MO Archer

I am one of those that never unloads, unless I feel I may have a contaminated load from the weather... I remove the primer - tag the gun and it comes in the house with me. It sits in the rec. room with the barrel and the breech/nipple hole open so that it can breath. I use to store in the un-heated garage, but i could never prove I was accomplishing anything.

When it comes out of the house into the truck for the trip to hunting country it sits on the tunnel next to me. We do not heat the cab up very much but it is not cold in the cab. Maybe I have been lucky but never had a problem.

The real concern is contamination of the load... If you do anthing that might contaminate the load - get rid of it. The point at which most loads fail is right under the nipple - it takes very little moisture at this point to stop ignition. I do not use grease on my breech plugs so I do not have to worry about that - even if you clear the grease by popping caps - it still has a way to find its way out. If you feel you have allowed moister down the barrel then expell the load. I used to get very concerned about condensation - for me anymore it is not a major concern any longer - I guess I feel now that I know when I might be worried about condensation. The more you gain experiance with your gun the more you will trust your instincts.

The more you learn about this sport of modern day muzzleloading the more hooked you become.... I am hooked but i still figure I am learning also...