out of a carb, etc...they make a nice snug fit...come several in a blisterpac dirt cheap.

For a loaded caplock, the Kap Kovers are hard to beat...plus the brass cover serves as a an additional safety as well.

 

[rchargy]

I do the same thing Wattsy, it works for me.