This has probably been asked before

[S.Kenton]

Exactly. So, we dint really know that it was condensation that fouled your powder. Did moisture get in through the flash hole? Was it maybe not plugged as well as you thought?
Was the bore not as clean/dry/oil free, as you though when you loaded.
Not criticizing you or trying to find fault with you. Just emphasize that this condensation thing seems far fetched and unsubstantiated. Have you ever brought a gun inside, back outside, then inside again, back out,,,,, and at any point had moisture run out of the barrel?
Not off, the barrel, out, of the barrel?
I haven't.

It was a cap lock, so cap was on nipple the whole time while in the woods. That’s the one and only time that’s happened to me, including going to the rondevous, shooting sessions at my personal range behind my house and other hunting excursions. I do the same actions before loading like clockwork. I’ve ascertained that it had to have been condensation building up from bringing rifle in and out of my home, changing the temp of the barrel and inside of the bore. Like I said, not 100 percent sure, but if I was a betting man….

 

[necchi]

I reloaded last week when I shot my buck just got Incase I needed it but I did not so I was just wondering?....

It's already too late,,
,so go ahead and fire it off tomorrow. Clean it well, then scrub it again, then oil it well. Then wipe and re-oil it again next week.
Your gonna find brown on the patch in the first week after cleaning,, don't fret,, but your gonna have to stay after it from here on out.
I understand the re-load,, but ya shoulda cleaned it that night after takin the deer an not needin the second shot.
Now with all that oil in the bore, your gonna hafta be carefull to clean that all out before ya shoot it again, store the gun muzzle down,, that'll help,,

Once ya shoot it,, ya gotta clean it.

 

[SOLANCO]

This question has probably been asked Before ... And probably all kinds of answers...but here goes... How long should you leave your muzzleloader loaded? Tomorrow will be a week and a day for me and I plan on shooting it off after hunting tomorrow if I don't see a deer and shoot at it 1st... I reloaded last week when I shot my buck just got Incase I needed it but I did not so I was just wondering?.... I do not use real black powder I use 777 I don't think it's as corrosive

If everyone who worried, wondered, dithered, posted, pontificated about this would just fire off the load and clean the gun when they got home we could all get more sleep.

 

[CaptainKirk]

Just pull the ball with your ball screw, clean it, then put it away.

 

[.36Rooster]

In short, indefinitely...Brokennocks first post contains all of the essential information you need to know. There are a few extreme instances of sudden temperature changes when bringing a gun indoors causing sweating, and it can be a problem, but also has proven not to be, at times...typically one should aire on the side of caution about it, but also not fret too much about it. Next time it gets down to -20, set a wrench outside and bring it in the house the next morning and you'll see what i mean...

The most important part of the matter was mentioned by brokennock. Never leave a fouled muzzleloader loaded...i guess unless you would prefer white crusty crystalizations growing out of your nipple, and enjoy pulling balls and cleaning corrosion and wondering if your gun will ever shoot again...lol

 

[bubba.50]

This question has probably been asked Before ... And probably all kinds of answers...but here goes... How long should you leave your muzzleloader loaded? Tomorrow will be a week and a day for me and I plan on shooting it off after hunting tomorrow if I don't see a deer and shoot at it 1st... I reloaded last week when I shot my buck just got Incase I needed it but I did not so I was just wondering?.... I do not use real black powder I use 777 I don't think it's as corrosive

I don't know how long you can leave it loaded. The longest for me was a shade over a year from first day of deer season one year til the end of season the next year. it was a 90gr measure of pyrodex behind a maxi-ball. And when I capped it & pulled the trigger it went bang just like it always did.

 

[Brokennock]

white crusty crystalizations growing out of your nipple,

Ummmm, uh, well......
Penicillin?

 

[.36Rooster]

!

Ummmm, uh, well......
Penicillin?

Oh lord, well.........hmmm
Hey! I got work in the morning. Just remembered...see ya later guys

 

[enfield]

Well , even if my personal 2 cents might be off topic :

Over the last few decates , I more then once purchased an antique pistol or rifle at auctions that , after exam with my bore scope , turned out as being loaded !
I honestly must say , that in my early years , I clamped them in my bench vise and fired them from outdoors with a string and ALL of them went BOOOOOMM .
Today , I wouldn't practice that any more , since I don't know , if a brainless has packed some unknown/unmentionable behind the ball .
When a new item enters my collection today , I ALWAYS try to unscrew the plug and look for the shape of the then visible , entire barrel , which is , in my opinion , much more secure than ANY bore scope .

