Post by: Puffer on November 03, 2007, 07:51:51 PM
The reason I am asking is that many times our ancestors needed to keep their weopons loaded for extended periods of time. Do to to avail. of powder etc., I can not imagine that they emptied it by firing every day or so. Plus pulling the ball is a PAIN. So how long did they keep it loaded & what were the results ???
Puffer
Post by: vermontfreedom on November 03, 2007, 09:28:48 PM
I've never done this, but I know folks that will leave their powder and ball in all season - for a few months, and it still goes off fine.
I tend not to do this as my barrel is not a blued production barrel and tends to require anti-rust treatment every few weeks or so.
With a brass range rod and decent ball screw, pulling PRB is a breeze (I load 0.535 ball and 0.015 patch) in my .54-cal. [Quite a bit tougher with hickory ramrod and antler handle I made!!!] So I have few or no issues pulling when weather was wet/damp during the day. I'll often pour out the powder and let it dry for a few days, then put it back in the powder tin. Depending on condition, I'll even reuse the patch. I do use a fouling scraper to take out any excess stuck in the breech and run a couple dry patches to 'clean' after pulling ball.
Post by: hawkeye on November 03, 2007, 11:53:31 PM
Post by: FG1 on November 04, 2007, 12:13:13 AM
Post by: MikeC on November 04, 2007, 01:47:30 AM
Post by: SAWMA on November 05, 2007, 07:29:29 AM
Post by: Mitch on November 05, 2007, 01:20:39 PM
Post by: Pichou on November 05, 2007, 02:21:31 PM
Post by: Mitch on November 05, 2007, 02:49:54 PM
Post by: SAWMA on November 05, 2007, 02:57:02 PM
Post by: woodman on November 09, 2007, 12:28:14 PM
I have left my smoothbore loaded for extended periods with the touchhole plugged and it has always gone off when needed.
I really feel that the old mountainers left theres loaded except for when there was a real reason to wonder if it was going to go off.
A few years ago during muzzleloading season we got hit with a early wet snow that left 18" of snow on the ground and was dropping big heavy wet clumps of snow from the trees. I got hit several times with big chunks of snow,the pan on my smoothbore took several hits soaking the powder in the pan.This was with taking precautions to keep the pan under my arm as well as I could.
My smoothbore was loaded for the rest of the season (3 days). Then due to life and work it was a couple of weeks before I got a chance to unload. Fresh powder in the pan and she talked just like she always does..One of my biggest peaves during muzzleloading season is all those guy's out there that feel like they have to unload there guns every day when they leave the mountain.Usually by touching it off..Don't they know every shot out there makes those critters even more skittish than they already are..Just had to get that one off my chest..
Woodman
Post by: Hoyt on January 10, 2008, 06:45:01 PM
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/Iflytrout/Berks/tent2.jpg)
Post by: Hawg on January 10, 2008, 06:57:44 PM
Post by: Riley/MN on January 10, 2008, 10:14:19 PM
Quote from: "Hoyt"
I lived in this tent from the first part of Nov. till Jan.4th..spent every night there and hunted every day.
Man, where's Paul Harvey? I gotta hear the rest o' this story.
Post by: oomcurt on January 11, 2008, 07:06:23 AM
Post by: sse on January 11, 2008, 09:28:05 AM
Post by: Kirrmeister on January 14, 2008, 02:43:16 PM
Kirrmeister
Post by: AxelP on January 14, 2008, 04:03:15 PM
I have heard of people dying when they pull a gun out of a car....I make it policy that no gun is loaded while in my vehicle.
Axe
Post by: Kirrmeister on January 14, 2008, 04:06:42 PM
it was never illegal to hunt with ML in Germany, but it was not very common. Meanwhile I was able to motivate many hunters here in Germany to have a try hunting with ML.
The law doesn't forbid ML for hunting at all.
On my oppinion a PRB is in most cases more effective than these overpowered smokeless powder cartridges. I hunted this season the first time with ML and only with ML. The six roes I got were all clean kills without any bigger damage. For me a great thing. Won't use anything else anymore. I try to push ML hunting forward here in Germany.
Regards
Kirrmeister
Post by: Riley/MN on January 14, 2008, 04:13:06 PM
Quote from: "Kirrmeister"
I try to push ML hunting forward here in Germany.
Ya know, sumthin tells me we otta make this guy the Germany "state" rep.
Post by: Kirrmeister on January 14, 2008, 04:29:53 PM
Regards
Kirrmeister
Post by: Puffer on January 15, 2008, 10:28:33 PM
Quote from: "AxelP"
Besides the obvious safety issues of having a loaded gun in your car-- for me, I like to start with a fresh load everytime, so I shoot it out before it goes into my vehicle.
I have heard of people dying when they pull a gun out of a car....I make it policy that no gun is loaded while in my vehicle.
Axe
SIDE NOTE In the state of WA, a Muzzle loader is concidered UNLOADED if the gun is not primed or caped. (IMO :!:
You should of seen the looks on their faces
(BTW, I was the Inst. for a class on MLs) Puffer
Post by: Puffer on January 16, 2008, 07:36:52 PM
Quote from: "Wyosmith"
In the case of a flintlock, the point of having no prime in the pan is not that it's can't fire without it, but that it can't fire with the frizzen open!
The problem is that in most states the regs are not written that way.
That was part of discussion.
Puffer
Post by: Three Hawks on June 18, 2008, 01:21:31 AM
Junior found from one of his in-laws that they used to play Cowboys and Indians with that old gun from the early30's until WWII, and fired it by gluing kitchen match heads on the nipple with chewing gum.
They'd originally found it in a dump near Chicago during the depression.
The gunsmith saved that hundred plus year old powder and told me later he loaded it in his Ted Fellows .40 cal. flintlock to see what it would do, and it fired just fine.
