Leaving a powder and bullet charge in the barrel

[johnm4688]

Thanks Guys,
I new I could count on you all to give me some much needed advise. My rifle is now in the garage with a cover on the frizzen, touch hole plugged, hammer lowered all the way, and a little piece of leather that the flint is laying on. I'm gonna unload the rifle this weekend. Will let you know if I see any fouling or moisture. I practiced alot this October and december. All I need now is for a nice doe to walk past my stand at 50 yards or less! Happy New Year to all of you!

John M. from Pa.

 

[hanshi]

A toothpick to plug the vent is helpful to keep moisture from your charge plus it serves as a reminder that the gun is loaded.

You are quite correct. I normally stick either a toothpick or feather in the vent hole to seal it. Though sometimes I'll put a cork in the muzzle; my first load is always a grease (usually Natural Lube 1000) patch load which protects the bore and seals it for the short duration it remains loaded. I use to keep a loaded c&b revolver beside my bed. One day the window was open and it got rained on and I simply wiped it off. Months later it fired without a hitch.

 

[Lamonta]

Long time? Not that I would ever recommend this: I left a trade musket loaded with a roundball loaded in it for 4 years. The ball was a dry lube patch. The vent hole had a toothpick in it. I live in a very dry climate - Central Oregon. I was expecting to have to pull the ball. I took the tooth pick out and probed the vent hole a little with the vent pick and could feel the crunch of dry powder. So I primed it and touched it off. It fired right off, felt like a full charge, and was spot on. I agree, anything will absorb water, but it has to be exposed to it. In a smokepole if all 3 points are sealed: barrel, vent, breech plug that could be a long, long time. Being many years wiser now, I should have never left the rifle in that condition and should have pulled the ball in case it fused in the barrel somehow. Just an FYI, not a recommendation. I still leave it loaded for a few days to weeks at a time, but also have rock solid storage. If I have a shot load I lightly lubricate the edges of a fresh overshot card and push it down on top of the load to maintain an airtight seal. If I am big game hunting I either pull the ball or touch off the load. If I can't do that I will pull the nipple or cleanout screw and trickled in a little 4f just in case; never had a problem. Missing a quail with an old load is one thing; missing a buck or an elk is another!

 

[KampKool]

I've been using dad's Renegade since he passed on 2005. I usually load it in October for PA's week of anterless muzzleloadin' and if I don't shoot then I leave it for flintlock season after Christmas.

It always shoots and I always clean it after my last trip for flintlock.

 

[DUSTY 14]

for my hunting load i have worked up a lube of bees wax,olive oil, murphy's oil soap. using patched round ball or REAL 250 i have a good water proof patch. then i ran a patch with wonderlube down the barrel. it rained 4 of 5 days. i hunted less than 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean hearing the roar of the surf at night. was 2 weeks till i got to the range and she still went boom first try

 

[PaulN/KS]

The load that had been in my TVM flintlock Jaeger since September fired just fine today. Went right off and hit my dinger target at 50 yds. :grin:
60 grns 3F with a bees wax and bear grease lubed PRB.

 

[Trench]

Long time? Not that I would ever recommend this: I left a trade musket loaded with a roundball loaded in it for 4 years. The ball was a dry lube patch. The vent hole had a toothpick in it. I live in a very dry climate - Central Oregon. I was expecting to have to pull the ball. I took the tooth pick out and probed the vent hole a little with the vent pick and could feel the crunch of dry powder. So I primed it and touched it off. It fired right off, felt like a full charge, and was spot on. I agree, anything will absorb water, but it has to be exposed to it. In a smokepole if all 3 points are sealed: barrel, vent, breech plug that could be a long, long time. Being many years wiser now, I should have never left the rifle in that condition and should have pulled the ball in case it fused in the barrel somehow. Just an FYI, not a recommendation. I still leave it loaded for a few days to weeks at a time, but also have rock solid storage. If I have a shot load I lightly lubricate the edges of a fresh overshot card and push it down on top of the load to maintain an airtight seal. If I am big game hunting I either pull the ball or touch off the load. If I can't do that I will pull the nipple or cleanout screw and trickled in a little 4f just in case; never had a problem. Missing a quail with an old load is one thing; missing a buck or an elk is another!

