OT Muzzleloading question

[Barcelona Rick]

My area of Texas will have a muzzleloader season in 2010 after the regular gun season closes (Jan 2010). I have a T/C White Mountain Carbine that I shoot with a 70 grain charge of Goex FFG and a tightly patched round ball. My son and I would like to take a doe or two and we hunt the same place usually at different times....I was wondering ??? We thought we would foul the barrel with a shot then reload and leave it loaded but not capped (percussion) for the 2 week season. We would cap only when we see something worth killing but would uncap at the end of the day....our place is secure so I'm not really worried about someone stealing the rifle....I have read many a story about someone finding a loaded muzzleloader from years back and repriming or recapping and the darn thing would shoot just fine....what do y'all think ???

jumbeaux

[nemhed]

I've typically left mine T/C Renegade loaded and uncapped for 3-4 days over a long hunting weekend. My main concern has been the humidity and condensation while doing this. Once the rifle is outside in the cold it stays there to avoid the condensation issues with rapid temperature changes. Like you, I don't have to worry about somebody messin" with the rifle while loaded and uncapped. I've never had a problem leaving the gun for this period of time, it always goes "boom" when I want it to. I would also unload it if I had been out any amount of time in rain, snow or drizzle. Just my two cents but I probably wouldn't go two fully weeks loaded. Also round balls are cheap, so you could just unload it everyday and start fresh the next morning.

[Doc Hudson]

If the humidity is high I think you will have a well pitted barrel by the end of the season.

If you insist on doing it that way, use one of those abominable blackpowder substitutes, if you can find one that claims to be non-corrosive.

I love blackpowder but it is rather unforgiving about required cleaning.

[nemhed]

I didn't address the whole fouling shot part of your post. I totally agree with Doc Hudson and would avoid that like the plague.

[C. Cash]

I think you'll risk pitting it, if left fired and unclean, especially for that long. Once the pitts start, unless you lap it, you will probably have rust problems for years to come. Unfired, you'd be just fine to leave it loaded minus cap. With the cap off, you can place a piece of leather over the nipple, let down the hammer and you have sealed the powder off, until you're ready to recap and hunt again. Avoid taking it in and out of a heated room....keep it outside temp. The T/C's are a dream to clean, compared to my pinned barrel Long Rifle. Just take the barrel off and submerge the breech end in a coffee can filled with water, pull a patch in and out briskly, until your patches come out clean. A good dollop of Ballistol in the water should prevent any flash rust, if needed. W/D 40 will displace the any moisture left in the bore and flash channel. Though perhaps not good enough for long term storage, it will work to protect it until the season is over. It will dry and leave a dry film, and you do not need to degrease when you load it up again. Just load and shoot.

[Nath]

Forget the grimicing face in the picture above and look at the leather hanging down off the trigger guard.
That goes between the hammer/s once the caps are remove. It makes the gun safer and keeps damp air out.
Doing this I was able to keep this gun loaded for weeks allthough mostly I would pull the shot as it is a shotgun.
I allways had a slip of paper under the hammers instructing the guns condition too!

The barrel was just swabbed with olive oil a few times on top of the load to prevent rusting from the pyrodex fouling, not swimming in it mind! I would finnish of by greasing the bore with my olive oil/beeswax mix or Hodgens spit patch stuff. The bulk of which would be removed before shooting again.

I am excited for your hunt, good luck

Nath.

[86er]

I think you'd be better off using black powder substitute. I've left a ML loaded for two weeks, removing the primer after each hunt. When it became necessary, it fired just fine.

[C. Cash]

I think many of the substitutes are corrosive as well. Pyrodex and 777 are corrosive, as is American Pioneer Powder. Just an FYI. I'd use whatever puts the ball where you want it.

[rjohns94]

I don't use a fowling shot with my rifle. I load my Emig Custom Flintlock at the beginning of the season and don't unload it until I take a deer or season closes. I run a greased patch down the barrel while in storage, just like I do through the rest of the year, keeping the barrel seasoned and lubed. It has never caused a misfire (10 years) due to grease getting to the powder or moisture through the flash hole. I like a clean barrel for the first shot so I skip the fowling shot. I use Goex ffg powder for the charge and ffffg for the pan.

[Pete44ru]

Powder/load of choice.
NO fouling shot !
Leather pad between nipple and lowered hammer.

(note) Pull the nipple & be sure it's clear - drop a few grains of powder or substitute under the nipple after loading & B4 re-installing the nipple.

FWIW, I keep a bright red cardboard 1"x3" tag with the word "LOADED" printed on both sides, which goes on the gun when the cap comes off - in case I forget.

.

[O.S.O.K.]

I think that the best answer is to shoot, then swab, shoot, swab, shoot - adjust sights to shoot to the point of impact that you get with the bore butter swabbed, fouled bore.

