Are 209 muzzleloader primers corrosive to the barrel when fired? I fire a couple primers before loading my rifle to be sure it is free of moisture. Now at the end of the day if I did not fire the load should I clean the gun that day from the primers being fired before loading?
Instead of firing a couple caps to make sure all the oil and moistue is dry would it be ok or even better to swab the barrel with a patch soaked with rubbing alcohol?
I am still in the old camp - I think it is impotant to 'Clear' the breech plug before loading, especially if you store your rifle with the breech plug in and then store it in a verticle position. Oil from the bore can and often does run down the lands and grooves and then it settles in the flash hole and flash channel. Unless you flush the bore and breech plug with alcohol you will not clear the breech plug.
Shooting a primer - actually I shoot 3 - clearing the BP then running a moist patch will remove most of the primer residue will suffice. Just make sure the bore is dry before loading...
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I always pop one primer prior to loading as well. Unless your gun gets wet, it's not going to harm it. The last thing you want is to have a buck of a lifetime in front of you and then you have a hangfire/no fire because the channel wasn't clear.
I always pop one primer, then run an alcohol patch, a dry patch, and then load up.
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Like Sabotloader, I'm concerned about oil settling in the breech area. But I never pop a cap before loading for a hunt. Instead, I run a very wet 91% alcohol patch down the bore and pump the rod vigorously. You can see alcohol mist blowing out of the breech/nipple. Follow that with a dry patch and more vigorous pumping to make sure everything is dry. You can hear the air flow through the breech and know it's clear.
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Yep, I have shotguns that weren't cleaned for 10 years after shooting and cleaned them last summer and their shiney as can be,no rust. I thought there might be a difference with muzzleloader primers.
Primers
