There are a couple different schools of thought on this. Some claim they can leave a rifle loaded for weeks at a time with no ill effect to the efficiency of the charge and projectile. These people simply pull the primer off at the end of the day, wipe the outside of the barrel off and leave it.

Others claim to basically do the same thing with pulling the primers but due to temperature extremes and the threat of condensation forming in the barrel should you change those temperature settings too much, they pull the primer, wipe the outside of the rifle down, and leave it in say an outbuilding where the temperature will remain relatively the same.

Others bring their rifle inside, pull the breech plug out of the inline rifles and push the load out. They then swab the barrel dry with some patches and reload fresh in the morning. While this is all fine and good, I found it to be a real mess doing this.

Others pull the projectile, like a roundball or conical and then dump the powder out the muzzle end of the barrel. Others simply shoot the load off, clean the rifle, and load fresh the next day. It is all a matter of personal preference.

I have tried all the methods. I have had a rifle loaded now since the begining of our deer season back in November. I stored it like the other people do, pulling the primer and keeping it in uniform temperatures to which I was hunting in. Today I loaded a fresh primer, pulled the trigger and the primer went off just fine. Not the load though. I loaded a second primer and the rifle fired. Accuracy was poor to moderate. I cleaned the rifle and there was no sign of any damage to the rifle.

I am a shoot off the load and then clean the rifle and start new the next day. Like I said, it is all a matter of perference and what you trust. I also think weather conditions have a lot to do with the decision you make the and way your rifle behaves..