How long do you leave your muzzleloader charged during season?

Modern Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Modern Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

How long do you leave your muzzleloader charged during season?

  • Never - Fresh every day

    Votes: 3 21.4%
  • 1-2 days

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 3-4 days

    Votes: 1 7.1%
  • 5-6 days

    Votes: 1 7.1%
  • 1 week

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2 weeks

    Votes: 2 14.3%
  • All season

    Votes: 7 50.0%

  • Total voters
    14
  • Poll closed .
Deer hunting, I load a clean dry barrel and leave it loaded until I shoot. I have left them loaded until the following season, a year later. Never a problem. If I shoot, clean right away. I hunt waterfowl with a Pedersoli SxS 12 ga. At the end of the day, if I am hunting the following day, just pull the caps and leave it dirty over night. Here in California It is legal to transport loaded and uncapped.
 
I start with a clean barrel opening morning, in the dark, I pull over and load the rifle and blast it into the dirt on the side of the road, reload it and leave it so for 3-5 days unless I shoot it first, if I don’t, I’ll blow that one out and load another in there. Thoroughly clean after our 9 day hunt. Utah is pretty dang dry in September and October still. Don’t worry much about corrosion during the hunt.
 
I start with a clean barrel opening morning, in the dark, I pull over and load the rifle and blast it into the dirt on the side of the road, reload it and leave it so for 3-5 days unless I shoot it first, if I don’t, I’ll blow that one out and load another in there. Thoroughly clean after our 9 day hunt. Utah is pretty dang dry in September and October still. Don’t worry much about corrosion during the hunt.


Where are you hunting this year? My son and I drew muzzle buck deer tags for the Fishlake Mountains east of Fillmore. Starts in about a month...
 
Wrong question. . ..It depends. . .

If I shoot the gun, I will clean it that night. . .

If i do NOT shoot the gun, I will leave it loaded all year long. . . until I go
to a target practice session, or go hunt the following year.

In other words, I will not clean it, until I shoot it. However long
that may be.
 
Where are you hunting this year? My son and I drew muzzle buck deer tags for the Fishlake Mountains east of Fillmore. Starts in about a month...
Me and my two boys drew Pine Valley MZ tags. I usually do dedicated hunter, but didn’t draw that tag this year.
 
This year, I plan on using the Teflon tape coated bullet, loaded on a CLEAN bore. I have found the POI doesn’t change much at 100 yards.
Shooting slip fit bullets, from my Whites, the group tightens up after the second shot, fouling with a primer or two, does nothing to really help that.The first two shots will always have a different POI relative to each other, sometimes by quite a bit, and different than the next two or three, although shots 2-5 are relatively close to each other, shot two is almost always out of the group.
I have needed follow up shots on a few occasions and really want the next shot to hit where the first one does without having to clean in the field.
If any of that makes sense.
 
In NY early season for Deer 1 week (third week of October). I'll leave it loaded for that week if I don't fire it. Later in the season if I get a deer I'll use my MZ for the rest of the season, usually stays loaded for two weeks in the middle of winter.
 
Like Dwayne, it's all season, or until the next time i shoot the gun. After shooting, I clean within a few hours.

I'm blessed with several good hunting muzzleloaders and I shoot Pyrodex. For years it was all I could get. Prior to the next season, I shoot the old load out, note where it hit, and then re-zero with fresh loads, clean and reload with fresh powder.

Normally the old loads hit a few inches low at 50 yds. A year ago I didn't hunt. After nearly 2 yrs, I took the 54 Firehawk out to shoot out the old load. It was 1/4" off the bullseye.

Never had a problem with corrosion as long as I clean same day I shoot.
 
I test shoot mine using blackhorn 2nd week of October, load and hunt for our 1 week season. I leave it loaded until the late muzzle loader week in December. I never dared do this until blackhorn came out, was afraid of it wanting to start pitting the barrel.
 
