do you all discharge your muzzleloader?

[neck4752]

Im new to black powder and I have a CVA firebolt. I am curious what to do once it is loaded up but u dont see any deer to shoot at? Do you shoot it off? Do you remove the blasting cap and just leave the gun semi loaded?

Whats the best thing to do?

And if you shoot it do you clean your gun everytime once u get home?

Thanks
Jim

[MikeE51848]

You can keep it loaded if the weather's been dry and you're hunting the next day. Don't bring your gun into a warm house though. And if it's damp out, fire it or remove the charge by pushing it out the breech. Regardless, always remove the primer!

[Longbow Bowhunter]

If the weather is good, I shoot off every third day, clean and reload.

[cayugad]

I shoot mine off every night and clean the rifle. Then I start with a fresh, clean, charged rifle the next day. I want to know at the end of the day whether my weather proof tactics work, and whether the rifle would have fired. If something does not work that evening, I have all night to figure it out and fix it.

I admit there has been a few times where due to circumstances I could not fire it off. Usually the next morning when I hit the woods I shoot it off and reload the rifle. Believe me, when you keep it loaded for a couple day and it goes off, where I live with the cold wet hunting conditions I usually face, you're never sure it it will go off. The last thing I need is spend all day stalking a deer only to hear the cap pop when the final moment comes.

I will spend the extra time at night cleaning the rifle. The ten minutes it takes to clean the rifle gives me a time to sit, relax, have a cup of coffee, and think about what I did today that might not have worked finding a deer and what I can do tomorrow to increase my chances for a shot.

If you shoot it you have to clean it. Black Powder and its substitutes are not forgiving when it comes to attacking the metal in the barrel. If you can not clean it after shooting it, swab it real good with some wet patches, then some dry patches, and oil the barrel. That will keep you safe for a little while. Then be sure to remove the oil with some dry patches the next day before loading. The rifle will still be dirty, but it should not have rusted....

[livbucks]

I am buying a CO2 discharger. You stick the nozzle in the vent and give a blast and the bullet and powder comes out the barrel. I'm told you can reuse the bullet if you put a sock over the barrel to catch it. If you don't fire the gun, cleaning it should be a simple swab job.

[roundball]

I don't believe in the "leave the gun loaded" approach...and I also don't believe in firing off a rifle just to unload it...creates a cleaning job, calls unecessary attention to the area you're hunting, may cause concern to neighbors who hear it if after dark, etc, etc.

I either 'pull' the load with a ball puller, or blow it out with compressed air...then just wipe the bore, take it inside the warm dry house over night, start fresh the next with a fresh load that I know will go off, etc.

[lonewolf5347]

I myself depends on the weather conditions ,I will keep the gun loaded as long as possiable ,but if hunting in the rain I will umload at the end of the day use to fire out the load now with the co2 discharges make life a lot easy ,and you can resued the sabot (always point the gun barrel in a safe direction when using the disgharger) I have the one that t/c use to make ,which are no longer sold.

[mauser06]

i discharge at the end of every day almost every day....i think once i brought it home with a charge..only because it was a sunny day...and i was hunting bright n early the next morning....but still i usually always fire it.....who knows what could happend to your powder....sweat or dew could fell into it.....anything.....i dont want to risk it.........and i agree.......the 10 mins it takes to clean my rifle became part of the hunt.....sitting there in the bathtub...smell of burnt blackpowder all through the house...mom yelling at me....sitting there reflecting on the days hunt....planning the hunt of tomarow......somethin else i enjoy about BP hunting.....rather be safe then sorry.....who knows....maybe something happens and you cant hunt for a while......you forget its charged....next time out you double load it......or worst.....something happens to you.....noone knows your rifle is loaded....thats an accident waiting to happen with someone that doesnt know any better and is just trying to move your guns around or sell them off or something........

[skeeter 7MM]

It depends on the elements I am hunting, if wet I clean it and then reload. If dry I will leave it loaded for a period. If it has been shot it gets cleaned ASAP. If done for a period of time it is stored clean with a lightly oiled barrel, then prior to using it I run a few dry patchs to ensure the oil is removed before re-assembling and loading.