Traditional Firearms > Flintlock Long Guns

To Fire or Hold Fire

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MCoop:
When hunting with a flintlock or any black powder rifle, is it best to fire your rifle to unload it if not used after a hunt ?  It seems like a waste of a good ball and powder.

BEAVERMAN:
I load my ML ( a cap lock) the night before opening day and put an industrial masking tape dot over the business end of the barrel, it rains here in the upper PNW during the season and it stays loaded for 3 weeks or until I shoot an animal, the rifle stays in my locked truck when not in the field avoiding the temp change from outside to inside my motorhome, the last day I hunt if not successful an old stump gets ventilated, I quick patch the barrel with some CLP and head home, clean & oil it well then back in the safe until next season.

KDubs:
 Yep I do much like beav does.  Charge it, tape the muzzle. Cap or prime (load) in the field.
  I take my gun in the house after every hunt. Haven't had any issues with moisture.
 Keep it out of battery with hammer down on the bare nipple or the flint in the pan with a feather in the touch hole .
 
You have to clean it at the end of the season so shoot the ball out then.
Kevin

Bigsmoke:
Ditto

Winter Hawk:
Same here.  Most states consider a flintlock to be unloaded if it isn't primed (or capped for those who go in for such things) so you can drive around with it in your car/truck as long as you have knocked the prime out of the pan.  Then shoot the ball out when the M/L season is over.

If you really want to unload it without shooting, get one of those CO2 dischargers.  I haven't used one, but I believe you can put the muzzle in a container to trap the load, although maybe that will throw powder all over.  Or, you can use a ball puller and manually yank the ball out although I haven't had much luck with that.

~Kees~

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