Muzzleloaders - leave them loaded?????

[duckbill]

This has been a hot debate for many years. It especially is of concern for us down here in the southeast where humidity is high.
Do you leave your ML's loaded or do you fire it off at the end of each day?

I,personally, leave mine loaded (without the primer cap of course). I cover the muzzle and breech with duct tape to help keep moisture out. I'm not sure if that is enough, but that's what I do.

What say you?

 

[Jim Thompson]

I left mine loaded after last season and shot it just fine a month or so ago

 

[killitgrillit]

I first start out with a clean rifle,
1. I remove the nipple and use a pipe cleaner and clean all the lube out of the nipple and then run the pipe cleaner in the barrel and clean it out.
2 then I run a patch down the barrel and get all the excess lube out.
3 reinstall the nipple and snap 3 caps, then remove the nipple do the pipe cleaner thing again and run a patch down the barrel,
4 now it's time to load
( some people put a load of black powder down the barrel with toilet paper and snap it off, but in my eyes that just fouls the bore and draws moisture in the barrel, and you want that dry to start out with)

5 loader her up, once it's loaded I take the ramrod with a jag and run a lightly lubed patch back down the bore, and then that's it.
I keep a small piece of leather that I soaked in mink oil to put over the nipple and let the hammer down on to store it and that's it. I don't put anything over the end of the barrel because if the patch or mini is working properly it should seal the powder charge

Know back to the question at hand yes I leave mine loaded until I shoot it and it has been loaded for up to 2 years and first cap it went off.
Hope this helps sorry for the long winded answer just my .02 cents worth

 

[Nicodemus]

I shoot mine at the end of each days hunt.

 

[Fishman]

Leave it loaded

I leave mine load until the hunt (weekend or week) is over. Never had any problems. I would probably change it out if it was raining all day.

 

[BCWhite]

Leave mine loaded. The way I was brought up.

 

[Lead Poison]

This has been a hot debate for many years. It especially is of concern for us down here in the southeast where humidity is high.
Do you leave your ML's loaded or do you fire it off at the end of each day?

I,personally, leave mine loaded (without the primer cap of course). I cover the muzzle and breech with duct tape to help keep moisture out. I'm not sure if that is enough, but that's what I do.

What say you?

I also take the primer off and leave it loaded until I leave camp and head for home.

 

[7Mag Hunter]

Depends on the weather (temp-Humidity)...If damp, or
muggy, I just use ball puller and then pour the powder out..
Then, take brush and make 2-3 strokes and then dry mop..
Maybe a minute to clean it..Next AM, just pop 2 caps, load
it, and I know it will fire...
Dont have to sit on stand and wonder "will this thing fire "???????

 

[Hawken2222]

same here

I leave mine load until the hunt (weekend or week) is over. Never had any problems. I would probably change it out if it was raining all day.

I do the same thing.

 

[Bowhunter24]

I leave mine loaded for however long i am hunting that trip, i do remove the primer after each hunt though

 

[Ol' Buckmaster]

One year in the closet seems to be OK. I left it for two years and tried to fire it the other day and nothing. I had to take it apart and now I can't get it back together. Lesson learned.

 

[duckbill]

I guess I left something out of my original post.....

I generally only use my ML during the special ML season. So, I was mainly referring to the few days(1 week at most) during this season. For those few days, I'm in the "leave it loaded" camp. I'll fire it off and clean it before putting it away.

 

[Just BB]

We leave them loaded but remove the caps. HOWEVER, you must make sure that it is dry before that intitial load. Learned that last year, after the morning hunt my son and I both wanted to shoot them and both of us had misfires. Good ol BB had cleaned them before loading and hadn't got all the moisture out. My son gave me a mean look. Thank goodness he hadn't had a deer to shoot at that morning or my Indian name would have been "Man sitting on ramrod" I'm cleaning and drying at home this time before going to the woods, then popping caps and double checking before loading.

 

[RamblinWreck]

I use a CO2 unloader doo-dad.

 

[Jasper]

I use a CO2 unloader doo-dad.

How does that thing work?

 

[Darkhorse]

I will leave mine loaded for a couple of weeks when I'm hunting regularly. A few simple precautions are in order though.
First you must make sure all the oil is cleaned from the bore and action. Before loading for hunting I remove the locks from my flintlocks and clean all the oil off the insides. This stops any oil from migrating to the pan and contaminating the prime or main charge.
Don't bring your loaded gun into a cold (Air Conditioned) house then take it back out into the warm air. In Georgia you will often find yourself in these conditions. Condensation can occur and contamimate your powder.
If there is even a chance that moisture (dew/drizzle) could have dampened the powder the gun is either fired or the ball pulled, then the gun is cleaned before reloading.

But the main thing I don't see mentioned here is the saftey issue. Whenever I leave a muzzloader loaded I put the ramrod down the barrel and attach a note to the gun stating that the gun is "LOADED!!"
Who knows? You may have a heart attack tonight and die. Then your family is dealing with a weapon they DON'T know is loaded.
And humans have a way of forgetting things. Things like that smokepole was left loaded.
Blackpowder does not go bad with age and wet powder drys out to fire again another day. Many people, especially kids, have been killed or maimed with great grandpaps rifle that hung over the fireplace for a few generations and everybody assumed it was unloaded. A flintlock or percussion or inline (I wouldn't really know about these) doesn't need prime or cap to fire, just a spark.
The guys that have been around awhile always check out a new/old rifle to see if it is unloaded. Usually this is done by checking with the ramrod.
It's a wonder to me after shooting these things for over 35 years that our 1 week season doesn't cause a lot more accidents from inexperience than it does.

 

[BKA]

I leave mine loaded. Never have had any problems.

 

[Mac]

leave mine loaded while at camp with cap removed

Before going home I remove the plug and unload.

 

[Just BB]

But the main thing I don't see mentioned here is the saftey issue. Whenever I leave a muzzloader loaded I put the ramrod down the barrel and attach a note to the gun stating that the gun is "LOADED!!"
Who knows? You may have a heart attack tonight and die. Then your family is dealing with a weapon they DON'T know is loaded.

Excellent point and maybe you don't die (YET) you just forget that you left it loaded and forget to do the ramrod length check and reload it! Then you have a double charge and double projectile and it is not going to be pretty when that thing gets touched off.

 

[RamblinWreck]

How does that thing work?

It uses CO2 cartridges to blow out the load from the nipple.

Link here.