End of season - unofficial test results (long)
01-15-2014, 09:32 AM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Virginia / West Virginia
Posts: 4,906
I don't know if its my computer or not, but it appears that the top part of my post is covered up by an ad. So I am reposting here so it can be read...
Hey folks, well as with most of you our deer hunting season is over now. I had a good season, killed 3 does total - 1 with a bow, and 2 with my rifle during our annual rifle hunt at our farm in WV.
I hunted quite a bit this year...unfortunately, I didn't take any with a ML. That was not because I didn't have a chance, I could have killed alot. I saw a ton, especially in Dec. I just had my freezer full...so I was hunting for one of a couple big bucks I had on game camera. Of course they never showed up in daylight. LOL
So as I was preparing for ML season here in VA (first Sat in Nov, 2 weeks) I loaded both mine and my son's clean MK-85's with 100gr Pyrodex RS, 240gr deep curls, and put on RWS #11 caps. We hunted on opening day the whole day, it was cold for here that time of year, high in the upper 20's.
When we came in that evening, I thought man...thats probably not great to bring our ice cold guns into a 70+ degree woodstove heated house. I saw immediate condensation on the stainless and the scopes...but by then it was too late. I just put the guns back into the safe, loaded. I hunted 8 more sits (morn/eve) during our early ML season, did the same thing. My son could only hunt 3 more times due to his hs football schedule.
I went to WV over Thanksgiving week for the rifle opener, then back to my house in VA for the rest of the season.
So In December I hunted alot at my house, took my ML every time. Knowing those bucks were around, I hunted every chance I could. I sat out 19 times, usually 1.5 - 3 hrs per sit. Mostly in the evenings, but about a half dozen mornings. The year continued to be unusually cold here for Nov/Dec, well below avg. Avg temp was below freezing for a high, many mornings in singles and teens. Some days I hunted were in the 30's to 40's, but not many. Most days were dry, though snow was on the ground basically the entire month. I think I only hunted in the light rain 1 time, and light snow 1 time. No bore cot or tape.
About mid Dec I really began to think about my gun possibly misfiring due to all the hot / cold back and forth. But I also didn't want to fire off my gun, then have to clean it, etc.... when I was just going to probably be out again the next day. So I kept the faith that it would fire, and kept her loaded (and #11 cap on) and kept on hunting.
The last day of the season was Jan 4th, and I hunted that evening. I seriously debated about taking my rifle, by now my gun had been loaded for 2 mos, and almost 30 trips in and out of the cold. But I decided I'd been at it that long, gonna finish up with her. I saw this group of 8 does/fawns that evening that hang around here, and one spike. They were within 50yds of me feeding when the darkness set in. A fitting end to a great season.
Well, all that chatter leads up to this. Today, I decided to unload and clean both our guns. My son never used his again after the early season... I had taken mine in and out a ton.
I set a target out at 50yds, and shot my son's first...leaning against a tree. Immediate ignition, and hit just above 2 oclock in a 3" dot.
Then I picked up mine...and honestly, I was nervous to fire it. I've never EVER had a misfire or a hangfire in this gun. I decided to try offhand and see how I did, and bang she went. Immediate ignition, and stout kick. EXACTLY as every time I've ever fired it in the last 20yrs. I hit at 12 oclock, about 5" high (gun is sighted 2" high @ 50). Not bad for wobbly me, I don't shoot offhand much at targets.
So that is my unofficial test result, and honestly...I was surprised. It flies in the face of what we all know and think and believe. Everyone always talks about how succeptible to moisture pyrodex is, and you should NEVER do what I did - not even one time, and I did it almost 30 times. My gun often went from 10-20 degrees outside, into about 75.
I did leave the cap on the entire time, since that gun has the secondary safety I am comfortable doing that. It was stored in my locked gunsafe (with a goldenrod) when not in use. Did any of that help? I don't know.
Gotta say, I'm happy it did not misfire but I'm kinda at a loss as to how it didn't, based on everything I've ever known. Be interested to hear everyone's thoughts.
Hey folks, well as with most of you our deer hunting season is over now. I had a good season, killed 3 does total - 1 with a bow, and 2 with my rifle during our annual rifle hunt at our farm in WV.
