Leaving a blk pwdr rifle loaded
I have been drawn for a muzzleloader hunt and I was wondering if it is adviseable to leave the rifle loaded overnight. It is a inline, and we will be useing pyrodex pellets. We can take out the primers to be safe.
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No problem.
I have left a Hawken loaded with black powder for six weeks and it fired fine and the deer died.
I have left a Savage muzzleloader loaded for a year and it fired fine.0 -
Thank you. 0 -
I thought I heard someone fired robert e lee's revolver decades after he passed and all six chambers went off. Off topic but cool! 0 -
Years ago we had a black powder day at the range just so folks could come out and shoot their muzzleloaders and cap and ball revolvers or just learn about the whole process before they invested in a lot of gear.
One guy showed up with an old TC Hawken. Said he had bought it four years prior and had hung it over his mantle over the fireplace. One of the instructors for the day was showing the crowd that had gathered around that you should always put a cap on the nipple and fire it off to clear any oil or dust out of the barrel. He pointed the rifle down range and pulled the trigger. The rifle fired and shocked the hell out of all of us, especially the guy who showed up with the rifle to begin with. He had no idea it was loaded and had been the whole time it was hanging over his fire place.
I'd say leaving one loaded over night would not be a big deal especially with pyrodex and an inline set up.
Bode0 -
Whenever I leave a muzelloader loaded I put a tag on the triger guard with LOADED in red permanent marker. Hope to avoid accident this way. 0 -
When I leave mine loaded, I put a white flag in the bore. I have a strip of white cloth, one inch wide and a foot long. I stuff 9 inches of the strip down the barrel. Hard to miss that flag sticking out of the barrel.
Plus, when I bring the rifle in after hunting in cold weather, this prevents warm moist air from circulating in the barrel.0 -
I, too, leave the powder & bullet in the barrel and just take off the primer or percussion cap. But when ever I do this I ALWAYS tape a note on the attachment of my gun case as a reminded to me (and anyone else that might look at it) that the barrel is loaded! Without the note, I would consider it a dangerous practice to just do the primer thing! Especially when you start getting a little absent minded like me! 0 -
just my personal 2 cents. I never leave mine loaded after a day of hunting but I use black powder. only misfires I've had was from that after a cold day of hunting we brought them in cabin, which has free gas and is about 80 degrees, i'm sure the heat caused the gun to sweat and the inside of the barrell to draw moisture to the powder.I just fell better firing the gun off and cleaning every night. 0 -
With my Hawken I brought it into the house 6 or 8 times in cold weather, after hunting. I had it loaded with black powder. After six weeks it fired fine.
With the cloth strip in the bore the moist air can't circulate.
I like to think of how the pioneers used their guns. They had to have the gun loaded at all times. They had to bring the gun into the house at night. They couldn't afford to discharge the gun every night, plus, like me, they didn't want to have to clean it every night. I don't know what tricks the pioneers used but they had some way of keeping it loaded for long periods. Plus they weren't just worried about missing a shot at a deer, they might have needed to shoot a charging Shawnee.0 -
I once left my navy 36 loaded with BP for two years. All six fired just fine. 0 -
Most people mark the ram rod after the firearm is loaded. That way if they forget whether it is loaded or not they can put the ram rod down the barrel and if the mark is visible, it is loaded. If it is not visible it is not loaded. Bode 0 -
I once re stocked a lyman .50 cal plains rifle for someone and went to do a hammer to nipple test after I had reassembled the rifle to make sure the hammer would pop the cap. I was sitting in my den about to pull the trigger when I realized I had never checked the rifle to see if it was loaded. Well guess what it was. I took a drive out to the country and discharged the round. The fellow I re stocked the rifle for used it for hunting deer. He did not see any deer on the last day of the hunt so he returned home with the rifle loaded and gave it to me 1 year later for a re stock job. He totaly forgot that he had left it loaded. In my opinion it is better to discharge it in the field clean it and remove any chance of a mishap. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by muzzleloader-2
I once re stocked a lyman .50 cal plains rifle for someone and went to do a hammer to nipple test after I had reassembled the rifle to make sure the hammer would pop the cap. I was sitting in my den about to pull the trigger when I realized I had never checked the rifle to see if it was loaded. Well guess what it was. I took a drive out to the country and discharged the round. The fellow I re stocked the rifle for used it for hunting deer. He did not see any deer on the last day of the hunt so he returned home with the rifle loaded and gave it to me 1 year later for a re stock job. He totaly forgot that he had left it loaded. In my opinion it is better to discharge it in the field clean it and remove any chance of a mishap.
How pitted was the barrel? Assuming he didn't clean it before reloading?0 -
I have left my gun loaded overnight several times during a multi day season. I never store the muzzleloader in a heated area, when left loaded, as to avoid condensation, especially when hunting in cold weather. 0 -
I used to leave my 51 Navy repro loaded and carried it out hunting.
I personally found ignition problems after having only had it loaded for a week. A rifle could be different. Historically, I read that
Wild Bill Hickok fired his navies off every few days so as to have fresh loads. But I agree it would definitely be fine overnight.0 -
How pitted was the barrel? Assuming he didn't clean it before reloading
There is no reason to assume the barrel would be pitted. Nothing in the story leads you to believe the rifle had been fired during season. Loading it, not firing it, leaving it loaded, nothing about this would cause oxidation.0 -
There is no reason to assume the barrel would be pitted. Nothing in the story leads you to believe the rifle had been fired during season. Loading it, not firing it, leaving it loaded, nothing about this would cause oxidation.
That's right.0 -
I am also a AZ hunter and it depends on the weather and type of bullet as to leaving it loaded or not. In AZ if its hot out using lead bullets lubed with T/Cs Maxi-lube the lube melts and degrades your powder. My friends shooting Hawkens with T/C maxiballs all shoot their rifles at the end of the day. On my In-lines with the big primer shooting sabots I have had no problem leaving them loaded for days at a time. 0 -
there is always a stump that needs kilt at the end of a good or bad day of hunting. [8D]
I have left my Encore loaded over night, only if I know I will be out the next day but if headed home to work the week
I will shoot it at something0 -
I know of a young boy, 13, who took his great granddads flintlock off the hooks above the mantle and shot and killed his best friend. His great granddad had been the last one to fire it. I like the ideas of having flags in the barrels, etc. Safety is always best! 0 -
Bad Itea, Empty if at all possible, better be safe. [8D] 0 -
I can't imagine why anyone would walk away from a loaded firearm. There are too many Bad Luck Gremlins inhabiting this planet with us.
My $.02.
SS0 -
I make it a habbit to shoot my hunting buddies retired 1982 f150 on the back from hunting, I don't know why, but the .58 cal. holes make me smile. 0 -
Black powder is hygroscopic meaning it has an affinity for moisture.
Moisture can be in the powder itself or weep in through the nipple hole.
Some old percussions, and I believe they may be military, have a brass nipple cover on a chain that goes between hammer and nipple when not in use.0 -
Thanks for all the replies,i just returned to the forum with another ? and noticed that this was still on the first page. The safety concerns were very good points,and flagging the guns is a good idea. It will be just my wife and I on the trip,and we camp out instead of returning home. So we would be coming back to camp and storing the guns overnight in a hardcase, then useing them the next day. We would definitly unload them before returning home. 0
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