# How Long ?



## Old Hunter

How long can or should you leave your black power gun loaded? If you go out for an evening hunt and not shoot your gun, is there any problem with removing the primer and leaving the load in the gun for the next day ?


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## dc240nt

In 2002 I took my Muzzleloader for my once in a life-time Minnesota moose hunt. I loaded the gun the night before opener and didnt unload that same shot until I pulled the trigger on a moose on the 11th day. Inbetween, it had rained and snowed for 7 of those days. I shoot a Knight and have never had a problem. I will commonly load night before season and not worry about it. It has gone 10-14 days with the same load on several occasions and when needed it did exactly as it should have. I cannot speak for any other brand of gun.


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## Old Hunter

Thank you


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## bretts

Why take the chance? I always shot out the gun at the end of the hunt, just didn't want to take the chance of it not firing for the next sit. Just shoot the gun at the end of the hunt so you won't be guessing if it's going to go off, also you might be a little hesitant of the firing if you let it sit causing some shooters error.


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## Chuck Smith

You don't have to shoot the gun after ever night out. I typically leave it loaded for about 5 days then I will fire it. But if it rains, snows, etc I would shoot it at the end of that days hunt.

Also one thing is to not take your gun in and out of doors. What I mean is don't take your gun in from a cold vehicle into a warm house and let sit over night. This could cause moisture thus making your powder wet and a possible misfire. Leave your gun in your car or garage (non heated). That is what I do so then I won't have an issue with condensation or water possibly forming and causing wet powder.

Good luck


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## bjr86

anybody ever just remove the breach plug and push the charge out? that's what I always do.


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## alleyyooper

Mine is sitting on the screened in porch right now. It was loaded on November 14th. It will fire if I see a deer in the morning or even if I have to wait till Dec 12th to see a deer. It has rained a couple time and snowed a wet sticky snow once since the Nov 14th loading.
I place a peice of cling wrap over the barrel and hold it in place with aq rubber band.

Nice thing about where I live is I have a back yard rifle range.
I tested how it shoots with the barrel covered. I tested to see how many shots I could take before the groups go south with out wiping the bore. I tested to see how long it can stay loaded anbd still shoot.
I use T 7 powder.

Yes I have pushed a load out after removing the breech plug. I rather save the good hunting bullets than waste them.

 Al


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## texcl

I use a flintlock and load with real black powder, I've left my rifles loaded for over a week at a time, when not hunting I just put a toothpick in the vent and store her out in the truck so condensation doesn't form. she has has never failed to fire. The only time I had a problem was when I soaked the breach on a hunt, it was drenched so I knew water had gone where it shouldn't have, It took 2 attempts to get her to go off, but that was an extreme circumstance.


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## barebackjack

My flinter sat loaded for 29 days (coyote hunting not deer) before I finally pulled the trigger. Left it in the garage so condensation wouldnt be an issue from the freezing/warming effect. She went off without a hitch and put a nice hole in a pooch.


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## blowgunner62

You're gonna shoot it after every day of hunting? And clean the gun every night? I don't know about black powder substitutes, but I use real black powder and even with cleaning in between each shot it takes 30-45 minutes to clean. I leave mine loaded all season and don't unload until I see a deer or the end of the season.


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## Gildog

My Dad got two Hawkens when I was a kid 30 years ago...used sparingly the last 20 years. Mine has a habit of misfires, while his has been Old Reliable. We'd fire them off each night when we started, but then would leave 'em a few days...his was always ok but mine never was!

Thought I had it licked when couple seasons ago by removing the nipple and putting a few grains of powder directly below the nipple...it fired without misfire to take two deer on a special hunt.

This year I did that same 3 day hunt, but it misfired the second and third day, so enough is enough...I'm gonna borrow Dad's when he isn't looking, and buy an inline to boot!

Still had a great time, but if wouldn't have had meat in the freezer already it would have been exasperatingly frustrating.


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## alleyyooper

As I stated above I loaded my Remington 700 54cal. on evening of Nov. 14th. One morning it was raining a little so I covered the bore with cling wrap and a rubber band. From the evening of nov 15th is has sat every night on our screen porch untill Jan 3d. I set up atarget at 100 yards and fired the rifle off hitting the taeget.

So with proper care and leaving in the right envirment you can leave them loadedfor a very long time.

