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- Nov 10, 2011
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Two weeks ago Thurs I swabbed storage oil from the barrel of my Knight 50 cal Elite with Lehigh conversion. Popped two caps and loaded with BH 209. Fired one round to check scope. Dead on. Reloaded immediately. MZ season started the following Sat.
Last Thurs afternoon (2 weeks since previous reloading) I DRT'ed a nice TN 6 pt. Temp was in the very low 40's. Since it was getting dark and I had a long drag ahead of me, I did not reload. After finishing with the deer and in a cold garage (temp now near 32), I reloaded for the following Fri hunt. Friday came and went and uneventfully and I put the ML aside. I took a center fire out today because modern gun season began and when I returned from equally uneventful hunt I began to clean the MZ.
Removed the breech plug, noticed powder grains seemingly stuck to the plug around the vent liner. Dumped out the powder (most of it appeared dry) on the ground and pushed the sabot and bullet out from muzzle to breech. There I discovered a dampness around the base of the sabot and powder and in the base cavity the powder was damp and caked in place.
My question is this: Would waiting a few hours (maybe 4) before reloading cause condensation?
I don't think so but I am a loss to figure out where/how the powder got wet. No rain. In retrospect, I wish I would have attempted to fire the load.
TIA
Last Thurs afternoon (2 weeks since previous reloading) I DRT'ed a nice TN 6 pt. Temp was in the very low 40's. Since it was getting dark and I had a long drag ahead of me, I did not reload. After finishing with the deer and in a cold garage (temp now near 32), I reloaded for the following Fri hunt. Friday came and went and uneventfully and I put the ML aside. I took a center fire out today because modern gun season began and when I returned from equally uneventful hunt I began to clean the MZ.
Removed the breech plug, noticed powder grains seemingly stuck to the plug around the vent liner. Dumped out the powder (most of it appeared dry) on the ground and pushed the sabot and bullet out from muzzle to breech. There I discovered a dampness around the base of the sabot and powder and in the base cavity the powder was damp and caked in place.
My question is this: Would waiting a few hours (maybe 4) before reloading cause condensation?
I don't think so but I am a loss to figure out where/how the powder got wet. No rain. In retrospect, I wish I would have attempted to fire the load.
TIA