What do you really need to do to keep the powder dry in the rain?

[Horizontal Hunter]

I never really worried about keeping my powder dry in the rain as I am pretty much a fair weather hunter but this season I missed a lot of our muzzleloader season due to my wife being sick (nothing serious thankfully) so I went out on the last day of the season which was a miserable day that under ordinary circumstances I would have just slept in and called it a season.

This is the history of the load that was in my BP rifle:

I loaded my muzzleloader (an older CVA percussion side lock in .50) on December 11th and taped the barrel with electrical tape like I always do. The load is 85ffg of Goex topped with a .490 PRB using a .018 patch. It gets a fresh cap every hunt and I seat the cap tightly by gently lowering the hammer on it and pushing down on the back of the hammer to seat the primer tightly on the Spitfire nipple.

It has been in and out of the house from hunt to hunt for three weeks concluding with my last hunt on December 31st, the last day of our deer season. The weather was awful. It started with 3-1/2 hours of steady freezing rain and plain rain which then turned to drizzle and fog until about 2PM when I called it quits. I had had enough. I really should have slept in. :youcrazy:

I didn't do anything to protect the lock area. No sandwich bag, or wax or anything else. At the end of the day it still went bang with no problem and I hit what I was aiming at. Unfortunately it was a stump and not the deer I had been hoping for. No hesitation or hang fire just bang like always.

I have been thinking about it since and wondering if I got lucky or if this is typical of the dependability of percussion rifles?

As always, thank you for your comments and suggestions.

Bob

 

[M. De Land]

I believe it's typical. IF the powder went down the barrel dry, the patch is tight as well as the cap, then no moisture can inter and it will be just like shooting on a dry day, as far as the charge is concerned.
Contrary to some notion the oxygen to burn the powder is self contained and has nothing to do with the exterior humidity percentage for it is sealed to the outside environment until it clears the muzzle.MD

 

[Stumpkiller]

I never bother with tape over the muzzle. My patch is tighter than a valve gasket! I will carry my horn under the outer layer of coat and I keep a cow's knee (waxed leather cover) over the primed flintlock until ready to fire.

 

[M. De Land]

Dang, looks like a snapping turtle crawled aboard your flinter! :haha:
Just ribbing you a bit! I'm sure it is most welcome when nasty weather shows up.
Still, you can leave a percussion bare and it will still fire more reliably if the caps are good and tight. MD

 

[Rifleman1776]

Sounds like you are doing OK.
Except that having to push the pimer (cap) to get it down tightly on the nipple. Sounds like you do not have the right sized cap. With a proper fit hard pushing is not necessary.
BTW, some hunters put some clear fingernalil polish around the cap to seal from the element. Just like the real mountain men did. :wink:

 

[ohio ramrod]

I use beeswax and lard mixture around the base of the cap to seal the nipple area. The mountain men really did use beeswax and animal fats! :idunno: :idunno: Also a corn meal "buffer over the powder to absorb any moisture just as they did back when! :idunno: Taking the gun in and out will caause moisture condensation just like on your glasses in cold weather. :idunno:

 

[Horizontal Hunter]

I never bother with tape over the muzzle. My patch is tighter than a valve gasket! I will carry my horn under the outer layer of coat and I keep a cow's knee (waxed leather cover) over the primed flintlock until ready to fire.

I tape all my barrels to keep any debris out of the barrel. I fell once in the snow and had a few inches of snow in the barrel of my shotgun. I have been taping them ever since.

Sounds like you are doing OK.
Except that having to push the pimer (cap) to get it down tightly on the nipple. Sounds like you do not have the right sized cap. With a proper fit hard pushing is not necessary.
BTW, some hunters put some clear fingernalil polish around the cap to seal from the element. Just like the real mountain men did. :wink:

I don't have a problem if I don't push it down with the hammer but I have found that pushing it down with the hammer seats the primer more tightly on the nipple.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I never realized how dependable these BP rifles can be if you take the time to understand them.

Bob