Unload Inline after each hunt?
02-12-2004, 04:43 PM
#12
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 45
RE: Unload Inline after each hunt?
everyone mentioned the rain a lot but don't forget the cold. If it is really cold, your barrel will sweat when you bring it back in the house, this will cause dampness in your powder and may prevent it from firing. So don't forget the cold.
02-12-2004, 07:51 PM
#13
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 21,193
RE: Unload Inline after each hunt?
There are always differences in opinion on this topic. Personally I unload the rifle every night, clean it and start with a fresh load. I just feel better sitting out in the stand knowing that the rifle is clean and has a new charge in it.
There are friends of mine that are opposite. They will load the rifle and keep it out in the wood shed or garage the entire season. They claim they have never had a problem doing this, although one friend of mine missed a real nice deer because of a misfire. He said he did not blame the storing overnight in the shed as the cause. Although after he got it fired off, he never left them over night.
I like to shoot mine off for a couple of reasons. First it gives me a chance to learn more about the rifle and how it behaves. I know which rifles are moisture sensative. I also know which ones will weather proof well and what I have to do to make them that way. The biggest is the fact I am more comfortable with the rifle knowing it is fresh.
If you are going to store it over a few day period, never fowl the barrel before you load it. Also if it is fired it has to be cleaned. Black Powder is nasty stuff. Pyrodex is the worst. After you have it loaded it must stay in temps the same as what you hunt in. That means no back rooms, or places where it will pick up moisture. Take the cap off at the end of the day and be sure to store the rifle muzzle end down. That way if any moisture does form in the barrel it will not go backward onto the charge, but instead work its way out of the rifle down the muzzle....
There are friends of mine that are opposite. They will load the rifle and keep it out in the wood shed or garage the entire season. They claim they have never had a problem doing this, although one friend of mine missed a real nice deer because of a misfire. He said he did not blame the storing overnight in the shed as the cause. Although after he got it fired off, he never left them over night.
I like to shoot mine off for a couple of reasons. First it gives me a chance to learn more about the rifle and how it behaves. I know which rifles are moisture sensative. I also know which ones will weather proof well and what I have to do to make them that way. The biggest is the fact I am more comfortable with the rifle knowing it is fresh.
If you are going to store it over a few day period, never fowl the barrel before you load it. Also if it is fired it has to be cleaned. Black Powder is nasty stuff. Pyrodex is the worst. After you have it loaded it must stay in temps the same as what you hunt in. That means no back rooms, or places where it will pick up moisture. Take the cap off at the end of the day and be sure to store the rifle muzzle end down. That way if any moisture does form in the barrel it will not go backward onto the charge, but instead work its way out of the rifle down the muzzle....
