For all you guys that leave your guns loaded for extended periods obviously don't shoot enough!
Leave it loaded vs. new charge daily?
- Thread starter dsayer
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If the hunt is for 1 week or less, I leave it loaded. If the hunt is over, I unload and clean it.
Can easily load up again for the next hunt.
Can easily load up again for the next hunt.
Ranger Boyd
40 Cal
I sometimes leave the main charge loaded overnight in primitive camp, to save from loading in the dark, but prefer to start with a fresh charge daily most times. I know it shouldn't matter for reliability if temperature and humidity conditions are managed as mentioned above, but for me, at least, the additional confidence and peace of mind to avoid breaking out the ball puller are worth the expenditure.
Ketchakah
40 Cal.
Hatito,
When i am in the woods, my FL is my security. Its serious business. Its ALWAYS loaded. The reliability of a load is impacted by many factors.
While the main charge may stay for a long time, the priming may not. I do replace priming frequently, but as i use the same powder for priming as the charge, it is coated to resist moisture from the air.
In my case, a solid well fit lock and a properly loaded charge will last days in the woods. If your lock is fit well and you take proper care, your fire lock will fire even in rain.
Mine will anyway, but then.. i am very anal about keeping it dry.
When i am in the woods, my FL is my security. Its serious business. Its ALWAYS loaded. The reliability of a load is impacted by many factors.
While the main charge may stay for a long time, the priming may not. I do replace priming frequently, but as i use the same powder for priming as the charge, it is coated to resist moisture from the air.
In my case, a solid well fit lock and a properly loaded charge will last days in the woods. If your lock is fit well and you take proper care, your fire lock will fire even in rain.
Mine will anyway, but then.. i am very anal about keeping it dry.
Ketchakah
40 Cal.
OH !! A tip i learned regarding rifle usage.
Run a dry patch down OVER the ball. Wad it tightly. It will absorb any moisture from the muzzle and keep the charge dry.
Should you suspect moisture has gotten down the barrel, you can replace it easily.
If its tight to the ball, you can shoot it the same with no ill affect. I use mainly a Smooth Bore, but in my rifle, if i leave it charged overnight or in the rain, i will do this.
PS. I have not experimented as to what is better, a dry patch or an oiled patch. I prefer to absorb the moisture so i use dry.
Run a dry patch down OVER the ball. Wad it tightly. It will absorb any moisture from the muzzle and keep the charge dry.
Should you suspect moisture has gotten down the barrel, you can replace it easily.
If its tight to the ball, you can shoot it the same with no ill affect. I use mainly a Smooth Bore, but in my rifle, if i leave it charged overnight or in the rain, i will do this.
PS. I have not experimented as to what is better, a dry patch or an oiled patch. I prefer to absorb the moisture so i use dry.
Felix the Cat
40 Cal
Can I just take another view of this issue..
The number of loaded muzzle loaders that have been found in the antique trade is frightening.. there have been occasions where there have been tragic accidents, in some cases many decades after the gun was left loaded! Gunpowder, provided it has not been damp affected, can remain viable almost indefinitely. I have seen pebble powder extracted from shell recovered from ranges that is well over 150 years old that is as good as the day it was milled..
If the gun you loaded causes an untended tragedy possibly years after because you never fired it or unloaded it, I think you are to blame.. even if you popped your clogs halfway through the shooting season and your executors sold it on unaware of its condition!
My view is that you don't leave loaded guns unattended for any reason..
The number of loaded muzzle loaders that have been found in the antique trade is frightening.. there have been occasions where there have been tragic accidents, in some cases many decades after the gun was left loaded! Gunpowder, provided it has not been damp affected, can remain viable almost indefinitely. I have seen pebble powder extracted from shell recovered from ranges that is well over 150 years old that is as good as the day it was milled..
If the gun you loaded causes an untended tragedy possibly years after because you never fired it or unloaded it, I think you are to blame.. even if you popped your clogs halfway through the shooting season and your executors sold it on unaware of its condition!
My view is that you don't leave loaded guns unattended for any reason..
Rat
50 Cal.
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My wife, son, son's wife, daughter, all know that ALL my guns are loaded. My muzzle loaders, maybe not, maybe so...but considered so unless proven otherwise. If I pop my clogs, they know to spend a couple of days unloading them. It is sad that there are people in the world so ignorant as to have an accident with an "unloaded" gun. I see your point though.
