Just curious...what do you do with your load after the hunt? Shoot it and clean it, or take out the primer and leave in powder and bullet? I'm sure there are other considerations like when you will hunt next, etc. so please explain.

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..

Just a side note. After getting the Knight Disc to fire today. I loaded a second round and shot. Again the accuracy was poor to moderate with the rifle. I then swabbed the barrel clean, dry patched it, and loaded and fired a third shot. This one went right into the bulls eye. I swabbed and fired another and cut the hole in the bull. So was it age of the load and rifle sitting that caused the first and second bad shot, or was it the swabbing and cleaning that the the other two to hit where they were supposed to.. I do not know.

The main reason I asked about this is if there can be any corosive harmdone to the barrel with the pyrodex sitting in there for a few days. I would never leave it loaded for more than a week. It seems like a waste to shoot and reload everyday if you plan to hunt 3-4 days of the week, but like you said that is personal preference. Thanks for your reply...some how I KNEW you would be the first to reply lol. Your input is always valued on my screen- Thanks!!

AS long as you do not shoot the rifle, the dry Pyrodex will be fine in there for a couple days, even longer. It is when you actually fire the rifle. Just make sure to wipe the outside of the rifle off so nothing rusts out there.

What I do is ALWAYS unload after a hunt if there is a load in my barrel. If I can't shoot it off then I pull the bullet with a bullet puller then puller out the sabot then drop out the pellets... I also have pulled the breach plug out and pushed it through too... both are simple to do. I do this even if I plan to hunt the next day. Starting from square one each and every day is the best way to go. Ive had buddys go out and have misfires and/or accuracy problems because they left there loads in for a month or 2 or MORE and cant understand it. Its just not worth it not to mention it just doesnt seem smart to leave a loaded gun regardless if you have a percussion cap in it or not. Also, I believe in taking care of my gun and part of that is to not leave it with any powder in it and always clean following use. I have seen other guns that were abused and neglected and you look down there barrels and look at there breach and you will see what I am talking about. I shoot often and I am confident that I can hit a Quarter size target at 100 yards. Part of being able to do that is maintaining the gun and also being consistant with how you clean, load and replicate shooting.

It all depends on what you consider "waste"!!!!

Some folks enjoy squeezing the trigger on their MLs. They prefer it so much that they rather spend $1.25 per shot & have fun - versuspaying $1.25 for a16.9 oz Pepsi at lunchtime. My loads only cost me roughly 72 cents per shot. I have no qualms about shooting 4-5 shots at times. We all pay a certain amount of money for our recreation activities at home - so expect to pay a little when engaging in this recreation sport. Besides, a single shot per day gives most of us piece of mind that our loads will be fine for the following day hunt.


My per-shot breakdown:
30 cents for powder (777)
30 cents for bullet (50-pk bulk pistol bullet purchase)
12 cents for plastic sabot (50-pk Harvester or MMP)

Two more things you need to consider when making that decision is how water-resistant your ignition is -and what the humidity factor is for those few days outdoors. Humidity is a powder killer! It's not uncommon for shooters who particpate for four day hunts - to unknowingly hunt three of those four days with a wet ignition & no chance to harvest.

The only way to find out how your ML reacts to weather conditions - is by testing that gun first after questionable weather days & studying weather effects on it. No one here can tell you it's perfectly all-right to hunt those four days without changing your powder. You need to find that out yourself.

Great post Triple Se7en...

I guess I never look at the "cost" of shooting and also with dumping unfired loads...its just part of doing the ML thing. I have probably shot more out of my Encore in powder, sabots money wise then I have spent on my Encore/Scope itself. I just love to shoot it either at the range or out in the field. I am confident when shooting out in a wet rainy day but just the same, I never leave the charge in it if I am done for the day.

Well, for those who unload by firing: Would you fire to unload in a Public hunting area and ruin the hunt for someone else?

No Chance... in that case I would pull or push the load out.