Muzzle loader Question

You know how a guy loads his ML and goes out, doesn’t get a deer, pulls primer, goes home. Next morning, installs primer goes huhnting, no deer, pull primer go home. How long can a guy do this for before the powder pellets get condensation on them and don’t fire? I would assume leaving it in a cold garage or out side is better, don’t bring in house. But my garage is heated and I only keep at 40 degrees. Think after 10-20 times in and out I will have pellets not wanting to ignite???
Last year I went with it a few times and then didn’t go for awhile than the season ended. So I thought I would just shoot the load out, but it would not fire. Pushed the sabot and pellets out and they were all wet and rust looking??
Any thoughts

You wanna makes sure to not go cold/hot/cold/hot….it will cause the gun to sweat or get moisture on it and cause the pellets to collect it…that includes hauling it in a warm vehicle…I usually only go 2 or 3 days before i fire and re load…had twice where I went a week or 2 and the sound it made when it fired was different….not as crisp sounding….Now if i would just go out hunting and not fish

I normally shoot it out every night if it’s really cold or wet out. If it’s nice out, I’ll let it go 2 or 3 days. IMO there are already enough factors that work against a ML hunter. It’s easy enough to shoot, clean, then re-load. Last season alone I shot 3 deer and a coyote with the ML that was loaded in the morning. I did miss 3 does with it, and none of which were loaded the same day. Maybe a coincidence, but too related for me not to reload often.

The property I hunt in Menagha, I will leave the Muzzleloader outside under the lean-to. I’ll shoot the ML the night I leave for home.

If it is not snowing or raining I will leave mine in the back of my truck (I have a topper) for 2 or three days, if it is snowing or raining I will either shoot the gun at the end of the hunt or just pull the breach plug out and let the pellets fall out and push the sabot out. Eric if you do not want to turn off the heater in your garage you could just leave your truck outside, if you do not want to do either I would unload the gun after each hunt, not a big deal to unload it rather than shoot it that way you do not have to clean it each time.

I read this post last night so I decided to unload my muzzle loader. I took out the breach plug and dumped the pellets. When I tried to push the sabot through it wouldn’t budge. I had to put a fresh pellet in and go shoot the gun to get the sabot out. When I got back I noticed the pellets I dumped were swelled to almost twice the size of the ones that have been stored inside. I wonder if I can still use them once they sit inside the house for a while or should I just toss them?

thtrow them….they absorbed moisture….I have heard once the pellet is compressed they are no good once removed….

If you have a removeable breech plug its easy to just drop the pellets out the breech end and push the sabot out the bore. Bullets and powder are expensive and seems like a waste to just fire the gun off,then you dont have to clean,just lube.

Ive wondered about this also, but last year I loaded mine the first day of ML season, never did see a deer to shoot at until the last day, so it was loaded for 10 days and seemed to shoot just fine, I shot the deer at about 90 yards. I had kept the gun in my truck the whole time. I still use the granular powder, not the pellets, not sure if it makes a difference.

Loaded mine during the 07 season, shot it this summer, and it was right on the mark. I use powder and not pellets in a T/C Omega.

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You know how a guy loads his ML and goes out, doesn’t get a deer, pulls primer, goes home. Next morning, installs primer goes huhnting, no deer, pull primer go home. How long can a guy do this for before the powder pellets get condensation on them and don’t fire? I would assume leaving it in a cold garage or out side is better, don’t bring in house. But my garage is heated and I only keep at 40 degrees. Think after 10-20 times in and out I will have pellets not wanting to ignite???
Last year I went with it a few times and then didn’t go for awhile than the season ended. So I thought I would just shoot the load out, but it would not fire. Pushed the sabot and pellets out and they were all wet and rust looking??
Any thoughts

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This being my first year muzzlloader hunting, I asked a ton of questions. (Still am!) And this post raised a very important question. I shoot the 777 Pyrodex pellets out of my new Thompson Omega Z5, and saw the post saying that they observed swelling and rust coloration due to water obsorbtion. So that got me thinking… mine has been through 2 snow events and multiple trips afield so far. So I popped the breech plug and dropped the pellets out using a pipe cleaner…and measured them with a caliper. The pellets in the gun were .454″. New pellets out of the box were .453″. So in my test, there was no discernable difference in the powder charge from being in the “Environment.” The gun stayed outside, and never came in until today when it was unloaded. It took me less than a minute to check, push the bullet up an inch, replace powder charge, and reset the bullet.
Now I can go into the weekend knowing what my powder is like. Now I am sure every gun is defferent, but this TC Omega is really sealed well, and I know I am not going to have an issue leaving a charge in.

well thats good to hear. I was going to go through mine this weekend, since its been ready to go for the last week and this post has me thinking…

Jami

I was just going to call you and tell you that.

I’ve always made a habit of pulling the breech, and taking them out nightly. If you sit all day during moist weather, you can see the difference in the pellet colors (I shoot triple 7). They kind of have a darker look near the edges toward the end of the barrel. I had a misfire after sitting a coulple of days in snowy weather, and that was the only fault I could find in the setup. I also remove the load every night to keep things consistent. I cringe at the thought of me, or someone borrowing my gun and double loading it (a little extreme yes, but it would be nasty). So after I pop the round out, if the powder looks iffy, I toss it, then I have to make up another excuse for missing the “big one”!

What gun and ammo are you shooting Lemmy?

Winchester stainless steel barrel with a cammo stock, with 100 grains and power builts. 265 grain I think. I bought my bullets in bulk (like 3 packs…I’ll be dead before they’re gone!)after I shot it and found what worked good for the gun, so i’m not positive on the bullet weight but i’m pretty sure. 3″ groups at a hundo, open sights (o/k they’re fluoroescent ones). shoots an inch or two high at 50. Triple 7 powder cuz I heard guns clean up much easier afterwords, but who knows about all of that.