Stayin Dry
 

Okay guys.. I got a situation. Saturday is the start of our firearms season and the forecast is callin for rain where I'm plannin on hunting. Never tried hunting with a ML in the rain before. Tryin to figure you how i'm gonna keep the darn thing dry. I'm hunting over a cornfeild not too many trees around except for the spot where i put my stand. Any thoughts on stayin dry? let me know what ya think

RE: Stayin Dry
 

You forgot to mention your gun make/model/brand of powder/if you'll be seated or standing????

RE: Stayin Dry
 

Gun: CVA Wolf
Powder: pyrodex pellets

Prolly gonna be seated

RE: Stayin Dry
 

I would think with the kind of break design of the Wolf and the 209 primer ignition you would not have too much of a problem on that end. Maybe some simple handi wrap placed over the break of the breech. This should track water away from the opening.

As for the muzzle the same handi wrap or cling wrap as it is called (they actually have some out on the market they claim will seal to anything and stick.. sounds perfect for wrapping the muzzle of a rifle) put over the end of the barrel and held on with a small rubber band should seal that. They also sell finger cots at Wal Mart (get the extra large size) that are like a balloon only thinner and will slip over the end. They come with their own elastic per say...

How many of you ever go and spend a day on the range in a snow or rain storm just to see how the rifle does react? It will give you a lot of confidence in your rifle. Of course on the range you are shooting right away instead of sitting all afternoon.

RE: Stayin Dry
 

I too have a CVA but it is an Optima. I hunted this past Saturday in a drizzle and thought I did a good job keeping the barrel down and covering the break open area. I didn't see anything Saturday or Sunday and went out Monday to fire the load and couldn't get it to go off. I removed the cap and breech plug and the 777 pellets were attached together and sticking to the sabot.

Is this typical for letting the charge in the barrel this long? When it is raining should the charge be removed after the hunt that morning or evening or is it because the moisture collected in the pellets and that is why I had the problem.

Don't mean to hijack the thread just curious on what I should have done differently

RE: Stayin Dry
 

I always used a small piece of black electrical tape over the end of the barrel. Used a little bigger piece to cover the open area where the cap went but not enough to interfere with hammer travel (Traditions Buckhunter). Not the best Im sure but worked for me.

RE: Stayin Dry
 

Poster Cayugad saved me alot of typing...:D... thanks Dave!:)

RE: Stayin Dry
 

Southpaw I always put my gun in the garage the night before the season opens. This allows the medal barrel to cool down close to the outside temperature. The next morning in the garage I use dry patches to get out any moisture and oil. I then fire two or three primers into a patch of course to keep down noise. You do not want to wake up the war department at three am. I then case my gun keep the truck cool on the drive to my hunting area. Once there I use a couple more dry patches to get any remaining moisture in the barrel. Once I load my gun I never take it into the house till after the season. To do so will invite moisture into your powder. This may seem like a lot of trouble but I have never had my gun fail to fire doing this.

WV Mountaineer

RE: Stayin Dry
 

WV Mountaineer, thanks for the tip. I had the gun in my gun case the entire time. Do you think this is what caused the moisture or do you think rain got into the barrel or breech?

RE: Stayin Dry
 

Its hard to say if the gun case caused your problems. The big thing is keep the rifle dry as possible while you hunt, and when you store it, do not change temperatures on it drastically. When cold steel is brought into a warm area, the steel forms condensation which in turn effects the powder charge.

It is claimed, you can put a rifle in a thick padded case and bring that into the house where it will warm up gradually to the house, but do not remove it from the case. Just make sure you wipe the outside of the rifle off real good before casing it. I personally never tried this but a friend of mine claims to do it all the time and claims he has no problems with ignition. He said the trick is to warm the rifle slowly.. it then does not condensate.

When I used to store loaded rifles over night, I put them in the unheated wood working shot. I stored them muzzle end down, resting that on some cotton cloth or a pile of news papers. That way if any moisture did form it would move away from the powder charge. I also took the 209 primer or #11 cap off the back end and tucked cotton around the opening. Again, I wanted it to catch any moisture that might form.

Also when you store a loaded rifle ... remember safety is very important. Keep anyone away from it that should not be handling it. They are a real temptation to children especially. Also I put a red bandanna through the trigger guard and tell everyone I see that the bandanna indicates a loaded rifle and not to be messed with....

RE: Stayin Dry
 

Misseda huge buck in 2001. He had horns like a small elk. It was raining,myCVA Staghorn had a long hangfire, and the buck walked calmly into the thick brush. Had plastic over the muzzle but themusket capmust have gotten wet.Changed that gunover to209 primers.

RE: Stayin Dry
 

I'm real worried about this myself, the weather forecast for Saturday's opener is calling for a chance of rain. Actually it might rain everyday so far for the opening week. Last year I used my muzzleloader opening day because the weather was nice and I shot a doe. The second day it called for rain so I used my shotgun and shot a buck. This year I am determined to use the muzzleloader every time I go out rain or shine. I'm planning to cover the barrel with tape or with the tip of a latex glove and a rubber band. Should this be enough? How often should you unload the rifle to check and make sure the powder is dry when you hunt in wet conditions?

RE: Stayin Dry
 

This was my first year using a muzzle loader (TC encore) for the deer hunt. Opening morning I had 2 doe's come right up to me (20 yards). I reloaded after shooting one of the doe's. That charge stayed in my gun for the rest of the week monday morning to Saturday evening with rain and drizzle all week. All I had was a finger cot on the end of the barrell. Saturday night I was worried and wanted to see if the gun would go off after wet conditions and it did without any problem or hesitation.

RE: Stayin Dry
 

Anyone out there with a hunterbolt may want to try the following. Remove bolt, lay a 2 inch piece of tape in the breech opening with the ends sticking out to either side of the gun. Replace bolt and pull tape tight around the end of the bolt & breech plug after priming. Makes a nice tight seal. I went the whole ml % regular season and didn't catch this year but the gun fired at the end of it all with no problems. The weather over the course of my 16 day hunt was terrible. Only 1 & 1/2 days of sun, 14 & 1/2 of rain! If you can figure out what I mean, It really works. Good luck.

RE: Stayin Dry
 

Personally, I have never had a problem with rain and hang fires and such in 20+ years of ML Hunting. I used TC Hawkens (majority of those year), 700 ML and Encore (last 4 years). But I will preface that by saying that I never store a charge in my gun after coming in from the field when it has been raining. If it has been raining, I always fire it off, clean it up and reload for the next hunt. I'd much rather waste a few pellets and XTP/sabots then run a chance at missing my first 120 class deer. JMO though.

RE: Stayin Dry
 

alsaqr, Hang fires normally do not come from the cap or primer. Usually from oil or dampness in the touch hole or the powder on the inside edge of the touch hole.The main exception to this would be trying to use #11 caps with a powder like 777 which I believe has the highest ignition tempture of the subs but they all have a higher ignition tempture than black that has to do with how they get classified ashazards material instead of explosiveas far as shipping purposes are concerned.Lee

RE: Stayin Dry
 

With my Knight Disc, I just carry to the stand in the hard case and put a piece of duct tape over the breach...When I'm settled in the stand I just put a old boonie type hat over the breach and scope...

With my flinter I carry under my coat with the lock and butt under my arm, then put the hat over the lock area, and change prime every hour or so....