Unloaded my Flintlock

[Nazgul58]

Muzzle loader season ended here last Sunday, had to unload the 58 cal. Hawken flintlock. Fired without issue after being loaded/carried in the woods for 3 weeks off and on. Didn't connect with the buck that is on our place, he'll be bigger next year.

Shot 15 shots offhand at 50 yards into a 12" square gong, hit everyone!!
Gave it a good cleaning, ready for next shooting session. Now to get going on y Kibler Colonial.

Don

 

[LawrenceA]

Good luck for next year and on the colonial

 

[Sidney Smith]

I left mine loaded for two months one year. Shot a big doe with the same load the last day of flintlock season.

 

[hanshi]

I normally leave my loaded throughout the season if it's not been fired.

 

[thompson50]

As long as I don’t caught in lousy weather, I’ll leave it loaded for the season as well.

 

[Feltwad]

It is a habit and bad practise that I think is very dangerous .
Feltwad

 

[TerryK]

I never had any issues. Naturally if the pan gets wet then I’ll shoot it off and start with a clean dry rifle the next day. Damp wet days I do refresh the pan powder often.

 

[olskool]

i left one of my jaegers loaded about 4 months one year, no problem at all when i put the spark to it,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Sidney Smith]

It is a habit and bad practise that I think is very dangerous .
Feltwad

So just why do you think its bad practice to leave a charge in the gun? How is it any more dangerous than anything else?

 

[Feltwad]

A un loaded gun is a safe gun unless you use it has a club, for me it is piece of mind I have worked on too many guns with a charge still left in , I had a friend in the States who was lucky he nearly lost a eye because he left his rifle loaded a year previous and forgot and loaded it again the recoil imbedded the hammer in his head just above his eye he never now leaves his gun charged.
Feltwad

 

[Nazgul58]

When loaded between hunting trips, it has a frizzen stall on it and a dry patch in the pan. Obviously the priming charge is removed.

Don

 

[Archer 756]

I wonder what they did back then

 

[Grumpa]

Once or twice I have left my flintlock loaded for a year and more... It fired.

Richard/Grumpa

 

[tiklikker]

One season I left my .54 cal. GPR loaded for a five day hunt in my deer blind. Unfortunately, I was using my very comfortable LP gas heater during daylight hours, and shut it off at night. At the end of the five day hunt, when I tried to fire it to empty, no bang. I wound up having to have help to pull the ball, and clean black powder sludge. I can only assume condensation got me from cold/warm/cold temp. changes. I now unload (fire) at the end of each day. The only good news was I never saw the big guy shooter with a gun that wouldn't shoot.

 

[Eterry]

My father always said it's always the empty gun that'll kill you. Because it'll get loaded and treated as an empty gun.

I've had the unpleasant task of responding to several accidental shootings... each time someone said... we thought the gun was empty.

If they had thought the gun was LOADED and treated it as such then many lives would've been saved.

Almost EVERY gun in this house is loaded.

 

[Professor flintlock]

Once or twice I have left my flintlock loaded for a year and more... It fired.

Richard/Grumpa

How much corrosion formed at the breech or is it erosion?

 

[MikeC]

I always leave loaded for the season (few months) if not fired, never an issue. Trick is once loaded do not take it in the house, always leave mine cased in the shed and in the bed of my truck when driving to hunting land.

 

[Robby]

First thing you do when receiving a gun in hand is check to see its not loaded, even if the guy that handed it to you did that very thing. Especially with muzzleloaders, always check, especially old muzzleloaders, back in the day they were left loaded for a reason. Many restorers find them in that condition, and even they forget sometimes, never assume anything.
Robin

 

[tnlonghunter]

I wonder what they did back then

I gotta be honest, I really don't find the rationale of "they did it back then" particularly useful today. For most of us, we're not living off the land where we need to kill dinner every couple of days or the likelihood of hostile neighbors (if we have hostile neighbors today, I doubt many of us are relying on a flintlock to defend the homestead). Leaving a charge in the barrel throughout hunting season is a personal choice. If I lived in a rural enough area that I could hunt out my back door, I'd probably do the same since it would be a near-daily occurrence. As it is, I unload after every hunt, because it may be anywhere from a few days to next year before I get out again, and I have to drive a ways to get back home.

 

[Robby]

Then that is what you should do. Others situations and circumstances may differ and as such their practice of keeping it loaded may differ.
Robby