Fouling a barrel for hunting.... and what about the end of the day

[MrTom]

For many this topic is a moot issue but for many who are starting out and planning to hunt this may help. With hunting seasons starting to ramp up, these questions also start popping up.

I hunt all in-lines and use the same practice on each gun. I live in a city of about 135,000 and within sight of the Mayo Clinic. For several years I'd just wait until dark the night before opener and put a small charge of BH209 in the barrel with a plug made of paper towel, sneak out the service door of the garage and point the gun in the air and let it rip. Some neighbors got a little testy with this procedure after seeing me do this, so I took to just popping off four primers out in the garage with the gun pointed in a waste paper basket. Things are much better on the neighbor front now.

With the wonderful shortage of everything black powder these days I won't use the Winchester primers I have the guns dialed into for fouling the barrel so I picked up a couple flats of regular cci shotshell primers to use for this, but I honestly think any primer including the lower heat muzzleloader specific primers will work for this too. It's fouling we want, not necessarily the heat.

For side locks I think the same method of fouling a clean barrel for hunting can be used only with one's choice of caps. For the range one can just run a light load down range to foul things. I don't know why but my sidelocks don't seem to shoot a wild first shot in a clean barrel when using T7 granular and that's all I use in them.

I'm not a fan of letting a round off in the dark at the end of the day either. I'll pull the primer, give the gun a wipe with an oil impregnated cloth and case it up. A simple primer the next morning and I am good to go. Unless one has been in some serious wet weather, charges within an inline gun should be just fine. If you suspect that the charge might be moisture compromised, pull the plug at home or camp and dump it, cleaning the plug and wiping out the barrel before reloading using a new sabot....the bullet will be fine to re-use. Sidelocks are another thing and I'll let someone more in touch with possible damp load issues offer advice on them.

 

[edmehlig]

You can also try shooting 2-3 caps to fowl your bore. Plus the powder residue from the caps is not corrosive to your bbl.

 

[deermanok]

Before I load up for hunting, I run at least one dry patch down the barrel to get rid of any oils that might be present.
Because I don't have a ton of 209 primers, I'll only pop one before I load.
I do the same with my sidehammer guns.
I don't like hunting in the rain but sometimes the woods are wet from snow or a previous shower, so water could get down the barrel, so what I do is to wrap a bit of plastic wrap around the bore and secure it with a rubber band.
I can pull it off quickly or if need be, just shoot right through it.

 

[BlackPowderGuy (AJHS)]

How long do ya’ll leave a charge of BH 209 in the barrel, assuming it hasn’t been wet? In Maryland, we have an early ML season in October and a late one in December, after rifle season. Last week was our early ML. I left the BH in the barrel for three or four days in between hunts…weather had been dry, and I pulled the primer after each hunt. At the end of the week though, I shot off the charge in the barrel- though I thought about leaving it in the barrel till the December ML season. Any reason not to leave it in for 6 weeks like that? The powder itself is not corrosive until fired, correct?

 

[deermanok]

Should be fine. I know of someone who left a muzzleloader loaded for months, (forgot about it).
When he finally remembered, it fired right off no problem.

 

[MrTom]

I have shot and reloaded and left the gun loaded until the end of the season. 9 days. Evenb if unfired the guns get a thorough cleaning at the end of the nine days. I shoot only BH209 in the field. I don't care what others do or how long they allow a gun to remain uncleaned, my guns get cleaned.

 

[edmehlig]

Ok in addition what I like to do what deermanok said is push s dry patch all the way down and fire a cap off. This will ensure all oil is burned out and prove your flash channel is clear. Then I’ll remove the patch and fire 3. Caps to fowl the bore.

 

[toytruck]

I used an alcohol patch, both sides, to remove storage oil. Then dry patch, both sides, then fire off a cap or two, then load. Works for me!

 

[Walkingeagle]

Guys, remember that loaded civil war guns were found and still fired.
Walk

 

[ingramjets]

i usally run a dry patch to remove any oils then i use an air compresssior to blow out the breech plug then install i dont see the need to shoot off primer when i do this. do you guys change the primer daily if you leave it loaded and do use the same primer again the next hunting day?

 

[deermanok]

I carry a dozen or primers in a 35mm film canister along with a couple speed Loaders.
At the end of my hunt, if I haven't fired, I'll put my primer back in the canister.
Next time out, I just grab one, I never know if it's the one I used the day before.

 

[Fullbore92]

As long as I feel confident the caps stayed dry all day, I just remove the cap and place back in my capper at the end of the rotation.

 

[ingramjets]

Thanks guys

 

[toytruck]

We have to remove the primer/cap before transporting the rifle in VA. Once the primer/cap is removed it's considered unloaded.

 

[MrTom]

We have to remove the primer/cap before transporting the rifle in VA. Once the primer/cap is removed it's considered unloaded.

Likewise here in the state of confusion.

 

[Jbrown69]

I have shot and reloaded and left the gun loaded until the end of the season. 9 days. Evenb if unfired the guns get a thorough cleaning at the end of the nine days. I shoot only BH209 in the field. I don't care what others do or how long they allow a gun to remain uncleaned, my guns get cleaned.

Here in Vermont we have a 4 day early season at the end of October and a late season in early Dec. I usually fire 4 or 5 rounds prior to the early season to check zero. I will push a couple of unoiled dry patches down the bore and clean out the breech plug then reload. I use no oil. If I was shooting anything other than blackhorn, I would clean and oil. I then reload and leave it loaded until the end of the late season. If I suspected the powder got wet I would clear the load. This is why I went with a nitrided barrel and blackhorn powder. So far good results.

 

[THBailey]

Just my 2cents worth, but we hunt with a clean bore. When sighting in we will take the time to completely clean between shots.

 

[Rvrrat14]

I plan on leaving mine ‘as is’. It has been well cleaned with Barricade down the barrel. I’ll shoot it just as it is.

At the end of the day, pending on the weather, I may remove the plug (Optima V2) and dump pellets/push bullet out. Then reload the next morning.

 

[OXN]

Just my 2cents worth, but we hunt with a clean bore. When sighting in we will take the time to completely clean between shots.

Man I just cannot figure out why anyone would not do this. It really does not take that long to run a quick patch between shots, and you save yourself the risk of damaging your rifle when you leave the bore fouled for hunting

 

[Okie Hog]

i absolutely refuse to pop caps before loading. Any rifle that places bullets from a clean and dirty bore in different positions on the target quickly goes away.

Any rifle remaining unfired at the end of hunting day is uncapped and remains loaded.