whitetailcrazy

I hunted the opener of the IL. firearm season with my ML and had never fired it. When I took it out opening morning, I kept out so as not to promote any condensation in the barrel. I then brought it in Sun. evening and I haven't unloaded it as of yet. Will the load be all right till the opener of second season which starts Nov. 28, or should I remove the breech and push out the load and put a new one in the night before? The unfired powder shouldn't do any damage to the barrel,,,,,,,, should it ? I'musing Pyrodex pellets and since I didn't change the chemical composition by firing a round in the barrel, it shouldn'tcorode my barrel,,,,,,, would it???

cayugad

The unfired powder will not damage the bore of the rifle. The main concern is.. will the rifle go off if you leave it? Do you trust that there was no condensation in the bore and that the powder charge is still dry and good? If you do, leave it and hunt with it later, and good luck to you. Lets just hope that when that opportunity presents itself during the muzzleloader season the rifle fires accurate. You'd hate to know you lost an opportunity because you would not spend five minutes knocking the old load out of the rifle, wiping it out and down, and then reloading fresh for the new hunt.

lemoyne

I have left pyrodex in a tightly sealed barrel for several weeks and it worked just fine; I am sorry I can not say the same for 777-FF it shot 4 inches lowwer after 2 weeks in the barrel. I put it in two guns and left it for two weeks as an experiment I pushed it out of one barrel [the Omega] and it was all clumped up, I shot the other [ the Triunph] and it shot 4 inches low the next 4 shot shot 3 in a clover leaf and one slightly left of the clover leaf. this was at 100yds now I am just a bit leary of leaving 777 loaded to long. Lee

whitetailcrazy

That's what i was afraid of,,,,,,,,, I didn't know if I was being over cautious? I'm pretty certain condensation, never occurred due to the fact that I kept it outside and there was never a dramatic temp..... difference. But Cayugad, I hear what you are saying,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, don't be a lazy ass, and be safe, rather than sorry!

whitetailcrazy

Thanks for the input and valuable info guys!

C. Davis

My experience is that I have a slight hang fire in my side lock if I leave the load in overnight. When you are used to instant ignition, a slight hang fire will most definitely ruin your shot. I unload mine at the end ofthe day and start fresh the next.

C. Davis

Underclocked

I just yesterday fired the load out of my Umag. It had been in the barrel for 13 days. Swiss FFFg. Ignited instantly and I hit the bullseye almost dead center.

Depends on the powder and weather conditions.

Gundeck

I would think that a side lock would be more prone to moisture than a modern inline. Am I wrong on this?

C. Davis

Umm maybe, but it only had to happen to me once. It has never caused me to miss a deer, but I figure if it ever did it would be my own fault, so I load fresh every time. I consider my sidelock just as dependable as a modern inline..... That is if I am not careless.

C. Davis

cayugad

I tested sidelocks and inlines side by side leaving loads in them, to see which one would fail first. My CVA Staghorn inline was the first. But once I put in the second primer it fired fine. So was it the rifle or the primer? The primer I suspect. Sidelocks are a lot more weather resistant then people give them credit for. It is all dependant on how you treat them IMO.