ORIGINAL: sabotloader
ihuntbuck
I do not know if there is a real good answer to that question. There are so mant factors involved... I think one of the biggest factors is which powder? and what is your humidity like... for me it is a gut feeling - I know where my gun has been and what it has been exposed to...
I loaded my White the evening of Oct 9, hunting season began Oct 10. When we are hunting elk I do not shoot deer - so that load was in the gun the 2 weeks....and there was no doubt in my mind about it. To extend it even a little further.. On 11/13 I did finally shoot it at the 4x4 buck... got exactly what I expected. So for me I will leave a load in quite awhile but - I THINK - I know what I am doing - someday it might bite me awful hard though...
Today was a very snowy damp day but I still have all the confidence in the world that it will go off - hopefully I will use it tomorrow as late season elk opens on Wednesday....
ihuntbuck
Just to add more to this, moisture thread and leaving a load in a long time. I am hunting with a Savage 10ML using smokeless powder. I went to NY State this past weekend to hunt, I took my smokeless Savage, it was loaded and had been loaded 1 week, as I was hunting only 8 pointers or better in VA or large meat does. I hunted two very snowy cold days in NY State, on Sunday evening I shot my gun just to see if it would shoot. It went off without a problem. I left the gun in my truck over night never returning it to the cabin to warm up. I wiped the surface mosture up with a paper towel. Chap Gleason
Mike, Do you have the thread available last year where you did your experiment of leaving it outside? How long do they leave content on this forum? If it is not available, do you have it in Word or PDF format? I can place it on my web site because that was a good little experiment. Chap