I'll be hunting the whole week of our BP season, What do most of you do , if you don't get one and head back to the farm. Do you unload the whole rifle or just take the cap off for overnight. Will temp's affect the powder. I'm using a inline, removable breach, with triple 7 powder. What's the best and safest way. Thanks.

Well the absolutely safest thing is of course to unload completely. Going into a warm house from the cold outside will cause condensation. If the temps your hunting are moderate then this isn't an issue. All you need do is remove the cap and place a folded patch between the hammer and nipple. That will keep things dry and greatly reduce an accidental discharge. I keep my sidelock (flinter) loaded all season unless I get caught in the rain and just put a patch between the fling and frizzen.

It is really something you have to learn through testing an or trail and error...

I am highly confident in my procedures because I have a lot of practice doing... but I have had a rifle with T7 loaded for months and have not any problem. In that month the rifle went through good and bad weather - but I was confident that the load had not been compromised - in the end it proved out - did not get the elk I was after but a really nice whitetail buck paid the price for my frustrations..

BUT - if in doubt unload it.

I dump the powder out of the pan and brush the residue out, cover the frizzen with a leather cover and put in my tool box overnight...

I shoot it out. After hunting hard all day I want to shoot the gun. Even if it is a knothole in a tree.

Plus, loading the gun at the start of the hunt the next day is part of my routine.

That way the thought....is my load ok? Never enters my mind.

That's what i did when i had side locks. I take having a removable breach I could take it out , drop the powder and push the sabot out the breach. then reload the next day.

Because its an inline rifle you can just take the breech plug out and then push all of it out the end of the barrel. I personally, no matter inline or traditional, shoot the rifle off, quick swab it and load it the next day. I would much rather waste the powder, projectile and primer then to have the rifle fail the next day. I have had a T/C Black Diamond XR fail to fire at being stored in the garage over night, the next day. And what I missed that day was the one shootable buck I saw that season.

Thank you all .

I definitely agree. With the inline's being so easy to unload, I would just fully unload it and clean it daily. It all comes down to personal preference and comfort factor though. To me, it's just an added piece of mind.

I have always left my MZ loaded for the entire week. Keep it outside to avoid the temp changes and don't worry about it. Never had any problems with FTF or corrosion.