I hunted quite a bit this year...unfortunately, I didn't take any with a ML. That was not because I didn't have a chance, I could have killed alot. I saw a ton, especially in Dec. I just had my freezer full...so I was hunting for one of a couple big bucks I had on game camera. Of course they never showed up in daylight. LOL
So as I was preparing for ML season here in VA (first Sat in Nov, 2 weeks) I loaded both mine and my son's clean MK-85's with 100gr Pyrodex RS, 240gr deep curls, and put on RWS #11 caps. We hunted on opening day the whole day, it was cold for here that time of year, high in the upper 20's.
When we came in that evening, I thought man...thats probably not great to bring our ice cold guns into a 70+ degree woodstove heated house. I saw immediate condensation on the stainless and the scopes...but by then it was too late. I just put the guns back into the safe, loaded. I hunted 8 more sits (morn/eve) during our early ML season, did the same thing. My son could only hunt 3 more times due to his hs football schedule.
I went to WV over Thanksgiving week for the rifle opener, then back to my house in VA for the rest of the season.
So In December I hunted alot at my house, took my ML every time. Knowing those bucks were around, I hunted every chance I could. I sat out 19 times, usually 1.5 - 3 hrs per sit. Mostly in the evenings, but about a half dozen mornings. The year continued to be unusually cold here for Nov/Dec, well below avg. Avg temp was below freezing for a high, many mornings in singles and teens. Some days I hunted were in the 30's to 40's, but not many. Most days were dry, though snow was on the ground basically the entire month. I think I only hunted in the light rain 1 time, and light snow 1 time. No bore cot or tape.
About mid Dec I really began to think about my gun possibly misfiring due to all the hot / cold back and forth. But I also didn't want to fire off my gun, then have to clean it, etc.... when I was just going to probably be out again the next day. So I kept the faith that it would fire, and kept her loaded (and #11 cap on) and kept on hunting.
The last day of the season was Jan 4th, and I hunted that evening. I seriously debated about taking my rifle, by now my gun had been loaded for 2 mos, and almost 30 trips in and out of the cold. But I decided I'd been at it that long, gonna finish up with her. I saw this group of 8 does/fawns that evening that hang around here, and one spike. They were within 50yds of me feeding when the darkness set in. A fitting end to a great season.
Well, all that chatter leads up to this. Today, I decided to unload and clean both our guns. My son never used his again after the early season... I had taken mine in and out a ton.
I set a target out at 50yds, and shot my son's first...leaning against a tree. Immediate ignition, and hit just above 2 oclock in a 3" dot.
Then I picked up mine...and honestly, I was nervous to fire it. I've never EVER had a misfire or a hangfire in this gun. I decided to try offhand and see how I did, and bang she went. Immediate ignition, and stout kick. EXACTLY as every time I've ever fired it in the last 20yrs. I hit at 12 oclock, about 5" high (gun is sighted 2" high @ 50). Not bad for wobbly me, I don't shoot offhand much at targets.
So that is my unofficial test result, and honestly...I was surprised. It flies in the face of what we all know and think and believe. Everyone always talks about how succeptible to moisture pyrodex is, and you should NEVER do what I did - not even one time, and I did it almost 30 times. My gun often went from 10-20 degrees outside, into about 75.
I did leave the cap on the entire time, since that gun has the secondary safety I am comfortable doing that. It was stored in my locked gunsafe (with a goldenrod) when not in use. Did any of that help? I don't know.
Gotta say, I'm happy it did not misfire but I'm kinda at a loss as to how it didn't, based on everything I've ever known. Be interested to hear everyone's thoughts.
01-15-2014, 06:37 PM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,184
On my elk hunt this year I was in a down pour. I tried to cover the mk85 but it was wet. I left the cap on and put tape over the muzzle and over the action to help keep water out of the area where the cap is. That night I replaced the #11 cap and left it on over night. The next morning I got up and an elk and the shot went off like always. The result was 180 pounds of meat in my freezer. Ron
01-15-2014, 07:05 PM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Virginia / West Virginia
Posts: 4,906
Ron, glad yours went off. Sometimes it happens and you get caught out and soaked. If I'm gonna hunt in a real rain, I will put a strip of electrical tape over the muzzle to help keep any water out.
You know, I didn't mention above....one of my concerns today was that even though they fired off perfectly after all that, I was worried that I might have some rust in the bore from all the condensation. As it was, when I cleaned them...both were perfectly spotless so I was happy, happy, happy!
You know, I didn't mention above....one of my concerns today was that even though they fired off perfectly after all that, I was worried that I might have some rust in the bore from all the condensation. As it was, when I cleaned them...both were perfectly spotless so I was happy, happy, happy!
