Why Muzzle Down?

[TFoley]

What horrible place do you live? Muzzleloaders aren't even considered firearms under the law here in the US and, God Willing, they never will be.

Ah, you are quite new here - most folks know I live in the UK, but then they've had to put up with me for almost twenty years...

OLD muzzleloaders are antiques, and don't need any kind of registration. Unless you want to shoot them, then it's illegal to do so without a Firearms Certificate.

And like I wrote, ALL modern replicas of old muzzleloaders that can actually fire are either classed as a shotgun - if smooth, or just like any modern firearm if rifled.

 

[Little Brother]

While reading in some of the cleaning threads, I noticed some store their muzzleloaders muzzle down in the their safe. Why? To prevent dust from getting down the bore? My firearms rarely get dusty inside my safe so, curious if there is another reason for storing muzzle down after cleaning?

Having lived in more humid areas, most people I know claim it helps to keep ambient moisture from collecting at the breach

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

Ah, you are quite new here - most folks know I live in the UK, but then they've had to put up with me for almost twenty years...

OLD muzzleloaders are antiques, and don't need any kind of registration. Unless you want to shoot them, then it's illegal to do so without a Firearms Certificate.

And like I wrote, ALL modern replicas of old muzzleloaders that can actually fire are either classed as a shotgun - if smooth, or just like any modern firearm if rifled.

Ah. I do believe I was harsh in calling your home a "horrible place". Sorry about that. There are certainly worse places to live... Ukraine comes to mind. Earlier I was looking at the gun control laws in our state of Hawaii. All things considered, I think I would prefer Scotland to Hawaii, though I have never visited either place. Places like New York City and Chicago really ARE horrible places to live.

 

[brazosland]

I store this one horizontal on the night stand. The rest are hung level or standing muzzle up. Never had an issue.

Absolutely want to use this…we have a shortage of home invaders out here…might get lucky one day though!

 

[DuncNZ]

What horrible place do you live? Muzzleloaders aren't even considered firearms under the law here in the US and, God Willing, they never will be.

I live in New Zealand where , to be able to own and use a firearm we have to have an individual firearms licence , handguns have to be registered and only used for target shooting , Semi auto centerfire rifles are banned except on very hard to get permits . All firearms have to be kept in approved secure safes or racks , ammunition has to be kept locked and separate from the firearms . The only firearms which don't need a licensed owner are antique muzzle loaders .

The laws regarding firearms ownership and use have become very restrictive since an Australian took advantage of our then firearms laws to murder 51 Muslims and wound 40 more . Knee jerk reactions by the Government re this have done us firearms owners a lot of harm .

On the other hand we don't need licenses to hunt Deer ( 7 species ) Goats ,Himalayan Tahr European Chamois , wild Pig , rabbits , hares , Canada geese , there no restriction on seasons , sex, number , firearm caliber , firearm type ,we can use suppressors, night vision , spotlights ,helicopters etc, all we need is permission of the land owner .
So the way I see it we lose some but we also win some .
The only thing which stops me shooting deer with a muzzle loading rifle is the hot mid summer dry weather fire risk we are experiencing at present .

 

[brazosland]

May your chains set lightly upon you.

On another note…since you are downunder, aren’t you storing muzzle down when you place them muzzle up according to how they look to you?

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

The only thing which stops me shooting deer with a muzzle loading rifle is the hot mid summer dry weather fire risk we are experiencing at present .

We are experiencing a warm-up this week. It might actually get above freezing today...

As to the rest, who knows what the world is coming to? A bad end most likely.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

Dont put oil down your barrel and you wont have this problem.
Mine has been in the safe muzzle up since 2005. At the end of rondy season I give it a light coat of bore butter, and pull it out the following JAn and clean it and hit the first rondy of the year.
(next month!!!)

 

[Mad L]

Wait, bore butter? Are we taking about muzzleloaders or popcorn again?

...I oil mine, set upside down, assemble next day and store on wall or with muzzle up in corner.

 

[Mad L]

All this talk about 'Rings of oil's after resting Muzzle Down....just how much Oil are people putting down those barrels??
I too rest mine over night after a Heavy Cleaning and don't expect to shoot it for a while, but Normal Cleaning, there wouldn't be much but a very slight if any 'wet'.

Think about it; How much Oil drips out when stored muzzle down, a drop, two drops? Any more and there was Too Much oil to begin with.

Niw, visualize the oil seeping down the barrel and out the Open Muzzle...is the Breach end an open Straight shot?
Is all that Oil that came out the Muzzle really going to gravitate to that Tiny Little vent hole on the one Side of the barrel?? Really now, since when does Oil slide Uphill??
GRAVITY folks, Gravity!

Now 'muzzle Up'; what is at the Bottom?
Is your Breach Plug loose or damaged? Again, are you using too much oil?

Now, for Very Long Term Storage, or antiques on permanent Display - these should Not be 'oiled'. These should be Cleaned, maybe LIGHTLY oiled and then a Sealer such as Museum Wax applied...read who used 'Museum Wax' and why and how they came by it.

**True story: on a ride to altitude once, a random student looked at her instructor and asked "When we jump out, do we go Down?"
Seriously, she asked that; we all looked at each other and started Laughing...I leaned over said "I Sure Hope So!" (Everyone laughed again, except the student, and her Instructor)

 

[Kansas Jake]

When I oil the bore after cleaning I make a thin X with oil on a patch and run it up and down the bore a few times. I definitely don’t soak the bore. I store my muzzleloaders muzzle down but don’t expect oil to drip from the muzzle.

 

[cyten]

Ah, you are quite new here - most folks know I live in the UK, but then they've had to put up with me for almost twenty years...

OLD muzzleloaders are antiques, and don't need any kind of registration. Unless you want to shoot them, then it's illegal to do so without a Firearms Certificate.

And like I wrote, ALL modern replicas of old muzzleloaders that can actually fire are either classed as a shotgun - if smooth, or just like any modern firearm if rifled.

There is no law regarding antiques here in Armenia. A gun is a gun, and if it's rifled, you cannot own it until you've spent 5 years with a smoothbore. No handguns (unless awarded to you by the president), no reloading (other than shotshells), no black powder (have to make your own). But semi auto centerfire rifles are ok & suppressors require no paperwork.

And to contribute to thread topic, I store mine on a wall rack