Went Hunting and Left my .54 loaded for 3 days

[TDM]

As has been mentioned several times already, oil in the breech was most likely the culprit. I've left percussion rifles loaded for for months with no failure to fire at the end of season, and that's with a lubed wad. But a little oil goes a long way in ruining a charge.

 

[Whiteoak15]

As an experiment, I loaded a Renegade .54 with a sabot, put a bit of rubber over the nipple with the hammer down, and a strip of electrical tape overthe muzzle and laeft it in an unheated cellar for four years. It went off like I loaded it yesterday. If you seal them up tight, they will go a long, long while.

 

[ETipp]

My Renegades can be left the (months) whole season ,only happened once and went BANG/QUIK to unload ! Done with electrical tape on muzzle and a Magspark 209 sealed ignition (like Ned Roberts used ) and left in the detached garage (no heat) ! /Ed

Back before I knew better, I left one of my Renegades hanging above my fireplace loaded with a liberally lubed Maxi Ball for a full year. Took it down, put a cap on it, and she fired off with no problem.

 

[flashpoint]

Here is something I have never experienced before. I went hunting Thursday afternoon and did not shoot anything. I left my .54 cal John Bergmann loaded until Sunday afternoon. Decided to shoot out the charge since I was not going to be able to hunt again in the foreseeable future. A friend of mine was visiting and he has never shot a muzzleloader so I gave him a lesson and let him feel the trigger pull so he wouldn't be startled when the rifle went off. He fired but only the cap went off. This happened 3 times so I decided to get my pan primer with null B powder and put a small amount under the nipple. Percussion cap goes off but not the main charge. I put a bit more null B under the nipple and had the same results as previous. Finally I decided to put a bit more null B than the last time so I could at least get the ball out but it only pushed it about have way out. I decided it was time to pull the ball with a screw jag. This worked fine and had no trouble pulling it out.

My only conclusion was that the mink oil patch probably contaminated the powder or it absorbed moisture from somewhere. It is pretty dry in my gunroom and have a dehumidifier going 24/7 so what are you alls thoughts. I have never had this happen before but then I never have left a rifle loaded overnight either.

I usually shoot my .45 after a days hunt, but have left it loaded for a week or more with no trouble. However is it was cold outside and then you brought it inside where it was warm for a few days, and then outside again, maybe that was the reason? I always try to load my gun outside in the cold and then keep it out there in pretty much the same temp. Just a thought.

 

[dragnetbill]

My two cents worth:
I've hunted with percussion rifles for many years and have generally left my hunting load in the rifle until I was lucky enough to get a shot at an animal or until I knew my season was over; some years I've left it loaded until the next summer. Only once has my rifle failed to fire for me on a first cap and that was after a couple of days of sitting totally exposed in some of the most miserable heavy wet snow, rain and fog; you know the kind of weather that only a moron would sit out in. A little powder dribbled in under the nipple and she fired with authority on the next cap.
As many have already stated it is important to be sure that before you drop your hunting load that your breech, fire channel and nipple are cleaned of whatever preservative (oil) may be there. My practice is to dry patch with the nipple removed; pipe cleaner to the fire channel and dry and blow out the nipple. I have no problem with others having their own methods that differ.
In my one and only fail to fire mentioned above I feel confident that exposure to the crappy weather was the source of the cause of the failure to fire; so, my powder was wet from water not oil. The main charge went off as normal when the extra powder was dribbled in under the nipple leading me to assume that only the powder immediately under the nipple and into the fire channel had been dampened. Could I have done some things that may have prevented that? Sure, but, I don't want to go down that path at this time because Crew Chief didn't mention anything in his post about extreme weather conditions.
What I'm curious about with your experience Crew Chief is that you stated that on your second attempt adding more powder under the nipple

so I could at least get the ball out but it only pushed it about have way out

you only got the load half way out of the barrel; so obviously the main charge did not go off. You said you pulled the ball, so I'll assume that you were using a patched round ball. You didn't mention your powder load, but, since you were hunting I'd assume somewhere between 65-100 grains; that's a lot of powder to totally contaminate with either breech oil or patch lube. What did the powder look like when you dumped it out?

 

[gunnerasch]

I would normally agree but I have seen way too much rust show up in my bores to skimp on the oil. I used to use Ballistol for that but switched to a patch sopping with wd40 (which I leave stuffed in the muzzle with a tag to pull it out) and have had much better results. I tell ya what, those little bore lights are nice but I wouldn't recommend getting a bore scope, it will drive ya nuts and make you lose sleep over whats happening in your barrels!

It should be noted that WD40 is a very.. very poor protectant. It was designed to displace water...liquid water and it does a fair job of it. Its also not bad as a cutting fluid for steel and a so so tapping fluid, best used on aluminum. It is pretty just Stoddard Fluid (a type of kerosene) and vegitable oil. When it dries.. it will leave a very thin crust. a coating of sorts that is fragile as a clump of sand. Multiple layers will cake on over time. Chuckle... one of the best oils for lubrication is.. 3 n 1 oil. It lasts a very long time and doesnt dry out very quickly. I turned my nose up at it until I read and watched a number of articles on it. Its not half bad around guns.

 

[Ballshooter]

I left my kibler colonial smoothbore loaded all season was in the rain and snow plenty! Pan even got wet a few times it went boom no problem at the end of my month of hunting. I loaded it with corn meal on top of the powder a thin OP wad an a patched roundball. I also had the rifle in and out of the car / in and out of the house and tent.

 

[TScottW99]

I loaded my 12 gauge in October for early turkey season. Took it out Saturday, still loaded for a late season hunt. Shot it at the end of the hunt, shot perfectly, first try. It was cold and the birds were being stubborn, still a great time.

 

[smokepolehall]

I loaded my Flintlock on Oct. 15 22 for early ML's season. Did not see any tick toters, so just a few days ago i shot it off to clean it n wait on this years season. Had a slight hang fire. Not bad for a flintlock in Western Ky