how long do you leave your muzzleloader loaded
 

How long do you leave your muzzleloader loaded? I dont leave it loaded for more than a week.

RE: how long do you leave your muzzleloader loaded
 

If it is cold outside and you take it into a heated area you are asking for big trouble (read misfire). Condensation will build up inside the barrel and cause your powder to get wet. If you want to leave it loaded (minus primer or cap i would hope) leave it in an unheated garage or somewhere where it isn't heated so no condensation has a chance to form.

RE: how long do you leave your muzzleloader loaded
 

never....i shoot a flintlock and regaurdless of what anyone says its not safe to do in a flinter....a guy i know shot his a bunch of times...no power in the pan and it went of...took a lot of times but it did go off eventually....what if it falls over?evne in a shed or garage...someone or something will get hurt....i shoot mine at the end of the day...now if im going spot to spot i will leave it in the trunk and leave the frizen open..but at the end of the day its getting fired.....and i dont want to take a chance of the powder going bad in there and finding out when my deer come by.......

RE: how long do you leave your muzzleloader loaded
 

I have left my T/C Hawken loaded for as long as five months with no problems with ignition. Not a generally accepted practice I'm sure, but it went bang when I pulled the triggers. I shoot Pyrodex so that may have some bearing on the whole thing as opposed to Black Powder but I'm not so sure about that. Our ancestors used Black Powder for centuries before the convenience of our modern technology and seemed to get along quite well. Oweing to their situation of being (sometimes) days away from the nearest Cabellas, Outers or other Sporting supply I'm sure they didn't go out each evening and cap off the trusty rifle, nor did they wait until they needed it to load the blessed thing. Load it up, store it safely and clear it out after the season is over if you haven't got a shot.

RE: how long do you leave your muzzleloader loaded
 

Loaded mine first day of season, didn't get out too many days and didn't see anything when I did. The two week ML season is now over. Will take it to my range and target it and then clean it.

Russ

RE: how long do you leave your muzzleloader loaded
 

:) I had mine loaded 10 days in snow and etc and when i shot out the bullet never used at a turkey decoy i never use and worked fine.

RE: how long do you leave your muzzleloader loaded
 

I have been hunting with the M/L for 35 years and have never had a misfire.I leave mine loaded till the season is over.
If I shoot it and there are several days left in the season I will clean and reload.

I have hunted in the rain , and in cold weather with no problem.I think a lot depends on how well it is dryed and cleaned. if I lived up north where it gets to 0 or below,it may be different.

I am not saying that other people don't clean there guns.it is just that I make sure it is clean and dry,before I load.

if the powder does not get wet in the can,why would it get wet in the barrell??

back to the question : I load the day before the season opens and fire it the day after the season closes , unless I shoot something inbetween.

RE: how long do you leave your muzzleloader loaded
 

My gun gets unloaded after every hunt that includes the lunch break. Takes nomore than 2 minutes to insure that we all return to the woods without any extra holes.

RE: how long do you leave your muzzleloader loaded
 

Sounds like you need to specify between leaveing a charge in the breech (barrel) and having both a charge and a cap on...or if a flintlock a charge in the pan and a charge in the barrel.... both are LOADED weapons only to be that way when ready to SIT and hunt . But I think your refering to leaving a charge in the barrel in that regards.... powder and bullets will leave less a dent in the wallet as it will the time energy and embarassment and the big one gettin away.......so I would recharge it everytime you have a drastic temp. change or if you go a week or so. Some people after a week may forget it has a charge and do the unthinkable double charge it. (To stop double charges put a mark on the ramrod with white finger nail polish while the rod sits on top of a charge and bullet in the breech this also tells you everything has seated well and won't cause an abstructed barrel situation!) Hope this helps!!!!!! Just a lil help 4 ya feel free to correct me guys if needed

RE: how long do you leave your muzzleloader loaded
 

I leave my TC Gray Hawk loaded all season, unless of course I get a shot on a deer. Never had a misfire because of this.


My dad has a TC Hawkens - he left it loaded one year all year from season to season. Fired just fine.

RE: how long do you leave your muzzleloader loaded
 

Leave mine loaded and I also sometimes bring it inside. Been doing it for 15 years with no problems.

RE: how long do you leave your muzzleloader loaded
 

here in ms.,you must remove the cap when you are on a public road.if it is cold and the humidty is not high,i will take off the cap and leave the charge.in high humidity,i will fire and reload on the next trip.my experience has been that removing the cap and replacing in humid situations allows moisture to get trapped between the nipple and charge after awhile.as others have said,i have left a charge in my knight all season without any misfires.i also leave mine in my truck so it is not exposed to temp changes in the house after being outside.

RE: how long do you leave your muzzleloader loaded
 

i keep it loadeduntill i need to shoot it usally when seanson is over beczuse i never get a shot at anything

RE: how long do you leave your muzzleloader loaded
 

When the hunting light is gone so is the load.:D

And I shoot a knight inline bighorn so it is pretty new.

RE: how long do you leave your muzzleloader loaded
 

I shoot mine out when I get home every evening, clean that night, and reload every morning.

RE: how long do you leave your muzzleloader loaded
 

;) Safety 1st. Learned that one a long time back and stand by it.

RE: how long do you leave your muzzleloader loaded
 

Mine gets fired at the end of every hunt, cleaned that night, and ready to load up the next day, if need be! Under the right circumstances, that little touch hole can leave a lot of moisture into the main powder charge.

RE: how long do you leave your muzzleloader loaded
 

mine stays loaded prolly till a couple weeks after the season is over then i just shoot it off and clean it...

RE: how long do you leave your muzzleloader loaded
 

For my in line's with a 209 ignition or # 11 cap I leave them loaded until the season is over and merely un-cap them each evening after the hunt. I leave the gun outside in an unheated garage locked in a cabinet. So far so good.
I used to touch it off every night. Stopped doing that about 5 years ago. Last year I left it loaded until May.....went off without a hitch.

RE: how long do you leave your muzzleloader loaded
 

I used to own a gun shop "Virginia Outdoorsman" and I was amazed at the amount of hunters that would bring in there gun early September/October just before the season because they could not get their gun to fire LAST YEARS bullet!