Our muzzleloader season runs Dec6-21. Can i leave it loaded that long? Hopefully I unload it on day one, but if I dont, how long? And should I put a piece of masking tape over the bore while in the case? CVA Optima, Pyrodex pellets, would remove the primer for safety
How long can I leave it loaded?
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If its loaded on a clean barrel, you are fine. I've left them alot longer than that with no ill effects. As long as you don't get water down in the barrel (ie: rain/snow) you should have no issues. I have two that are loaded right now for about a month already. Some folks put tape or a bore cot over the bore when hunting, just to help prevent rain/snow from getting in.
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8)
First off I want you to know that I use Black horn 209 and this is what I do..........
I'm at the range a lot because I'm a range officer so my shooting is all year long. The week end before I go hunting I shoot my MR and I leave the barrel fouled. I remove the breech plug and clean the plug thoroughly and put it back in the breech. The morning that I'm headed out into the woods I load up and the rifle remains loaded until I shoot a deer or until the season is over. The season here goes from the middle of Nov to the middle of Jan. Roughly 2 months.
Never had a problem with rust or crud or anything else. Remember, I'm using Black horn 209.
Ray........... :yeah:
First off I want you to know that I use Black horn 209 and this is what I do..........
I'm at the range a lot because I'm a range officer so my shooting is all year long. The week end before I go hunting I shoot my MR and I leave the barrel fouled. I remove the breech plug and clean the plug thoroughly and put it back in the breech. The morning that I'm headed out into the woods I load up and the rifle remains loaded until I shoot a deer or until the season is over. The season here goes from the middle of Nov to the middle of Jan. Roughly 2 months.
Never had a problem with rust or crud or anything else. Remember, I'm using Black horn 209.
Ray........... :yeah:
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How long you can leave it loaded is a hard question. Rusting wise, it depends on whether you shoot it, and what powder you shoot. But lets just say, you load it opening morning on a clean barrel. Technically if all things in the universe are in alignment, and the great hunting fairy is watching over you, you can leave that rifle loaded with no fear of rusting. BUT.....
Sometimes the reason to unload is not a rusting problem but more of a trusting problem. In other words, you did not shoot it. But you have to ask yourself... did the powder in any way get compromised? If it did, lets say tomorrow when the huge buck walks out 30 feet in front of you, will that gun go off. Everyone thinks, inline rifle, 209 primer, the gun will fire. Well 90% of the time leaving the gun like that, they will. But I have found I am the 10% type. I have had two fail to fire the next day. When I trust the rifle will fire when I need it... it goes poof, and the deer giggles and runs off.
So if you covered the muzzle with a muzzle mitt and hunted in rain or snow... be sure at the end of the day to take that mitt off. And wipe the barrel with an oiled cloth. Muzzle mitts will rust your barrel under them. Next, do you think there was any chance the load was contaminated with moisture? If you do, shoot the load off, if it will fire, clean the gun and start fresh in the morning.
If its an inline, you can take the breech plug out, and push the load out the back of the rifle at the end of the day. Don't use that powder again, but if your shots are close, I have tested pushed bullets and found then still as accurate as an non-pushed bullet. Or save the bullets and powder for a range session in the future and load all new.
Certain powders rust faster then others. We all know that. But where we hunt and how we hunt and store our rifle can make a huge difference. Some people are just lucky. They can basically ignore all the "rules of how to store a rifle" and the thing still fires. In my case, I play by the rules and have had 2 ftf. So at the end of the day, I fire my rifle off. I clean it. And load it fresh.
Sometimes the reason to unload is not a rusting problem but more of a trusting problem. In other words, you did not shoot it. But you have to ask yourself... did the powder in any way get compromised? If it did, lets say tomorrow when the huge buck walks out 30 feet in front of you, will that gun go off. Everyone thinks, inline rifle, 209 primer, the gun will fire. Well 90% of the time leaving the gun like that, they will. But I have found I am the 10% type. I have had two fail to fire the next day. When I trust the rifle will fire when I need it... it goes poof, and the deer giggles and runs off.
So if you covered the muzzle with a muzzle mitt and hunted in rain or snow... be sure at the end of the day to take that mitt off. And wipe the barrel with an oiled cloth. Muzzle mitts will rust your barrel under them. Next, do you think there was any chance the load was contaminated with moisture? If you do, shoot the load off, if it will fire, clean the gun and start fresh in the morning.
