10 day old load

[ncboman]

My Knight has been loaded with 777 and standin in the corner for 10days.

Would you hunt with it as is or shoot it and put in a fresh load?

[DaveHawk]

Why not NC, unless your house is damp and clammy, I've left mine loaded for a couple weeks before. As Long as it is in a dry place.

[Twanger]

I will use loads for that long only under certain circumstances...

This one? I would not trust it.

I will use a load that's been in a gun for a few days if it has been dry out, the gun has not been subject to temperature cycles, and it was loaded into a clean bore.

That clean bore thing got me bad one time. T7 is very hydroscopic and I loaded into a dirty bore and left it in the gun two days - two very damp rainy days. Then I went hunting when it cleared up. After the gun did not fire I checked it out and the powder was sludge the consistency of newly mixed concrete. That one was a bad combination of dirty bore and humid weather.

If I'm going to save a load I seal both ends from the air. I also leave the gun in an unheated location so it doesn't get temperature cycled. I tape over the muzzle and pull the cap and lower the hammer onto a pre-lubed fiber wad to seal the nipple.

You can shoot right through the electrical tape over the muzzle with no adverse affect on point of impact.

Also, it's less work to pull the breach plug and push the load out than to shoot it out and have to completely clean the gun.

[ncboman]

thanks Walt.

the gun was loaded after a kill so the barrel wasn't clean.

Would you trust it if the load were pyrodex? I once left my other Knight loaded for several months with pyro and it bulled when I fired it.

btw, I think the correct word is hygroscopic. :D

Now I MUST shoot it and see if she goes accurately. If it don't fire, it's your fault. :D

[Twanger]

I think it's worth firing it to develop some experience with 'old' loads.

Also, if you've left your gun dirty for 10 days you're asking for corrosion. Stainless is more tolerant than a blued mild-steel gun, but it's still rolling the dice.

Pyrodex? I might trust it a little more, but you really need to ask yourself: Is it worth taking the chance that the gun will not fire, or perform poorly, resulting in a lost deer? Maybe a big-buck of a lifetime?

I don't take too many chances anymore. Remember, that just because an old load fires doesn't mean that it was giving you full power. To really test an old load right you should take it to the range and see where it hits at 100 yards... maybe even chrony it.

You're right - hygroscopic. My bad! :eek: :rolleyes: :D

[ncboman]

My experience with old loads ... if it'll fire, it will be accurate.

I'll see if this holds true in a bit. :rolleyes:

[Smitty5]

I wouldn't hunt with it but only because it was loaded dirty and left that way. I would never leave a muzzleloader I liked in that condition overnite much less for 10 days. However if loaded clean I wouldn't have a problem with it. I loaned my 50 caliber Firehawk to a friend a couple of years ago and when he returned it I just assumed he had unloaded it and cleaned it. It was in a hard case. The next fall I took it out of the case to find it loaded, just as I had loaded it for him and I knew it hadn't been fired. The bolt was down on a live cap, saran wrap under the cap and a piece of duct tape over the muzzle. Somewhat chagrined as there is no breech block to remove on a Firehawk I took it out to my 50 yard range and squeezed it off. The hole appeared exactly 1 inch above where the crosshairs were sitting when I pulled the trigger. The bore suffered no ill effect and I really check any guns I loan now on return. I did not like realizing the rifle had been stored with the spring loaded bolt against a live cap. The powder was Pyrodex and it was saboted with a green CVA sabot.

[LampLighter]

Wild Bill Hiccock always changed cylinders every morning on his revolver. Just couldn't take a chance with 1 day old black powder- real black powder.

[Smitty5]

Must have been real fun getting up in the morning and shooting his two pistols after having stayed up all night drinking and playing poker, then cleaning his pistols then loading them again. I heard he was a bit nervous a lot of the time.

[ncboman]

I fired the load and it was about 3" high at 50yds

... that might have been me as I had the scope turned down to 3x and wasn't really bearing down. I was more interested in seeing if I got any hangfire with the load that old. It went fine though. :)

[Smitty5]

To me it was much more a consideration of corrosian but I still would do as you did, shoot it and clean it, then load it.

[ncboman]

Even though it was dirty for 11 or 12 days, it cleaned up real nice. The bore looks brand new. :)

This is my Knight T Bolt. I think I got this one from Danny here on this site a few years back. Good steel in this barrel. :)