Storing Loaded & Capped?

[Smokey Plainsman]

This is more concerning any percussion gun with exposed nipple, be it rifle, side by side shotgun, single shot or Howdah pistols. This is not concerning cap and ball revolvers.

Are there any way to safely keep the gun loaded and capped when hunting or for something like camp defense usage? I seem to recall various leather items or those made from brass designed to fit between the hammer and cap?

Looking for something that would allow me to safely keep such a gun at half cock with a cap on the nipple yet quickly and easily brought into action. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

-Smokey

 

[tenngun]

Hammer down on the cap it takes a killer blow to the ear to set the cap off. Still you might be concerned with its safety. A piece of leather can be set between cap and hammer let down on it. When you cock the leather falls off. Most
MLS lack safeties so, any time you have a primes gun the dragons awake, so upmost care is required.
Should you catch the ear on anything the Hamer can go back but not far enough to engage half cock, then fall with enough force to fire the cap. And your leather will be out of the way.
To be safe you need to stay out of the woods and keep the gun unloaded and out of reach.
Any step from that requires care....at all times, the true safety is your brain and how you use it.

 

[azmntman]

I load and cap and half cock and hunt. Camp? Cap off, however I fire the rifle every AM and reload to assure nothin gets away, (unmentionable handles camp "emergencies"). Never had an issue where the gun was in my mind dangerous this way (as a general rule you will not find me "wading" through thick brush where trigger/hammer are subject to twigs n such).

 

[renegadehunter]

I also hunt with mine capped and set at half cock as well. It might concern me if I were to carry it on a sling, but I always cradle carry when actively still-hunting. I don't have any real thick stuff to walk through where catching the hammer would be a concern. If I was walking through that kind of stuff I'd be making too much noise and movement to ever see a deer anyway.
Setting the hammer down on a foam earplug will provide a nice cushion.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Hammer on the cap and if one wishes on a leather as well.
As tenngun said.
In house, caps off, hammers down on leather.

 

[Grimord]

I have used a spent .380 brass case with a thong attached to it and the trigger guard as a means of protecting the cap from moisture when hunting in the rain, but it also works as a safety cause the hammer cannot contact the nipple at all.

 

[Rat]

If you wear a straight line capper around your neck, you can cap the rifle as fast as removing anything between the hammer and nipple, and it will be totally safe. Keep a small piece of leather or tire-tube rubber between the hammer and nipple to keep your powder dry, and it will fall off as soon as you cock the hammer, then cap, and fire away.

Having said all that, a capped rifle with a chunk of thick leather between the capped nipple and hammer, with the hammer down, (or rubber, or whatever) would be extremely difficult to fire, you would probably break the lock even trying to do that by beating the hammer with a hammer. If the rifle fell down on it's side, or was just dropped, it certainly would not go off. Unless there are children in camp, or persons with mental handicaps, that should be more than safe enough for responsible adults.

Indeed I too perform camp defense with an unmentionable, as I fear two legged creatures far more than any critter of the wilderness that might wander into camp. Not that one would want to take a 500 grain ball from Bess, or anything out of my .58's or my .62". It's just that the most feared creatures don't usually creep around solo, so a single shot would not be the best shot. And of course they also shoot back.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Hammer down on the cap it takes a killer blow to the ear to set the cap off.

Amen, Bro. Only exception might be if there are children in the house.

 

[Artie Peltier]

If your using the muzzle loader in a camp for protection, wouldn’t it be safer and easier to keep inside the camp. If it’s private owned property and the firearm is legal in the state your in?

 

[Walkingeagle]

There is a tv hunting show out there where the host was hunting remote Alaska with a capped percussion hawken, with the hammer resting on the cap, and carrying in the traditional African safari style of over the shoulder, hand at the muzzle. Branch caught the hammer and cocked it enough before breaking free that it set the cap off. One tv host, 9 fingers and a lucky camera guy!

 

[Stantheman86]

The nipple protector on my P-H Enfield will cover a musket cap safely and allow the hammer down on it.

By design?

Cock the hammer and remove the nipple protector, the rifle is now hot.

 

[Stantheman86]

There is a tv hunting show out there where the host was hunting remote Alaska with a capped percussion hawken, with the hammer resting on the cap, and carrying in the traditional African safari style of over the shoulder, hand at the muzzle. Branch caught the hammer and cocked it enough before breaking free that it set the cap off. One tv host, 9 fingers and a lucky camera guy!

No way would I ever carry any rifle like that

 

[Britsmoothy]

No way would I ever carry any rifle like that

Yep, idiots are very resourceful.

 

[Rat]

And of course, nothing is idiot proof, and nothing is safe from an idiot.

 

[tenngun]

No way would I ever carry any rifle like that

Yeah but,
One frosty morn setting under a cedar tree a nice little deer stepped in to my view. My pan was primed. I picked my girl up in prep to aim. Muzzle pointed 45 degrees to my left. My hands were cold, steel was cold and I was generally uncomfortable. Went to cocktail and my thumb slipped right off the flint screw. Boom.
I hadn't primed till I was under the tree. Minding your muzzle is the most important safety device. Guns are always primed, loaded, cocked, and fitted with hair triggers. No matter what.

 

[Rat]

If your using the muzzle loader in a camp for protection, wouldn’t it be safer and easier to keep inside the camp. If it’s private owned property and the firearm is legal in the state your in?

Explain/elaborate? In Washington State, your camp is considered, legally, your home or "domain", so anything that is legal in your home is legal in camp, be it state, federal, public property. That's why, in your camp, you are not required to only use what is legal for hunting, such as a muzzle loader, in a muzzle loader hunting camp. You can have any firearm that is legal in the state. Obviously, if you walked out of camp, and off into the woods, during ML season, with your M1, Ak, or M16, the game department would not be very nice to you. As long as it's kept in camp, you are good. I don't know if that is true in other states.

 

[Bad Karma]

And of course, nothing is idiot proof, and nothing is safe from an idiot.

My pop used to say “every time something is idiot proofed along comes a new and improved idiot.”

 

[Rat]

Exactly, then they morph into super idiots, kind of like insecticide immune bugs, and antibiotic resistant germs. I think the lawyers breed them.

 

[jrmflintlock]

Back in my percussion shooting days, .380 brass on a thong tied to the triggerguard. Easy Sneezy!

 

[Carbon 6]

Looking for something that would allow me to safely keep such a gun at half cock with a cap on the nipple yet quickly and easily brought into action. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

-Smokey

What makes it "unsafe" ?

Half cock is your safety.

I made a leather capper that holds about 4 caps and is tied to the trigger guard. that can be used as a hammer down safety.