Load life

[Tahquamenon]

OH! thats somthing I dident think of! the priming powder.If you get to your stand ware ever it is you hunt is it good change your prime or if you protect your lock will you be ok?I will be doing my first pig hunt with a flinter from TVM if all goes well and while I dont mind having a piggie run away because I couldent get my gun to shoot I dont want to get bit because of it.

I'm not the one to ask about Flintlocks as I'm newbie (unfired yet). I have heard that folks empty and wipe the flash pan and re-prime every 30-60 minutes while in the field. Particularily with 4FG priming powder as it's not coated and will draw moisture rapidly.

 

[Zonie]

I guess I'll have to take the word of all you folks who live back East and down South about black powder not being hygroscopic.

I do recall reading that some of the old original guns which were found loaded did have rust in the bores where the powder had been.
This makes sense to me because, although unburned black powder is, by itself not a corrosive, it does contain a lot of charcoal.
My un-common sense tells me that charcoal does absorb moisture out of the air in humid areas.
Damp charcoal would, IMO cause rust if left too long in a clean, unoiled barrel.
:m2c:

 

[arcticap]

I always stretch a ballon over my muzzle and wrap it with a thin rubber band when hunting. Then I check to make sure that it doesn't interfere with my front sight at all. It serves as a barrier to moisture/ice/snow as well as a simple detection method for any barrel obstructing debris that could enter as a result of the muzzle contacting mud, snow, etc... :front:

 

[3 stinky dogs]

I would do sonthing simeler when I hunted.I would just put some electrical tape over the muzzle.I am trying to figure out if when the trapper was ready for some buffalo hump ribs if he was trying to remember how long his load had been in his barrel of if his rifle would go bang.

 

[olgriz]

It sure would have been nice of one of them fur trappers that kept a journal if he would have told us how they handled this problem. I've left my rifle loaded over several days during hunting season and not had a problem. A friend did the same and when he test fired it went sssssssssssst foop plop sizzel sizzel. You could hear the powder cooking in there for several seconds after the ball hit the ground. I've killed a buck in a driving rain storm just to prove I could do it, and I've had my priming turn to soup on a foggy day. As a general rule I shoot out my load after hunting and start fresh in the morning. I don't want a hang fire or misfire so why give it a chance. It happens anyhow -- as an example, Gary and I were hunting. He had a smooth bore, me a .62 cal rifle. We had been hunting most of the morning when a little buck walked out in front of us and stopped well within range of the trade musket. Gary aimed an klatched. He re primed and klatched. I'm loosing my patience while he reprimes and klatches again. The buck is standing there wondering what those two idiots are doing. I wonder what is taking Gary so long -- good grief, he is changing the flint. Well to heck with that, I'll pop 'em off. I aims and klatch. Reprime, aim and klatch. Gary is still changing the flint. I reprime and get a flashssssssssssst---------boom. The ball must have passed the buck 10 feet over his back. He'd had enough, Gary was still changing the flint, I'm reloading and the buck walked off into the reprod (Christmas trees to you city folks) and was gone forever. Two old guys, total of at least 60 years of muzzleloading experience, buck walks off. Why push your luck and leave it loaded. Our guns were loaded probably 3.5 to 4 hours that day, we both had new flints and fresh priming, in fact fresh priming two or three times. What went wrong. Probably condensed some moisture, because it was really cold and damp and we had the heater on in the truck when we drove from one unit to the next, then we got out to hunt. Who knows, that's the best I can come up with.

 

I left my 1860 Army loaded from beginning of last year's deer season and it got carried a lot but I did not shoot it during the season. It always shot a little high so I finally decided yesterday to shoot the loads and see where they hit then adjust the sights. All six went off without a hitch and printed about 8 inches high and in a 2 inch group at 25 yds. Made some changes to the groove sight on the hammer and reloaded to check POI. I got lucky the first time and everything went into the black.

In reference to your question, a C&B can be left in a nightstand drawer in the house for at least 9 months and still shoot. I had 30 grs of FFFg and a greased Wonder under each ball with a small dab of grease on top but none of the loads got contaminated. I suppose not being in a climate controlled environment might have made some difference but I'll bet most guns will fire unless they actually get dropped in water or are used in damp/wet weather or conditions like others have related.