How long can you leave a muzzle loader loaded?

[GolfAddict]

And the crowd went Crazy!:cool2::dance1::drink:

:laughing:

I didn't notice any real difference from what I remember. Not like clemsonfor. Fired fine, big boom, big smoke, hit the tree trunk right where I was aiming (from only about 30 yards.)

Just like Shift4200 said earlier, now I wonder why I was evenhesitating...

 

[clemsonfor]

Dont know if i would of come back inside with it!!! Never know what a hang fire might do but i would of done what you did outside!!

 

[clemsonfor]

:laughing:

I didn't notice any real difference from what I remember. Not like clemsonfor. Fired fine, big boom, big smoke, hit the tree trunk right where I was aiming (from only about 30 yards.)

Just like Shift4200 said earlier, now I wonder why I was evenhesitating...

Some have more a fear of things that they dont know about than others. Many of us are really into guns and reloading and just have more knowlege about things like this than others.

Like the ones saying 10 year old black powder is dangerous. Black powder can make a bomb when brand new its is dangerous. thats basically what a loaded muzzelloader is , a small bomb in the barrel. Its just a calculated measured explosion that the barrel is capable of containing.

Powder cant get more powerfull with age just less as the powder either absorbs moisture or breaks down. But i dont think any kind of powder breaks down very fast, look at all the surplus ww2 ammo that goes boom first time all the time.

 

[GolfAddict]

Dont know if i would of come back inside with it!!! Never know what a hang fire might do but i would of done what you did outside!!

I was a little paranoid about that. I cocked and dry fired a few times, don't know why really, and then I waited for a couple minutes before coming in.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

:laughing:

I didn't notice any real difference from what I remember. Not like clemsonfor. Fired fine, big boom, big smoke, hit the tree trunk right where I was aiming (from only about 30 yards.)

Just like Shift4200 said earlier, now I wonder why I was evenhesitating...

You were hesitating because you didn't know enough to evaluate the risks. Smart man. You asked here (not the best resource on firearms, but some of us actually have experience and knowledge worth picking our brains - a dedicated muzzleloader site probably would have been better), and got a lot of advice. You thought about it, and decided it was worth the risk to try it.

Only other thing you might have tried short of taking it apart or pulling the bullet would be to bench rest the gun, sand bag it to keep it from moving, run a string to the trigger and pull the trigger from behind a protective barrier just in case you had a catastrophic barrel failure. My father had a jig with a long sting setup that he clamped his black powder pistol creations in, double or triple charged them, and fired them to test.

 

[sixdogs]

OK, we're half done here. The other question of intrigue is if the bore is corroded where the power sat. Yank it apart and tell us what it looks like.

 

[GolfAddict]

You were hesitating because you didn't know enough to evaluate the risks. Smart man. You asked here (not the best resource on firearms, but some of us actually have experience and knowledge worth picking our brains - a dedicated muzzleloader site probably would have been better), and got a lot of advice. You thought about it, and decided it was worth the risk to try it.

Only other thing you might have tried short of taking it apart or pulling the bullet would be to bench rest the gun, sand bag it to keep it from moving, run a string to the trigger and pull the trigger from behind a protective barrier just in case you had a catastrophic barrel failure. My father had a jig with a long sting setup that he clamped his black powder pistol creations in, double or triple charged them, and fired them to test.

Yes, I just knew there would be folks with good knowledge here!

 

[GolfAddict]

OK, we're half done here. The other question of intrigue is if the bore is corroded where the power sat. Yank it apart and tell us what it looks like.

There is what looks to be a plug at the back, but it doesn't budge. Not sure how I'll get that out.

 

[clemsonfor]

Soak it in water and keep scrubbing!!

 

[sixdogs]

There is what looks to be a plug at the back, but it doesn't budge. Not sure how I'll get that out.

Try some penetrating oil and brute force. It's probably not a good sign if the plug is stuck. It's not for certain but my guess is there's a lot of rust where the powder sat. Maybe not from the powder itself but the moisture attracted to it.

It's no big deal either way. If no rust, that's fine. If rusted beyond use just buy a new barrel. It costs a few bucks, the world keeps on turning and next year the barrel gets emptied. Case solved and it's a happy ending.

 

[HCJtractor]

Yeah! Thanks for update. I've had several sleepless nights wondering about this!!

I stored a box of Triple Seven in an unheated warehouse for two years. The box had been opened. The pellets were soft and damp so they obviously deteriorated. But the pellets left in my barrel for two years were perfect, when I removed them via the breach plug.

If you figure out how to remove the breach plug, there is a grease available made to lube the threads to,prevent future seizing. But not all muzzle loaders have removable plugs.

Glad you got it resolved safely!!

 

[Danno1]

...

But not all muzzle loaders have removable plugs.


Glad you got it resolved safely!!

This ^^^



.

 

[GolfAddict]

Well, you got me wondering, so I did some searching, which I should have done first. It turns out the breach plug is NOT to be removed. I guess I won't ever know what it looks like down there unless I get hold of a fiber optic scope. I'm thinking it's probably fine. I need new powder and caps though.

If I ever run across my old can of powder, I'm going to try it just for grins. I'll update if I do.

 

[GolfAddict]

Duplicate...

 

[Wis Bang]

My father bought his Flintlock in the 80's. I inherited it almost ten years ago and I'm still using the powder he bought. The one can is old enough to say DuPont instead of Goex.

If you found a dry barrel of revolutionary war powder it will still work!

 

[Shift4200]

Well, I tried it. Picked a cap, put it on, walked outside, cocked, pulled trigger.... snap! Cap went off no problem, but no boom.

Brought it in, pulled off the nipple and it looked fine. I took the side screw out and looked in, which didn't tell me much of anything, but I stuck a paper clip in there like was suggested earlier. Wiggled it around a little bit and put it back together. Stuck on another cap, went back out, cocked, pulled, and snap-boom!!

Thanks everyone!

Fantastic!

-J

 

[mbohuntr]

Left mine loaded for about.... 2 weeks. Was relieved to unload it at a deer yesterday.... *sigh* now I gotta clean it....