 Al


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## flintlock62

Gildog said:


> My Dad got two Hawkens when I was a kid 30 years ago...used sparingly the last 20 years. Mine has a habit of misfires, while his has been Old Reliable. We'd fire them off each night when we started, but then would leave 'em a few days...his was always ok but mine never was!
> 
> Thought I had it licked when couple seasons ago by removing the nipple and putting a few grains of powder directly below the nipple...it fired without misfire to take two deer on a special hunt.
> 
> This year I did that same 3 day hunt, but it misfired the second and third day, so enough is enough...I'm gonna borrow Dad's when he isn't looking, and buy an inline to boot!
> 
> Still had a great time, but if wouldn't have had meat in the freezer already it would have been exasperatingly frustrating.


Are both rifles the same and his fires, yours does not? There could be some simple fixes. One is how you clean it. Do you use petrolium oil? Do you fire a couple of caps before you load? The brand of caps you use could be a factor. Not all caps are created equally. Are you using real black powder, substitute powder, or pellets?


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## goatboy

I was on a Canadian hunt a couple years ago with my encore. On the 4th day I had a 150s buck come by at 50 yds, put it on his shoulder and POOP! The primer went off and that was it! I wanted to break it open as he was standing there wondering what happened. But I didn't know when the powder was going to go off., it didn't.
I took it out that night and put another primer in it and it went poop and the 1 second later it went off.

It had been snowing hard, I had my TC laying flat in my lap with my icebreaker hand muff over the top of the action with heat pacs in my warmer. I guess somehow thats what got it damp, not quite sure. It was cold and I left it out in the vehicle every night and never brought it in. On the bright side, two nights later he came by again and I dropped him in his tracks,


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## maximini14

If your shootin an inline your usually pretty good to go. I have had several instances in the "old days" w/ my sidelocks not goin off at end of day when in rain or even just a wet snow. It now rests in a place other than the rack in my pickup. This fall, there we're 3 guys in our group w/ side locks- it rained that day- all 3 failed to go off. If its wet out, I would definitely make sure I had a fresh charge in the next morning, you never know when the next deer you see is a real corker and who needs a misfire then I put a pc of tape over the muzzle of my Omega- no problems.


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## Gildog

flintlock62 said:


> Gildog said:
> 
> 
> 
> My Dad got two Hawkens when I was a kid 30 years ago...used sparingly the last 20 years. Mine has a habit of misfires, while his has been Old Reliable. We'd fire them off each night when we started, but then would leave 'em a few days...his was always ok but mine never was!
> 
> Thought I had it licked when couple seasons ago by removing the nipple and putting a few grains of powder directly below the nipple...it fired without misfire to take two deer on a special hunt.
> 
> This year I did that same 3 day hunt, but it misfired the second and third day, so enough is enough...I'm gonna borrow Dad's when he isn't looking, and buy an inline to boot!
> 
> Still had a great time, but if wouldn't have had meat in the freezer already it would have been exasperatingly frustrating.
> 
> 
> 
> Are both rifles the same and his fires, yours does not? There could be some simple fixes. One is how you clean it. Do you use petrolium oil? Do you fire a couple of caps before you load? The brand of caps you use could be a factor. Not all caps are created equally. Are you using real black powder, substitute powder, or pellets?
Click to expand...

yes, both are exactly the same...we clean with soap and boiling water, then light oil for storage that we wipe out before season. I would put in a new nipple before the season. I'd pop 3 or 4 caps before loading. I started pulling the nipple and putting a few grains of powder (triple f pyro) right below the nipple.

didn't have much problem this year...the bone collector didn't misfire once!
(gotta admit to 'user error' though...couple does are still out there, wondering what the heck that noise was...


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## maximini14

way back when, after numerous misfires, i installed a nipple that used small rifle primers that fit most sidelock nipple threads.U unscrewed a cap , put in the primer, screwed the cap back on. The cap had a firing pin in it- problem solved. havn't seen one in a catalog lately, tho I havn't really looked, they may still be out there somewhere


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## Jig Master

I unload and clean my rifle every night, fired or not fired. Once I left my rifle loaded outside over night and unloaded it the next day, only to find that rust had started to form where the powder sat in the barrel. Black powder substitutes are hygroscopic and will attract moisture. Your rifle may fire after being loaded for days or weeks, but your bore will be rusting where the powder sits during that time period. If you use pellets, the new Thompsons with the finger removable breech plugs are a snap to unload any time during the day or at day's end; just remove the plug and drop the pellets out. I have found that my older Knight Disc rifle (orange discs) is prone to hang fires if I don't first run a patch down the bore, and fire a few caps or primers before loading. When the patch comes out nice and burnt, the rifle is good to go. Thompson makes a traditional style muzzleloader with a removable breech plug for those who prefer that type of rifle.


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