As the saying goes....

[kerryman71]

keep your powder dry! Not sure where to put this, but figured it would be appropriate here, but as a fail. Had a buddy call me earlier, furious. Was out deer hunting with his Hawkens today, in an area where we have both seen a decent amount of activity. I have mainly hunted the area with my bow, having just started with my first ML a few weeks ago. Each time I have been out, I've had deer come through the area, but always just out of bow range.

Anyway, he's set up on a ridge waiting, when he sees what he thinks is movement in the distance. A few minutes later he has three doe in sight, but a bit out there. They eventually make their way in and get about 30 yards out where one presents a good shot. He raises his rifle, thinks the freezer is getting some meat, pulls the trigger and pretty much has the equivalent of a cap gun ! To make it more frustrating for him, the doe move a little, but stay right in the area until he finally gets up and walks off, not too happy.

He certainly has more experience with MLs than I do, and told me he cleaned it good after the last time he used it, ran some bore butter through it and stored it away until this season when he loaded it a couple weeks ago. I asked him if he cleaned the barrel and ran dry patches through it, blowing off a cap prior to loading it, which he said he did not. My very limited assumption is the oil seeped to the breech of the barrel and seeped into the powder, or the flash hole was clogged, or a combination of the two. At least there will be some deer left for me tomorrow .

 

[MrTom]

I'd say you're doing much better with experience than your buddy is.... lol.... based on your questions.

Things happen and it's too bad it had to happen when deer were in his sights.

 

[fishdfly]

Your assessment is correct.

Only thing Bore Butter is good for is the trash can.

 

[kerryman71]

Agreed. Honestly, I probably would've done the same thing if it weren't for forums like this one.

 

[snapbang]

I wont speak for all of you but I bet most of us have been there. Lots of us didn't have forums to learn from. Pain is a good teacher. The pain of watching a deer walk away after sitting in the cold for many hours digs deep. Your friend will learn.

 

[4stringdude]

Swabbing the bore after a long rest of the rifle is always my first action. I also snap a cap or two before loading. Misfires still can happen, but they are few.

 

[deermanok]

I did the same thing ONCE, years ago. Learned a good lesson.

 

[Fyrstyk]

It is events like this that makes me appreciate the various trail walks that my club puts on during the fall & winter months. You get a lot of experience loading in the field and dealing with the occasional mis fires or hang fires. At our shoots, every hammer fall counts as a shot or a miss, so you want to be sure your gun is going to fire or you may lose the target. I have incorporated many of the tactics used on the trail walks in my hunting for both small & big game. So far, (knock on wood) I have only had one failure to fire on game, and that was due to a broken main spring. That doesn't happen often, but it taught me to be sure to clean and lube the lockon my guns.

 

[Clairebear]

We've all likely experienced misfires and hang fires. I still use Bore butter to put the gun away for the season.
Also at season end I let my powder sit in my heated shop where humidity is around 10% or less. After a day or two I vac pac my powder and primers (seperatly) to keep the powder dry. Some is years old and is still shootable.

 

[michiganmuzzy]

We've all likely experienced misfires and hang fires. I still use Bore butter to put the gun away for the season.
Also at season end I let my powder sit in my heated shop where humidity is around 10% or less. After a day or two I vac pac my powder and primers (seperatly) to keep the powder dry. Some is years old and is still shootable.

What are talking about? Season end? Never heard of that… if the sun comes up then there is something that needs to be shot with an ML, even if its just paper.

 

[Squint]

keep your powder dry! Not sure where to put this, but figured it would be appropriate here, but as a fail. Had a buddy call me earlier, furious. Was out deer hunting with his Hawkens today, in an area where we have both seen a decent amount of activity. I have mainly hunted the area with my bow, having just started with my first ML a few weeks ago. Each time I have been out, I've had deer come through the area, but always just out of bow range.

Anyway, he's set up on a ridge waiting, when he sees what he thinks is movement in the distance. A few minutes later he has three doe in sight, but a bit out there. They eventually make their way in and get about 30 yards out where one presents a good shot. He raises his rifle, thinks the freezer is getting some meat, pulls the trigger and pretty much has the equivalent of a cap gun ! To make it more frustrating for him, the doe move a little, but stay right in the area until he finally gets up and walks off, not too happy.

He certainly has more experience with MLs than I do, and told me he cleaned it good after the last time he used it, ran some bore butter through it and stored it away until this season when he loaded it a couple weeks ago. I asked him if he cleaned the barrel and ran dry patches through it, blowing off a cap prior to loading it, which he said he did not. My very limited assumption is the oil seeped to the breech of the barrel and seeped into the powder, or the flash hole was clogged, or a combination of the two. At least there will be some deer left for me tomorrow .

I'm sorry to hear about your experience, don't let the naysayers blame this entirely on bore butter, I have a vet friend who couldn't keep his shots inside of 6 inches until I gave him some bore butter patches and he shot inch and a half groups. I should ask you, do you store your gun with the barrel down? it's kind of a critical factor with muzzle loaders, and just this one little thing can cause a misfire if it was stored with the barrel up. All lubricants that I've ever seen or cleaners seem to have an ability to dry or get thicker and this works havoc if the rifle is stored barrel up. When I first started in 89, bore butter was the to go to thing and it worked just fine. Then after acquiring a flintlock and having more time available after I retired in 04, I started experimenting with some of the questionable stuff that I even saw here. Bore butter probably is equally as good as half of the stuff I see. I've learned a lot of different things, I coat the bore with a light coating of some kind of decent oil after cleaning before I put it away. Before loading, however later, and before I place the butt on the ground, I lay it flat and run a dry patch down inside the bore to remove whatever could be there. I've always been told to shoot a cap or two before loading while holding the barrel close to some dirt or something. I did quit this years ago, it was a waste of caps in my book and if I satisfactory clean the rifle with the nipple out and clean the nipple, there was no reason the gun wouldn't fire and I didn't have to dirty up the bore. Now I do have one rifle that needs a dirty bore to shoot in the same place more than once but that is is an exception and not necessary a rule. If you are suspicious that the channel is not open, for goodness sakes fire a cap or two before you shoot at your deer. Be extra careful of over lubricated patches. If in doubt put a dry buffer of some some kind or just a dry patch in between the powder and the ball. be careful, I have had some dry lubricants start grass fires on me when I shot.
Squint

 

[Waxxy]

I have never heard of storing with the barrel down, but it makes perfect sense to me. Gravity . I think I will try that.

 

[Harley469]

SNAP A COUPLE CAPS ALWAYS!!! Any of us that hunt with side locks/flint locks for very long will all have misfires at some point. I had one this season as well. And why?....forgot to snap a cap after running some patches through. I could have had a nice doe, but I forgot to practice what I preach. My .54 side lock is very sensitive when it comes to gunk blocking up the fire channel- if I push a patch too far down it will often push crap into the fire channel. Best rule, pop a couple caps before heading to the field (point the barrel at a leaf to see if it moves). If that leaf doesn't move then use a nipple pick and clean out the fire channel.

 

[Harley469]

I have never heard of storing with the barrel down, but it makes perfect sense to me. Gravity . I think I will try that.

Was taught years ago to store barrel down because oil will run backward into the action (depending on the firearm). As a general rule I store all my firearms with the muzzle pointed down.