how long can you leave it loaded?

[lefty41]

Captchee,
thanks for your long post!
Made me think about my New Englander, loaded in November and didn't get a shot. Brought it home intending to take it to the range but it wound up in the safe loaded. You made so much a good case for unloading that I left the computer and discharged it with the CO2 and cleaned it properly then put it back in the safe.
We do not know when the next time will come, or if it will! I would certainly not want my son or grandsons to find it loaded and not know what to do or have it fire.
Thanks again, I will never leave it loaded after this.

[Indiana]

I've had my flintlock loaded for over a year now because I've simply not had time to shoot it.  I loaded it last deer season and didn't get a shot after loading it, was too busy to shoot over the summer and didn't make it out to hunt this fall, so there she hangs still loaded.  I don't know how well she'll go off, but we'll see once it warms up.  I don't plan to get her go another year without being shot

[mark davidson]

I leave mine loaded between hunts. I meticulously clean and clear the nipple and path each time I clean to prepare for that first shot in the woods. I have so far(knock on wood) NEVER had a misfire in the woods. In fact I have never had a misfire period on the FIRST shot from a fresh CLEANED and prepped gun.  My confidence is around 99.9%+ in my gun shooting on that first shot. So, unless I want to go through the whole cleaning process again, I am not going to unload at the end of the day just to load back up for the next mornings hunt. I will clear the pan on a flinter or remove the cap from a cap gun but a real shot is what shoots my confidence way down and causes me to spend quite a while cleaning and getting it truly "ready" again. I have had mine sit one time for six months and many others for a week or two  loaded and it always went bang on that first shot.  I do not see an unprimed flinter or uncapped cap gun at all in the same light of danger in the house as I do a loaded centerfire modern gun. If kids or grandkids are "playing" with a real gun of any kind then there is something seriously wrong with the family values and house rules.

[lefty41]

I leave mine loaded between hunts. I meticulously clean and clear the nipple and path each time I clean to prepare for that first shot in the woods. I have so far(knock on wood) NEVER had a misfire in the woods. In fact I have never had a misfire period on the FIRST shot from a fresh CLEANED and prepped gun.  My confidence is around 99.9%+ in my gun shooting on that first shot. So, unless I want to go through the whole cleaning process again, I am not going to unload at the end of the day just to load back up for the next mornings hunt. I will clear the pan on a flinter or remove the cap from a cap gun but a real shot is what shoots my confidence way down and causes me to spend quite a while cleaning and getting it truly "ready" again. I have had mine sit one time for six months and many others for a week or two  loaded and it always went bang on that first shot.  I do not see an unprimed flinter or uncapped cap gun at all in the same light of danger in the house as I do a loaded centerfire modern gun. If kids or grandkids are "playing" with a real gun of any kind then there is something seriously wrong with the family values and house rules.

Mark, If you were talking about my post. Read it again, you should be able to tell that I was meaning my death and them finding it. All my firearms are locked in the safe and my son and grandsons know very well about handling them. Have a good day.

[mark davidson]

Lefty,  I was not talking about your post or anybody's post in specific. It never ceases to amaze me at how often folks take something personal or interpret a post to be specific to them and perhaps offensive. I do honestly apologize if something about my post made you feel like I had singled you out or disrespected you in any way. I hurriedly scanned down through the posts and it seemed that there was a lot of concern about kids playing with a muzzleloader or handling it not knowing it was loaded perhaps before an untimely death or after. It just never occured to me to worry about dying before I could unload my gun whether it was a MLer or a modern weapon. Loaded guns at gun shows and through the mail and such is incomprehensible to me. I would never have guessed such carelessness to be so rampant in the MLing community.

[Captchee]

thats just part of the medium we communicate in  mark .
 It happens allot

I would never have guessed such carelessness to be so rampant in the MLing community.

 Times are changing mark . a lot of very strange things happen any more .
 Growing up  one of the worst whoopins I can remember getting was  for shooting the neighbor kid with a rubber band pistol my dad had made me .
 To dad a gun was a gun . Did not mater if it was a toy or not . You treated them all the same .
  In our house every gun  had full magazines . They were not locked up . No gun safe .
 But we were taught what guns could do if handled wrong . Gun safety was something that was taught starting at a very young age .
 Sadly that’s not  so in  far , FAR to many cases today .