If its an inline, you can take the breech plug out, and push the load out the back of the rifle at the end of the day. Don't use that powder again, but if your shots are close, I have tested pushed bullets and found then still as accurate as an non-pushed bullet. Or save the bullets and powder for a range session in the future and load all new.
Certain powders rust faster then others. We all know that. But where we hunt and how we hunt and store our rifle can make a huge difference. Some people are just lucky. They can basically ignore all the "rules of how to store a rifle" and the thing still fires. In my case, I play by the rules and have had 2 ftf. So at the end of the day, I fire my rifle off. I clean it. And load it fresh.
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I vote push out load and reload a clean gun . also a big concern is temperature fluctuations a loaded gun experiences . Some guys bring a cold loaded gun into warm atmosphere then back out into cold now you have compromised your powder.
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I think you will be fine in the unheated garage, until you shoot the gun. After shooting I'd be cleaning it that day.
One exception would be excessive moisture while hunting, rain or snow. If it got rather damp I'd clean the gun and start over. I usually shoot the gun off, with some you can push out the charge and bullet without to much trouble.
Hopefully you get some shooting in the early days of the hunt.
One exception would be excessive moisture while hunting, rain or snow. If it got rather damp I'd clean the gun and start over. I usually shoot the gun off, with some you can push out the charge and bullet without to much trouble.
Hopefully you get some shooting in the early days of the hunt.
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bestill said:
I know this has always been the standard thought process... don't bring your cold gun into warm house, or you are just asking for trouble.
Personally I put this theory to the test last season by bringing my 2 guns from quite cold to very warm (50-60 degree variation most times) dozens of times over a two month period with no ill effects. At the end of the season both my guns that I had done this with fired off like I just loaded them, and hit the target right where I was aiming. (one was in/out much more than the other as it was used alot more)
While I agree that you are certainly better off by leaving it in stable temps if/when possible, and I am not recommending that anyone do what I did.... after what I experienced last season it doesn't concern me personally anymore. Where I live most days last season I went from being outside for a couple few hours in the teens or 20's, to inside and 80 degrees in my woodstove heated basement. Doesn't get much more drastic than that. Some days were even single digits while I hunted.
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bigben55 said:
If you're going to be storing it in a garage unfired at night I would stay away from sugar based powders like American Pioneer or Jim Shockey Gold. The sugar based tend to attract moisture easier then other powders. And if you want to stay away from real black powder, then I would look at Triple Seven or Pyrodex RS. And depending on the rifle and the breech plug, even BlackHorn 209 but I base that on only what I have read and not what I have experienced. I have read that Black Horn stores well in barrels.
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:nono:
Never had a problem bringing my loaded, with out a primer, V2 or MR into my hotel room. Opening day here in IL, 21 Nov, where I hunt was 9*s and only went up to 12*s by 3 pm and then started to fall again. I usually hunt from 45 mins before dawn until 30 minutes after sunset. As soon as I get into the room I open the gun case and leave it open. In the morning before I set out to my blind I reseat the bullet and put a primer in the breech plug and I'm good to go.
I use Black horn 209 powder. Never had a problem with moisture or my rifle not going off after I pulled the trigger.
Can't speak for any other powder but at this point in time I wouldn't use anything but Black horn 209.
Ray........... :yeah:
Never had a problem bringing my loaded, with out a primer, V2 or MR into my hotel room. Opening day here in IL, 21 Nov, where I hunt was 9*s and only went up to 12*s by 3 pm and then started to fall again. I usually hunt from 45 mins before dawn until 30 minutes after sunset. As soon as I get into the room I open the gun case and leave it open. In the morning before I set out to my blind I reseat the bullet and put a primer in the breech plug and I'm good to go.
I use Black horn 209 powder. Never had a problem with moisture or my rifle not going off after I pulled the trigger.
Can't speak for any other powder but at this point in time I wouldn't use anything but Black horn 209.
Ray........... :yeah:
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If you shoot pyrodex you absolutely need to clean your rifle ASAP, not the next day either...all the rifles that I have seen that were pitted and rust inside/out were shot with pyrodex. I have used it, but always cleaned up right away. I won't buy it anymore. I now prefer triple seven, no worries even after leaving a fired rifle loaded for a week then shot an cleaned.