Never leave mine loaded . Clean it at the end of the day . Reload when I go back out .
always done that, always will. Even if unnecessary it makes me feel better .
I feel best knowing if left in the cold and not brought in a warm room mine loaded at start of early bear (SEPT)thru start of regular deer/rifle and again late muzzle loader Sept thru Dec and this yr thru January (New extended season )will end with a single BABOOM !!!!!!!!!!!!! Now that"s peace of mind /flint /side lock and this year (inline) /Ed
 
Out here in the middle of Montana, unless you're hunting right on one of the rivers, trees are pretty hard to find. For where the main roads are and even some of the side trails that I'm allowed to travel, hunting areas can be quite a long ways apart, as you look out across a landscape you can often see a mile of nothing but sagebrush. I started a new way of doing, I used to carry a completely clean muzzleloader loaded with no powder in the flintlock priming cup or a cap on the percussion nipple, placed in a gun case in the back of my pickup. I still do part of that, except now I fire the a cap in the percussion before I load it to kind of smoke up the inside of the barrel. It seems to help accuracy quite a bit on the first shot. I'm stuck with what to do with the flintlock, thank goodness it doesn't change impacts much at 50 yards between a clean and a dirty barrel. I still don't place them loaded in the back of my pick up. I do hate to lose the priming charge in the flint lock every time I have to drive someplace. The gun case is a doe skin foam lined case. The loaded gun remains that way until I get home, and if I'm not hunting anymore I like to remove the charge with air pressure as I don't have to spend so much time cleaning barrels. My understanding of caps is they are noncorrosive so I don't worry about cleaning it anymore than I would my .22. If it's fairly cool I do not bring the gun into a heated building, if I plan on hunting some more, as I do have an unheated garage I can use for this. In the years I've carried one loaded here in Montana, I've never had any rust problems, but it is a pretty dry country.
Squint
 
Fire off at the end of the day, clean, reload before going out again. The way we've always done it. The rare times the "end of the day" shot revealed a misfire convinced me that, especially during wet/humid days, misfires are more common. Fresh powder, new cap, sharp flints do a better job for me. Plus, plans change - might not get to hunt when I planned - or get to go out at all.
 
I leave mind charged all season long, 13 days. I’m using BH 209 which doesn’t attract water to the degree some other powders do and I cover the barrel opening with electrical tape.
 
Fire off at the end of the day, clean, reload before going out again. The way we've always done it. The rare times the "end of the day" shot revealed a misfire convinced me that, especially during wet/humid days, misfires are more common. Fresh powder, new cap, sharp flints do a better job for me. Plus, plans change - might not get to hunt when I planned - or get to go out at all.
Many years ago, I had one of those misfires, cap only at a very big white tailed buck at 50 yards. The reason was, I was using a pretty wet patch lube, and of course it had seeped into the powder. I didn't have a nipple wrench with me, so it was a long walk back to my rig so I could remove the nipple and put some powder in, and then shoot it out. I was using black in those days, now I'm using 777 as I can't hardly buy black anywhere in Montana. I still like a fairly damp patch because of the fire danger when I'm hunting from burning patches. Here in Montana, the grass is really dry when fall comes around. The way I solved my problem was with a wad in between powder and ball. If I need a second shot right away, the wad isn't needed if I'm going to shoot it right out. I have bought both kinds, those that are lubricated and the dry ones. I was somewhat concerned about the dry ones starting a fire but I've never had one burn After I shot, that I could tell. I believe the lubricated ones are done so with bore butter or wonder lube which doesn't seem to making a difference. They are so close to be in dry that they don't bother the powder.
Squint
 
I loaded it before I left home. I went 1100 miles out of state to hunt and wasn't able to get the shot I wanted. So 1100 miles back. Left the load in my gun with a range rod that said ITS LOADED. About 4 weeks later this doe was the perfect specimen for my wifes friend who asked me to kill one for them. So after 6 weeks of being loaded in a Knight Elite, 100g (v) Blackhorn 209, MMP green sabot, 305g GT bullet, and a win 209 primer it went bang with no hesitation. Side note. This deer was really fat. GFRG7619.JPG

And here is why she dropped so fast. Years ago I was taught to shoot them high. The bullet puts pressure or breaks the spine. POP and FLOP.

IMG_1709.JPG
 

Latest posts

Back
Top