 Here is a story for you  .
 Some months back  I get a knock on my door .
 There stood a old friend that I had not seen since high school .
 On my bench sat a pistol that I was working on .
 He starts in on this story about his dad  who when we were kids owned a pawn shop .
  Like most small town pawn shops  they sold lots of guns .

  he goes into telling me how  this muzzle loading flintlock  pistol came into the shop  one day .
  It had been in the gun case for some time when a guy came in and wanted  to look at it .
 Joe said the fella  looked it over and  then ask if he could check the spark .
 He took it , aimed it at a  elk mount up on the wall and  dropped the  cock .
  You guessed it . She went off . Blowing the nose of the mount .
 .
  Something else that has seemed to change  is cleaning . Why that’s such and issue for many  folks , I don’t know .
   In our house it was  something we did every few months . didn’t mater if we shot the guns or not .
 Dad would pick a day . On that day  we all would set at the table . Every gun was unloaded . Checked , disassembled , cleaned , lubed  , reassembled. The magazines reloaded and put back .
 Maybe that’s why today I don’t mind cleaning my guns . Myself I rather enjoy it .
 Especially after a hunt . I find it enjoyable and relaxing to set down and  give the gun a once over .

[mark davidson]

Cap, Cool story!  I too grew up with guns in the house and no gun safe. I KNEW better than to mess with one of my dad's guns without permission and supervision. I am passing that on to my 5 year old. I don't let him point toy pistols and guns at people. He has a little air soft pistol that he shoots well but always under supervision. You should see him handle it and watch the muzzle to keep from pointing it at anyone in the room including himself. It makes me proud of him to see him so responsible at such a young age. I do however know that not all younguns are getting that kind of instruction.
   As for cleaning, I do not honestly mind the cleaning when I do actually do it. I think for me and for many others the cleaning is a time consuming task that has to be worked in to an otherwise very hectic schedule.  Sometimes, I work at my regular job and get off in time to squeeze in an afternoon hunt. When I come home I have honey-do stuff immediately and my little boy waiting on me for supper and family attention. It is hard for me to justify taking even more time away from my loved ones while I am out in the shop spit shining my MLer just to load it back up and go do the same thing the next day. Boiling a cup of hot soapy water and a thorough cleaning of the type that gives me confidence on the next hunt is not a trivial project. I don't really hate the cleaning as much as I do the time it takes away from where my heart is after dark.

[lefty41]

Mark,
I understand what you are saying. I apologize for the way I responded, was in a hurry and did not think through what I wanted to say. My age is 69 and thoughts of leaving this earth do creep in from time to time. I do agree with you and Captchee, times are 'a changn'. We never had a gun safe at home growing up (no one I knew did) they simply hung in a gun rack on the wall and I and my brother knew to leave them alone.
I really enjoy the information here and the way everyone tries their best to be helpful.
Again Mark, no offense taken from your post.

[Uncle Russ]

I would like to thank both Mark and lefty41 for very pleasant exchange and the clearing of the air...more of this is needed throughout every walk of life!

We all understand that the written word is the absolute worst form of communication, to much room for misinterpretation, misunderstanding, and too easily processed into a totally different meaning than that which the sender had intended.

Great job, fellas  

Uncle Russ...

[Gordon H.Kemp]

As usual , I"m pulling up the rear . I agree with the idea that childeren should be taught proper respect for ALL guns centerfire and MLs.I feel it to be a much harder task today then it was 60-70 years ago. Most every household had firearms , and the kids were aware of the idea that if that gun was discharged at another person or object , that meant the person or object wasn"t going to be the same EVER again In most familys the kids saw real life , many famlys , even those that lived in the smaller towns and villages kept chickens and fowl and even pigs and sheep etc.  The kids saw thease animals dispatched and prepared for the table , and even at quite young ages were expected to help in the preperation of thease animals. They came to understand that dead was DEAD . once the axe fell or the knife stuck the juggler vein that anamal stayed dead . there were no pc games to cause themto think they just came back to life and you could repeat the process.
                Also most schools had reasonable nos of students and the idea that guns in general were taboo was not taught as a fact .I would have to say it"s a lot harder to teach our kids proper gun handling today then a half century ago. I have 5 children 25 grand chlidren and7 great grand children and spend much time and energy to instill in them , the proper respect for guns. Its an on-=going responsibility and reqquires our full attention every day. I have great respect for you younger folks who are carrying the ball into the 21st century .






   

[Dphariss]

Newbe . How long can you leave a percussion loaded and expect it to fire. Overnight? Two Days ?

50 years? 100?
Depends on how its loaded and where its stored.

If kept dry and the priming compound is stable and the good caps were very stable by the 1850s or so. The gun will remain "viable" for very long periods of time.
Using a patch lube that coats the bore with a preservative.....
I was told  second hand story of police investigating a little old lady shooting an intruder with a Colt Dragoon that her father had loaded for her decades before telling her to keep it near her bed. Good advise it would appear.
This was related to a friend at the NRA Convention some years back. I gather the Dragoon had been loaded for something like 50 years at least.
Dan