Thee Hawks
Post by: Three Hawks on June 18, 2008, 01:33:11 AM
Quote from: "Puffer"
Quote from: "AxelP"Besides the obvious safety issues of having a loaded gun in your car-- for me, I like to start with a fresh load everytime, so I shoot it out before it goes into my vehicle.
I have heard of people dying when they pull a gun out of a car....I make it policy that no gun is loaded while in my vehicle.
Axe
SIDE NOTE In the state of WA, a Muzzle loader is concidered UNLOADED if the gun is not primed or caped. (IMO :!:
You should of seen the looks on their faces
Puffer
This is according to hunting regs only. The WA State hunting regs state that you can't have a loaded long gun in a motor vehicle or boat while in motion WHILE YOU ARE HUNTING. So they allow a muzzle loader to be regarded as unloaded as long as it isn't capped or primed. To the best of my knowlege no harm has resulted from this so far. If it had, rest assured our nanny statist beurocrats would have been all over it like flies on a pile of sh*t.
Three Hawks
Post by: Captchee on June 18, 2008, 09:15:34 AM
Quote
This is according to hunting regs only. The WA State hunting regs state that you can't have a loaded long gun in a motor vehicle or boat while in motion WHILE YOU ARE HUNTING. So they allow a muzzle loader to be regarded as unloaded as long as it isn't capped or primed. To the best of my knowlege no harm has resulted from this so far. If it had, rest assured our nanny statist beurocrats would have been all over it like flies on a pile of sh*t.
Thing to remember is most of these laws were written with very little base of information
I would also disagree with Steve here .
While original flintlocks wouldn’t go off with the frizzen open . Under the right circumstances modern ones will .
All it takes is one spark . I have seen that spark come from the barrel .
Not to long ago I saw this happen. I cant say who the barrel company was but basically what happened was the shooter had a couple clatches and had changed out his flint .
Well he didn’t have one so I offered one up .
The flint however I gave was a 1 inch . The shooter didn’t slide the flint over when he set it and as such as he let the cock forward , his thumb slipped off and the cock fell .
The gun went off ?
This intrigued me because I saw his frizzen was open .
Upon inspecting the situation what I found was a gouge along the flat of the barrel where the flint had struck . This is the only place IMO a spark could have came from .
I also have witnessed a flintlock going off with the cock full forward and the frizzen open .
But this was a left handed gun of a person standing in line along side a right handed flintlock shooter . The fella had a loaded rifle and was following the rules of not priming tell it was his turn . But he failed to cover the lock . Guess he thought 5 ft was far enough away . But that 1 in a million spark found its way not only into the pan but was hot enough to bounce and ignite the main charge . The fella was lucky . While the rifle wasn’t pointed down range , it was pointed up and away from his face . Could have been a real bad deal .
I also have seen percussion guns go off when they appeared not to be capped . Most times I think this happened because of a cap separating and leaving part of its inside still on the cap , even though the brass cup was taken off .
Now one thing that did happen to me long , long ago when I first started out and still using cap guns .
I had a rifle that had a deep cup on the hammer . I didn’t realize that there was a couple spent caps stuck up in there .
We came off the trail from hunting I cocked the hammer back and didn’t find a cap .
Thinking it had fell off , I loaded the rifle in the jeep at half cock and set it muzzle up alongside of me .
A little later while driving down this bumpy road , I just happened to look down and the cap caught my eye right there in the cup was the cap I though had fell of . It was stuck in being held by the spent caps .
I have no doubt that it would have gone off if the hammer had dropped.
So really while it looked unloaded , it wasn’t .
The point is , regardless of what you think , ALLWAYS consider the gun loaded .
If there is powder in the bore , it is loaded .
All that has to happen is that 1 in a million spark to find its way and if the planets are lined up , she will go off
Post by: Dragoon on June 30, 2008, 12:15:17 PM
From what I have read here this would be a viable solution to my needs while not hurting the weapon. Any thoughts?
Post by: jbullard1 on June 30, 2008, 12:58:41 PM
I have a Pietta 44 cal 1861 clone that I loaded in November and carried it on many hunting trips in varying weather conditions. The end of Janurary all chambers fired like they were just loaded. I did clean and thoroughly dry the cylinder just before loading. I also used felt wads under the ball and crisco on top then lightly oiled the outside of the revolver. After firing there was no sighs of corrosion. It should work even better inside the home
Post by: R.M. on June 30, 2008, 12:59:19 PM
Something to think about.
Post by: Minnesota Mike on June 30, 2008, 01:14:14 PM
Read in some journal somewhere about 'checking priming every week or so and check powder every month.
r/
MM
Post by: Dragoon on June 30, 2008, 01:46:00 PM
As always, good points.
Post by: jbullard1 on June 30, 2008, 02:07:32 PM
Post by: R.M. on June 30, 2008, 02:10:09 PM
Post by: Lady of the Woods on June 30, 2008, 03:19:42 PM
Zan
Post by: Fletcher on June 30, 2008, 09:07:43 PM
Rule number one - always point the muzzle in a safe diretion. That way iffen anything stupid does happen, at least no one gets hurt.
Rule number 2, keep your fioger off the trigger. That should also mean off the lock of a ML as well.
Rule number three - check to see that the gun is unloaded. One can always use a rod to check the barrel and see if the rod goes all the way to the breech.
I just unloaded my old Scoumaters rifle. It had held a powder, patch and ball for nearly two years. He actually thought he had doubled cherged it. Then forgat about it and was scared to try anything.
I lubed it with Brake Free and pulled the ball. The patch at powder came with a little coaxing. Only one load!
The barell came clean with a good scrubbing and seems to have no ill affects. The lands and grooves looked clean in my bore light.