Then, use it that way when hunting - the bore butter protects it well enough for that period of time.

[Shasta]

The easiest thing to do is learn where your gun tends to shoot with a clean, cold barrel. I'm willing to bet it's not that far off. I have a number of traditional style muzzleloaders and in my experience the first shot out of a clean cold barrel is plenty close enough for deer hunting.

I live in a fairly dry climate. My routine is to remove the nipple, them swab the bore of my muzzleloader absolutely clean using denatured alcohol followed by several dry patches. I also make sure the nipple is cleaned and free of any oil, then re-install it. I then measure and pour in the powder charge, and seat a round ball using a DRY patch. After that I swab the bore above the ball lightly with WD 40 and put a piece of masking tape over the muzzle to keep out any contamination. A small piece of leather goes between the hammer and nipple until I'm ready to cap and go hunting. I have left my rifle loaded this way up to three months with no rust issues and it fires just fine.

SHASTA

[deerwhacker444]

Just my $.02 worth. I'd sight it in to hit what I'm aiming at with a clean, dry bore. That's what it's all about, killing on the first shot. I'd test it and see if the fouling makes a difference. I have muzzleloaders that I have to clean after every shot to maintain accuracy and I've got muzzleloaders that can be loaded all day and never cleaned and never lose their accuracy. IMO, each rifle is different and time needs to be taken to find out how yours behaves.

I have a .40 Flintlock that I sometimes hunt with using BP. If it sits overnight in the house it will draw moisture and more often than not, have a slight hangfire when it goes off. Therefore I shoot that rifle off every evening as I leave the woods. There's nothing that will make you madder than having a hangfire just because you were trying to conserve powder, you'll kick yourself for it. Also, there's nothing worse than making a bad shot on an animal because of a hangfire. I know from experience, I kicked myself for that one too.

That's all part of using a muzzleloader. It's not always convenient and sometimes it's just a dang pain in the butt, but when you score it will make it all that much more special.

Good luck next year.

[Chuck 100 yd]

I do like Nath does only don`t keep the leather attached to the gun (rifle in this case). I normally clean my rifles bore with a patch soaked in acetone ,load the rifle and then swipe a patch lubed with 1000 wonder lube or the like down the bore to protect the bore in front of the load. I use conical bullets lubed with the same wonder lube. That wonder lubed bullet wont allow water to get past the bullet so any water that enters has to be at the breech threads or around the cap/nipple
area. I use Musket caps in all my ML rifles and change out the cap daily saving the ones I had removed for range use.
I often carry my rifles for several up to 10-20 days of hunting with that same load in the barrel. They always fire when needed.

[C. Cash]

The first pic is from a cold/spotless barrel on my 54 Flinter using Goex 2F .530 RB, OX Yoke Pillow Ticking patches, Lehigh Valley Lube. Puts the shot right on the bull. On the last group, I had been shooting for a while, and I think I blocked the flash channel, getting a slight delay and a dropped final shot. I swabbed between each shot, mostly to just dampen anything that is still smouldering in the bore. As stated, no fouling shot should be needed. Use a good lube that will keep the fouling and misfires to a minimum. I use a built up supply of Lehigh Valley Lube(no longer in production) but I hear good things about Hoppes No. 9 patchlube and Track of the Wolf Mink Oil(just bought three tins and will try it out this weekend). These are at only 55 yards. I doubt I would get a shot here at a longer distance.

[Doc Hudson]

Deerwhacker reminded me of an article I read many years ago.

A gunwriter went on an African Safari using a .50 caliber double-barrel muzzle-loader. i don't remember the make of the rifle or the bullets he was using but he only had a handful of the special bullets he was testing.

In the course of a day's hunt he had fired and reloaded both barrels. Since he was short of bullets he did not fire away his loads and clean his rifle in the evening. next day he had a shot at what he thought might be a record book antelope of some sort. he dropped the hammer on the right barrel and say the bullet hit the ground a few feet in front of himself after a sputtering POOOOT of a shot. He immediately fired the left barrel and =the bullet barely left the muzzle.

Moral of the story, clean your muzzle-loader after firing. The powder fouling will pull moisture from the air and give you a squib load.

[mklwhite]

Powder/load of choice.
NO fouling shot !
Leather pad between nipple and lowered hammer.

(note) Pull the nipple & be sure it's clear - drop a few grains of powder or substitute under the nipple after loading & B4 re-installing the nipple.

+1 on that. Had an issue with that in the field one time after leaving it set for a week and have had rainy weather run through. Unscrewed the nipple and added a few grains of powder and BOOM it went. My oldest hunts with the T/C White Mountain Carbine and loves it. Round ball seems to be its projectile of choice, though I tied a couple maxis through it and was pleasantly surprised. With sabots you may as well close your eyes and shoot in that general direction.