to leave loaded or unload

[doulos]

When hunting with my old 1-66 Traditions I would leave my gun loaded with the same charge for sometimes a week. I just kept it in the garage instead of the heated house. How many discharge their rifle every night? How many leave it loaded? And how long?

 

[bigbore442001]

I generally leave a charge in the gun for a week before putting in a fresh load. I have never had a problem with the gun going off.

 

[tg]

I leave mine loaded for a week or two unless it really gets a soaking, then I fire it as much to be able to clean/dry the gun as anything.

 

[rabjr]

I generally load and leave it until I get a shot or bad weather, then I'll clean and load a fresh charge.

 

[shootemup]

I would leave a load in the gun for as much as a couple of weeks if needed during hunting season - hope I wouldn't need to though...

 

[Halftail]

Call me an Oddball... :haha: ...Or a finatic....I either shoot/Discharge my load after the days hunt everyday to ensure a fresh load to start the next morning.If I shoot I clean it and if I discharge I clean accordingly.I hunt every day for a month and find it an enjoyable part of it.Works for me.

 

[wvbuckbuster]

I use to shoot and clean every evening at the end of the hunt to start out new each day. Had one not go off one time but believe it was because I brought it inside and it drew moisture. I got lazy and started leaving it out side and guess what- it goes off. So unless it has been raining or snowing I leave it loaded a few days.

 

[2172]

Halftail....me too..Hank

 

[roundball]

Never.

I pull the load every night, swab the bore, let it warm up and dry out in the house at night, load fresh for each hunt...takes less than a minute and only costs a penney or two.

Gives me the peace of mind of not having a loaded rifle around or ever worrying if it's going to go off when I drop the hammer.

 

[SunSetter]

Here in NY our ML season runs Dec. 10-18. The weather is usualy cold and snowing. Just to play it safe I use a co2 discharger and clean the gun. Next morning put a fresh load in and I'm good to go. This works for me as I have never had a misfire while hunting. There's nothing more dishearting than to hunt hard and get that shot only to hear a pop instead of a boom.

 

[longcruise]

I leave mine loaded for the season. Once I left it loaded for a month between deer and antelope season. The rifle put the ball exactly where intended on the antelope.

Usually at least once or twice during the season I end up shooting a grouse in the head or maybe a coyote, etc. Then it's a full cleaning regimen.

I don't fault the guys who shoot and clean at the end of each day though. Seems like a great excuse to do some shooting.

 

[Headhunter]

I keep mine loaded too.

If it is cold, it stays outside.

If it gets wet, I fire it off and clean.

Load fresh in the morning.

HH

 

[paulvallandigham]

it really has to depend on the weather conditions where you are hunting. If its raining, and foggy, and misty, as well as cold in the morning, but warms up each day, you had best pull the ball and empty the gun out every night, to insure that the powder is dry when you load it the next morning. It has everything to do with condensation in the barrel, and not much else. People who live in the Mountain states have extremely low relative humidity, so even when it snows or rains, they don't have a lot of trouble keeping the powder dry. Those who live and hunt along the coasts, or here in the midwest, have much higher relative humidity, day in and day out, and you have to clean the gun daily to have any real assurance that the gun will fire properly the next day. Yes, I have left powder in my gun over night, and the gun did fire the next day. I have tried this in all weather conditions. The hick-ups always relate to higher relative humidity days. Our winters can be very cold( and dry) but unfortunately ,if the sun comes out, the humidity rises dramatically, even when the temperature does not get to 32 degrees F. So, dumping a charge even in bad weather hunting is often required, or you hazard a hang fire at the least, and a misfire at worse. Either can wound or lose an animal for you.

 

[juancho]

I always fire mine at the end of the day, and, since I have to clean it , then I fire some more.I need the practice anyways :grin: Hunting,shooting,cleaning,is become my ritual.

 

[bob243]

I fire it off at the end of the day and give it a full cleaning as soon as I get home.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Don't really have a policy. If it's been dry I'll leave it in the unheated garage 'till the next day. Normally I fire off into the ground and clean it if it's going to be a work-week until the next outing. If it's rained or snowed I'll fire it or pull the load while in the woods.

Last Novembert I loaded up my percussion rifle and left it sit in the garage closet until two weeks ago. Went off first try and was a couple inches high at 50 yards. Don't recommend that, but it was a worthwhile experiment.

 

[Britsmoothy]

I was standing for geese off and on this week, one evening was rain so I fired the gun once the shot was recovered. Wednesday was fine so I emptied the shot and left the powder in and on Friday shot pheasant with the same charges. One tube is charged now and there is a wrap of paper in the muzzle stating the condition.

 

I noticed that about 10 - 15 minutes before shooting is to stop that there were quite a few booms in the area I was hunting. At first I considered that hunters were perhaps taking end of day shots a does but with more thought, it is probably the discharge of rifles that people do not want to leave loaded over night. As for me it depends on the weather conditions. If it is very humid(and I mean raining or almost raining) I will pull the ball and dump the charge into a clean bowl, letting it dry overnight and then reload it the next day - adding powder if necessary to make the correct weight. If it is dry, I just uncap the piece or remove the flint / prime and let is sit. I have done this for a week or more without any effect to the firearms ability to go bang.

 

[BS]

I also leave mine loaded for the season, but.....I tag the muzzle that it is loaded.....Ever notice the older you get, the more ya forget!