I'm trying to think of a situation where I'd leave my poor rifle loaded for four years without touching it. They have feelings, you know. :wink:

 

[jerrywh]

Once upon a time I had a very expensive barrel. I was afraid it would rust so l pluged the barrel with a patched round ball. The patch was lubed with grease. A years or so later I took it out of storage because I wanted to sell it. I pulled the ball only to find out that it had badly rusted the bore where the prb was. I tried to lap it out with a lap but no deal. I will have to have it lined to save it. That barrel cost me over $1000.00

 

[Lamonta]

Boy howdy is that true. My other muzzleloaders fell victim to the recession. TOTW did me well to consign them and get a decent price. As far as the trade musket, maybe I didn't sell it because I knew it had a live load in it :haha:

 

[Greenjoytj]

I blame the lube the tester used, it must have contained some water in its formula.

 

[Dphar]

This is a patched ball 3 months loaded in Montana. Actually there were 2, they were in my Swivel Breech rifle. Both were identical.

The lube is tallow made from beef fat from the butcher. Boiled about 4 times in clear water each time.
I cannot see where more time would make a lot of difference.
HOWEVER. A great many lubes people use here contain CORROSIVE ingredients. Like soap and/or water, alcohol (water) and perhaps other ingredients that would bond the ball to the barrel.
I suspect the Sperm Whale oil, for example, will not rust a barrel in my lifetime.
Neatfoot? Its lard oil mostly now days, if its no acidic it should be safe.
Moose Milk and such stuff has been known to promote corrosion for decades.
So choose your HUNTING lube well. Target shooting is far less critical since there is little dwell time.
Bevel Bros should have tested lubes too.
Yesterday I pulled a pistol ball loaded for about as long. Looked just like the picture. I don't leave MLs loaded for long generally. I left a FL pistol loaded for 6 months back in the 1980s (in Montana) and if fired fine and there was no corrosion. probably Neatsfoot oil or Sperm Whale oil lube.

Dan

 

[cynthialee]

Thanks Dan.

You just made me become very aware that I need a better patch lube. I have been using bore butter and prelubed patches. Time to move on to a better product as I prefer to leave at least one of my BP firearms at the ready.

 

[Semisane]

It's not unusual for me to have several loaded flintlocks or caplocks in the closet or truck at any one time. All on clean dry barrels. Never had a problem.

But marking them as loaded is important. Not only for yourself, but for family members too (in the event you take an unexpected trip to the big trail walk in the sky).

I like the plastic surveyor's tape for that. It goes on and off easily and takes up little room in the shooting box, bag, or pocket.

 

[pa woods roamer]

Excellent idea to use surveyor`s Tape!! Won`t come off until manually removed....

 

[cynthialee]

now that is a good idea

 

[BE Wild Willy]

Excellent idea to use surveyor`s Tape!! Won`t come off until manually removed....

Yeah, and I could tie one around my neck with the same markings at the appropriate times :wink:

 

[hobowonkanobe]

simple, elegant, brilliant.

 

[ebiggs1]

Leaving a loaded gun around the house is a very bad idea in my opinion. Any loaded gun nit just a flintlock! :td:

 

[Semisane]

Leaving a loaded gun around the house is a very bad idea in my opinion. Any loaded gun nit just a flintlock! :td:

We'll just have to disagree on that eb. :v My view is an unloaded gun is just a chunk of steel while a loaded one is a useful weapon. I have a loaded revolver in my truck also.

 

[jamesthomas]

My pistol is loaded also with 2 extra clips. I don't believe you will have the time to load a pistol or other gun if the bad guys are already in the house. They are not gonna wait for you to load your pistol before they attack you, your kids or your wife.