Johnny Tremain
Silversmith in training
They have found pistols loaded from the 1700s and fired them off. Heck Dixie a few decades ago was selling civil war powder.
Here in washingrad, it rains form Sept-May, so we are always wet.
Three things I learned about hunting here.
I) Balloon or condom over the muzzle just like like we did in Nam.
2) Crayon around the frizzen, seals the water out. Smells cool when it burns too.
3)Turn your Tricorn around backwards. You look down with he point forward and your frizzen gets soaked.
Here in washingrad, it rains form Sept-May, so we are always wet.
Three things I learned about hunting here.
I) Balloon or condom over the muzzle just like like we did in Nam.
2) Crayon around the frizzen, seals the water out. Smells cool when it burns too.
3)Turn your Tricorn around backwards. You look down with he point forward and your frizzen gets soaked.
I unload for me powder in the gun means its loaded this is how accidents happens, one for safety reason and two for weather the last few years our weather is really been crazy from very cold then very humid than warm then back to square one and from my province crazy hunting rules and i like fresh powder it takes 5 minutes to clean and when season is over i give it a good clean up.
MOA_Chaser
Pilgrim
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My flintlock is charged almost all of the season. It is considered "unloaded" by law in PA if there is no powder in the pan. I load the night before the first hunt, and if I don't shoot, it stays loaded. If I fire the gun that day, of course I shoot out whatever is in there at the end of the day and clean it. If I'm not hunting the next day, it stays empty until the night before my next hunt. I'll then shoot it after the last hunt of the season and give it a good cleaning.
Seems there are more than a few people that leave the powder and lead in the barrel, with no cap or prime. Do these same people also make certain that no kid will ever be able to handle it when there isn't an adult around? If a kid can handle it, particularly if no adult is around, then how certain can you be that there won't be an accident?
Logcutter
40 Cal
I load mine the first day of hunting season and the charge stays there till I get a shot. I leave it in the loft of my shed which is unheated, muzzle down with a twig in the touch hole. The longest I ever had the same charge in the rifle was two and a half weeks. I have never had a charge fail to fire. I use FFF BP.
Well that would be really dumb, to let an anybody fool with a loaded firearm that is loaded!
To be honest I treat and instruct my family that all guns are hot.
It is often quoted " I thought it was empty" just after someone has just been accidently shot!
If a household has guns and members of that household think it's ok to play foolishly with said guns because they are always empty is a recipy for disaster.
Any minor in my house that points a stick and shouts bang only does it once!
Pointing anything that resembles a firearm at a member of the family in jest is chastised heavily by me and any objections are completly ignored!
George Carlin said "Think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize that half of them are stupider than that." One doesn't have to look far to find people who do dumb things and could be contenders for the yearly Darwin awards and for all those runner-up could have beens.
Twowithone
40 Cal.
Ill leave mine loaded but not for long periods. Was just told the other day black powder left in barrel is very corrosive and I said no it isn't not till fired whos right. The longest Ive left mine loaded was probably 10 days.
shortstart
36 Cal.
Well, here’s an example. I’m at my cabin and after a day in the woods I return , wipe the powder out of the pan, wipe the frizzen and pan with alcohol, and stand the rifle in the corner.
A friend stops bu unexpectedly with a rifle that won’t spark. The flint is duller than the end of my finger. What’s it supposed to do? Says he. Well Says I, it works like this. Whoops says I after creating a new vent in my back window. Two mistakes! The nut behind the trigger is looser than normal. There should have been a feather in the touch hole. You would think that after fooling with these contraptions for 50+ years the nut would know better.
The feather in the touch hole has always been there or in the patch box. Never leave home without it. Lesson learned,
A friend stops bu unexpectedly with a rifle that won’t spark. The flint is duller than the end of my finger. What’s it supposed to do? Says he. Well Says I, it works like this. Whoops says I after creating a new vent in my back window. Two mistakes! The nut behind the trigger is looser than normal. There should have been a feather in the touch hole. You would think that after fooling with these contraptions for 50+ years the nut would know better.
The feather in the touch hole has always been there or in the patch box. Never leave home without it. Lesson learned,
shortstart
36 Cal.
For the benefit of new folks. Flint locks will definitely fire on an empty pan.
As I say, all guns are HOT, ALL the time!