Anyway : even a gun , which has been loaded with BP for over 170 years , still can fire its original load !

So be aware !

 

[Brokennock]

Well , even if my personal 2 cents might be off topic :

Over the last few decates , I more then once purchased an antique pistol or rifle at auctions that , after exam with my bore scope , turned out as being loaded !
I honestly must say , that in my early years , I clamped them in my bench vise and fired them from outdoors with a string and ALL of them went BOOOOOMM .
Today , I wouldn't practice that any more , since I don't know , if a brainless has packed some unknown/unmentionable behind the ball .
When a new item enters my collection today , I ALWAYS try to unscrew the plug and look for the shape of the then visible , entire barrel , which is , in my opinion , much more secure than ANY bore scope .

Anyway : even a gun , which has been loaded with BP for over 170 years , still can fire its original load !

So be aware !

Yup.

Cannonballs from the Civil War are still known to explode when used as decoration in someone's fireplace hearth. Old guns left loaded for decades, still go boom when mishandled and not checked for a charge.
I believe it was our own @Spence10 who mixed some powder with water, let it dry, and lit it. It burned, it would have made a gun go bang.

 

[New bp shooter]

Well gun went boom but i was not to worried about I was more worried about the barrel because I had not cleaned it before reloading .... But thanks for everyone's insight

 

[nkbj]

I've crept through a creek bottom for the better part of an hour only to have the turkeys flush like a covey of quail when the cap popped and the powder didn't go boom. And I caused a doe to levitate up a canyon wall like a jedi warrior mountain goat for the same cause...
'Cause I loaded the night before and still had some moisture back at the breech.
So I just don't know what to tell somebody about how long to leave a piece loaded. I've had a piece loaded and sitting behind the door that goes bang just fine a month later. It depends upon the piece, the fit and geometry of parts back at the breech, really lots of factors involved. You just have to find out what works for you.

 

[William Lincoln]

Condensation occurs in very humid places when you take an
item into a cold place or like the outside of an ice tea glass
with ice in it on a warm humid day. A cold gun brought into a warm
humid house could condensate moisture.

 

[FishDFly]

Was reading recently about leaving a rifle loaded and how long.

There was a point made in the write up that I found interesting and had not read before. It said that after the rifle was loaded to run a patch down the bore with whatever preservative that you normally use to keep the bore from rusting.

Made sense to me.

 

[Brokennock]

Condensation occurs in very humid places when you take an
item into a cold place or like the outside of an ice tea glass
with ice in it on a warm humid day. A cold gun brought into a warm
humid house could condensate moisture.

Yeah, on the outside.

 

[bigstick6017555]

Cold steel meets warm air, you got moisture. Now the question is how much warm air can get past a patched ball or past an uncapped nipple, or flash hole is the question. Would it be enough to kill main charge over how many times.

 

[FishDFly]

"Cold steel meets warm air, you got moisture"

You can also get moisture in the lock and trigger assembly which is not good, best to leave a rifle outside or in a vehicle, not in a warm environment.

 

[Josephg]

Two reasons I will not leave a muzzleloader loaded is first safety, mine and others. Leaving a muzzleloader loaded can acumulate moisture and refuse to fire. I've had that happen. Watched a big cow elf run off laughing while I was going click click click with my blunderbuss.

 

[Brokennock]

Humidity outside my house, where my truck is parked, is 71% right now, which is low for us, amd temp is at 25°f.
Inside is probably just short of half that (just a guess).
Hmmm, I wonder where something is more likely to become damp?

Hmmm, I wonder where the gun is more likely to get stolen?

Never once has a muzzleloader that I have brought, charged, in and out of the house, multiple times at this time of year, ever failed to fire. Except for the when the flash hole was blocked by a broken plug. Not once.
But we are supposed to believe that there is absolutely no other way that someone who had a failure, had it other than that condensation penetrated and otherwise sealed steel barrel?

 

[Brokennock]

Well gun went boom but i was not to worried about I was more worried about the barrel because I had not cleaned it before reloading .... But thanks for everyone's insight

I'm glad your gun went boom with no apparent damage.
Might want to get one of the cheaper borescopes talked about on this forum and check out the inside of the barrel, especially in the area of where the ball and powder met. This would have been your most concentrated area of fouling.