Encore50

My friend just told me that he was hunting this last weekend of our ML season with a couple other friends. One of them had left the charge (powder and bullet) in his ML since last season. Thought it would be OK. They told him to dump it but he was too much of a bonehead and didn't.Of course you know the end of this story. Yep, nice big 8-POINT buck came right on top of him andall he saw out of his ML was asmall puff of smoke and barely a POP.

END OF STORY - END OF SEASON -NO BIG BUCK. WHAT A BONEHEAD

cayugad

I'd say that was a classic bonehead mistake.. People have to live and learn. I would be razzing the devil out of that fool for a long time to come. Every time he'd walk by me I'd make a "puff" sound and smile at him....

I have a better one. I went over to a friends farm the second to the last day of muzzleloader season here,and told him to grab his smoke pole and we would try to walk one up. He then turned kind of red and said, he checked his Kentucky rifle theday before,and for some reason (unknown to him) it was all full of rust inside andoutside of the barrel. I told him cleaning them at the end of season is a good way to stop that. He told me he did, but I decided I did not want to argue with him. So I told him, grab your wife's little Bobcat and we can still make the afternoon. He then took me to the workshop and showed me the two rusted rifles...

I told him to have a nice day and went out on my own... Now that is a boneheaded mistake. People, after season ends, unload and clean your rifles.....

Tahquamenon

I've personnally done better (more boneheaded)than that:

With very little time to pack... I grabbed a 54 instead of a 50 caliber rifle.

Went hunting on a remote pack-in hunt and brought 54 caliber rifle instead of the 50 caliber I was planning on taking. My hunting pouch and loading block was all set for 50 cal. All my patches and roundball were .490". The other twofriends I went with had plenty of 50 caliber ball as that's what they had for rifles.

Needless to say, I even went so far as to usefourpatches around a 50 cal ball in my 54 only to find out it still shot terrible outside of 20 yards.

So, forfive days I loaded with a .490 roundball and my four patches and I waited for a deer to come and sit in my lap so I could shoot him. I was bummed. I still get ribbed from those two guys and that was almost 20 years ago.

Tahquamenon

cayugad

You could always shoot them with your ramrod.. like a person I know did. Well actually he was target shooting his muzzleloader. And the mail man stopped and started talking to him. Well he got distracted. So there we stood talking to the mailman and finally the mail man left. I went back to loading my rifle, and he was loaded. So he took aim pulled the trigger and that rifle kicked the living snot out of him.

At first we thought he double charged the thing. And he was standing there crying about his brused shoulder. So I told him to forget it, and load again but be more careful It was about them he asked me, "you seen my ramrod." Every once in a while I will call him on the phone and tell him Cabela's is having a great special on ramrods if you buy six or more... He never laughs thought.

rjhans53

I welcome him to the club, Nothing in the woods mind you but, at the range, loaded and got to shooting the bull, loaded again, now the end of this story could be really ugly but the second charge never fired until it cleard the barrel, just a whopping kick and a really big puff, and 2 holes in the target about 1" apart, took me a few to figure out how stupid I was a few more to understand how lucky I was, but every now and then we really get lucky, Hopefully I"ve learned my leason and I will remain more attentive to what I'm doing. But I have left a charge in for a month just to see, and yep it went bang

roundball

It's examples like that which cause me tobe so fanatical about cleaning & lubing my muzzleloaders...I evenremovethefrizzen pivot screw & frizzen to 100% clean and lube that whole area too...it has to get pan flash residue down in there.

I believe it's just too easy to get sidetracked with work, or car problems, family emergencies, etc, etc...and before you know it, it's too late.
If I use them, I put them up showroom ready every time.

Some might call that overkill...but I promise if you even bought a rifle from me used, you woulnd't find oneany more pampered than mine.

cayugad

there are documented cases where rifles have remained loaded for many many years. Some of them were considered antiques and wall hangers only to find out that it was loaded and could have killed someone or did. I remember reading a case of a grandfather accidentally shooting his granddaughter with an unloaded old family relic that everyone always thought unloaded. For that reason, I like to have them unloaded and cleaned. Then I know in my heart and mindthey are not a threat to anyone.

Sharp Shooter

I read a book called "The Rifle" by Garry Paulsen. You should all read it. It is about a guy who builds this really really really fine accurate muzzleloader and about the muzzleloader and it's different owners. In the book a soldier used it in the Revoultionary war. He died with a load in the rifle. No one knew it was loaded.200 years later a guy had it above his fireplace. Then a spark got in the pan and the gun went off and killed a guy! I think this is a fiction story though. You should all read it. It is for young adults though but still a good book.

Tut23

He needs to learn to listen to others...

Strutter

I borrowed a friends 45 Optima for my youngest to use on our MZ hunt.I brought it home and as usual I started checking it out to see if it was clean and anything else that may need attention. I pulled the breech plug and couldn't see through the barrel. Yep, it was still loaded from whenever he had shot it last. I removed the 2 pellets and bullet and put them in a 35mm film canister and gaveit to him the next day at work. He opened the canister and said, yea, that's what I have been shootin out of the gun. Did walmart still have some left? He had no idea it was loaded. He kinda freaked when I told him where I got the load from. Maybe he will pay attention next time. At least I hope he does.


Rob