Went muzzleoad hunting this weekend in Kentucky but only saw 7 does and one small 6 pointer so I didn't shoot. My question is, "Since I already loaded my gun with black powder and a sabot,can I leave the gun loaded until Rifle Season starts (November 12) without causing any rust or other problems or should I discharge and/or clean the gun now?"
Personally I never hunt more then one day with the same load. At the end of the day I shoot the thing off and clean the rifle. If I were you seeing that November season is so far off, pull the breech plug and push the projectile out. Then all you have to do is run a couple solvent patches and oil the barrel since it was not fired.
Besides a danger to firemen.. it does actually pose a danger to anyone else in the house that might forget the rifle is loaded. Loaded rifles have a way of slipping from memory and then later becoming a very serious and sometimes deadly problem.
If you did not fowl the barrel, the load did not get wet, or was not subjected to extreme temperature changes, and you have a safe place to store it (tie a read handkerchief through the trigger guard to warn yourself and others it is loaded), you could store it until just before then next season. Then shoot it off and see if the rifle would have fired and what kind of accuracy the load produced. Just for your own future reference.
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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, a total wreck, screaming Yahoo, with a big smile on your face."
Being the season is that far off I would just dump the charge out the back if it's an inline. Run a patch down it and wipe it down. Then re-load it at the beginning of season.
I don't unload my gun during gun season until I shoot something, but I don't bring the gun in the house either. I leave it in my car or garage in a locked case. Or sometimes in my locked deer blind. I don't have anyone to mess with my stuff either. If I still kids at home or something I might unload it even if it was locked in my car. I for sure would not bring it in the house.
In MI a ML is not considered loaded unless there is a cap or primer in it. So It's legal to transport it this way. I would check your state to make sure.
If you have a side lock they make a CO2 discharger to unload them with out firing it.
Paul
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hello yes a friend of mine wanted to see what u had to do he bought a kinight muzzleloader and a friend borrowed it and jsut brought it back to him and he left it loaded since last muzzleloading season and the guy never clean it what should he do ??
hello yes a friend of mine wanted to see what u had to do he bought a kinight muzzleloader and a friend borrowed it and jsut brought it back to him and he left it loaded since last muzzleloading season and the guy never clean it what should he do ??
If you can, take the rifle out somewhere and shoot the charge out of the barrel, that would be a good start. It will not do more damage to the rifle at this point. If shooting off the charge is not possible, at this stage, I would kill the charge. Pour some oil down the muzzle of the rifle and let is soak into the powder charge and around the projectile. This will come in handy for a number of reasons. It will kill the powder charge, it will lube the projectile and it might help in freeing the breech plug. After the charge is killed, the first thing you do is remove the breech plug and push the projectile and charge out. After that you really need to get the breech plug out and examine the threads of it for damage. If the breech plug threads are damaged, get a new one. And then see what kind of barrel damage is in there. Once you get a look in there it would be easier to decide what steps need to be taken to see if the rifle can be saved.
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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, a total wreck, screaming Yahoo, with a big smile on your face."
I loaded my Mlover a week ago and hunted a few times never discharging the load. For kicks I shot it yesterday and it went right where it was suppose to go. Now I must qualify the days I took it afield it was dry, if their had been any mositure I would have dumped the load, cleaned and then reloaded on the next trip to the field. I always tape my barrel with electrical tape this prevents any debris or moisture from entering this way, it also indicates a charge in the bore in my locked gun cabinet. Being I shoot a Rem 700 MLS I also pull the bolt before I put it away, making a double safety that if someone should find it their is no way to cap and discharge the rifle.
In your case seeing you have a few weeks I would just pull the breech to dump the load, swab and then reload before you head back out. Although I know many guys who leave them with a load in for the entire ML season (which is a month here). I would much rather error on the side of caution,bc when an opportunity arises the last think you want to hear is a snap..for the little effort and time it takes it may be the difference.
discharge/clean or not
