To Fire or Hold Fire

[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~

[garrettep3]

Just remember that it’s loaded. I left one loaded all summer once.

[Ohio Joe]

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.

Well, at the end of the ML season and if I've not filled my tag - I'll pick a target (clod of dirt or some weed / or something that presents itself as a decent target) and shoot at that. It's a good way to find out if I'd of been able to make a decent shot... I normally do this once I'm back to my pickup. Then it's home to clean the ol' smokepole and store it until it's time to bring it out again. Otherwise, it stays loaded up to that point, I mentioned above.

[Hanshi]

While I no longer hunt I had a simple procedure for loaded guns back when I did.  I use nothing but black powder in all my guns.  Leaving a gun loaded will not harm it as long as it hasn't been fired.  If it gets wet from rain, etc, I fire it and clean it.  If I don't get a shot I leave the rifle loaded until I do get a shot or the end of the season whichever comes LAST.  Never had a problem in the 60 years of shooting BP.

[RobD]

I'll leave a gun loaded (but on "safety") if I know it'll get shot within a month or so, otherwise it'll get fired and cleaned (black powder only).

[PetahW]

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I leave mine loaded until I get a shot, regardless of the duration.

In my rocklock, I dump the pan charge and plug the touch hole; and for my caplock I remove the cap and lower the hammer onto the nipple with a small strip of leather betwixt the hammer nose and the nipple to seal it.





In either case, I have a 3" x 1-1/2" red tag that I've marked "LOADED" on both sides that I slide between the RR and the barrel lower rib as a reminder.

Once or twice, I've left them like that after the season's end, until the next season - they always fired the next time I shot them.

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