Co2 Discharger Warning

[wtilenw]

Hello Everyone,
I recently purchased a Co2 discharger to have along with me on hunting trips. The device worked very well and I was pleased with it.
There is , however, a catch to it...at least some of the time.
I discharged the load in my .58 caliber GM barrel one evening during my recent deer hunt with the handy little device and in the morning, prior to loading, I ran a dry patch down the barrel and popped a cap to dry the ignition channel. I was met with a sharp "CRACK!" upon firing the cap.
Apparently there was still some powder trapped behind the ignition channel and the bottom of the bore. I can see where this could cause several kinds of problems. Say someone didn't pop a cap, prior to loading and poured their regular charge in on top of the 10-15 grains that the patent breech may hold. This could cause a different point of impact on that very important "First Shot" on an animal.
Anyone else have this happen?
Idaho PRB

 

[Blackfoot]

Thats very interesting, I wonder what would be the remedy to this is so that we would not have to clean the barrel after unloading to be safe.

Thanks for posting your findings.

 

[paulvallandigham]

You can't spend five minutes cleaning the gun? PLEASE! If that is an issue, why are you shooting Black Powder? Clean the gun. That is the remedy, if your gun happens to have a flash channel that enters the barrel ahead of to breechplug's face. There are end scraper jags available for a couple of dollars, that look like a brass headed screw driver to scrape powder and debris off the face of the breech plug. I turn or two with that, shake the barrel holding it muzzle down, and then run a clean patch down the barrel to pull out any powder remaining, and the gun is DONE. Put a lubricated patch on your jag and give the bore a good rubbing for over night storage, and its ready to go in the morning.

 

[Blackfoot]

EASY NOW......

A lot of people use air to blow out the load and do run patches down the barrel just like he did yet he still had some powder in there..

 

[silverfox]

He said he ran a dry patch the next morning. When the cure is any time you unload a BP weapon you need to clean it. No problem with a cleaned weapon.
Fox :thumbsup:

 

[Claude Mathis]

The device worked very well and I was pleased with it.
There is , however, a catch to it...at least some of the time.

It's not the fault of the device. You should always check the barrel no matter how you extract an unfired ball, load, etc.

 

[wszumera]

Check your game laws. In Michigan, a muzzleloader with the cap removed or the prime charge removed from the pan is considered unloaded for transport purposes.

I did a quick google search on Idaho and wasn't able to figure out if you have similar rules.

Clutch

 

[crockett]

There is a chance some of the powder may have gotton into the drum area and was trapped there when you emptied the bore of the powder- GOOD POINT. I know the clean out screw isn't supposed to be removed that often but next time anyone used a co2 dispenser, knock out the powder and then the clean out screw and see if any powder is trapped in the drum. Even through I use a co2 dispenser I am a neat freak when it comes to rifles so I always clean them when I get home but if I used a co2 in camp, etc I may have omitted the cleaning- in any event- thanks for the info.

 

[wtilenw]

There seems to be some misinterpretation of the intended point of the post.
All I am saying is that there may still be some powder left somewhere in the gun after using the Co2 discharger.
Use that information as you choose.
Idaho PRB

 

[BrownBear]

I can't verify the powder in the drum question, but I can verify this: As the patched ball leaves the barrel, there can be enough patch lube along the bore to collect some of the following powder. Dry patching merely pushes that accumulation of powder back down to the breech where it is subject to ignition by the cap. I've never had a "crack" such as you describe Idaho PRB, but I can get an extra puff of smoke when popping a cap. This indicates to me that at least some powder was down there, though probably not as much as you describe.

I'm in the habit with my GPR of pulling the nipple and cleanout screws to clean the breech after the dry swab, even if I do nothing more than run a lubed patch down the bore after getting rid of the ball and main charge.

 

[pa woods roamer]

Had that happened to me. Blew out the ball and next morning decicde to snap a cap and a healthy boom! We now take a wire jag, like the ones T/C makes and run it down the barrel to loosen the compacted powder at the bottom of the Barrel. Another thing about using the discharger is to make sure you have the muzzle pointed in a safe direction. The ball is blown out with enough force to cause damage!!

 

[tg]

"There seems to be some misinterpretation of the intended point of the post.
All I am saying is that there may still be some powder left somewhere in the gun after using the Co2 discharger"

A good post which may well save someone an unpleasant experience should they dump the load and pop a cap with out first cleaning before reloading, I would suggest cleaning a gun no matter how the ball was persuaded to come out, I prefer to clean a fired gun than a gun which has had the ball pulled, never owned or used a Co2 thingy, got to much "stuff" already and they bring modern tech. to mind so I avoid such things.

 

There seems to be some misinterpretation of the intended point of the post.
All I am saying is that there may still be some powder left somewhere in the gun after using the Co2 discharger.

I think they get the intent, that's why they're saying it's not really a "Co2 Discharger Warning", as much as a "clean your gun" reminder. How you extract the load shouldn't be the issue.

 

[Joel Boyles]

Question: (And I'm not trying to be a smart-@$$ about this, really, I'm not!) If you're going to have to clean it anyway, why not just go ahead and shoot the load into a safe backstop?

Just curious.

Enjoy today!

 

yes,just yesterday.Blew the load and went to clean the barrel,put the barrel in a bucket of hot soapy water and could not get the jag to the bottom of the barrel.Must have been 30 or 40 grains of powder left in the barrel.

 

[roundball]

The little CO2 thingies just don't have the horsepower and volume...I'm lucky to have a big Sears air copmpressor in my garage...140psi/30gal tank.

Except for a very tight fitting PRB combo in a new .62cal smoothbore, I've been blowing out the loads after a days hunt for years...leaves nothing in there from the vent to the muzzle.

I keep a box of old towels on the floor and bloop the loads into it, save the balls & patches for range work, discard the powder.

I patch wipe the bore, including a patch around a .30cal brush that gets all the way down into the patent breech so I can see the end of it looking through the open vent, relube the bore, set it in the rack...takes 3 minutes.

 

[Halftail]

I'm guessing that the guy that started this thread it was his first experience with his Discharger and he was posting his experience.Actually I think I understand it too.I have used my Blower with my T/C's and have no trouble with leftover powder.T/C' patented breech system allows no room for powder below the flash channell.I figure the guy who started this thread must have had a gun thats breech was below the flask hole channell.I was suprized at the amount of "Black" on my cleaning patches the first time I used my Discharger.Now I regularily clean with Ballistol soaked patches after discharging a load.Heck,I love it so much I regularily shoot it off after a day of hunting just to Hear the roar and smell the smoke.That makes the modern guys at my Camp shake their heads.They just don't understand. :shake:

 

Hey, this is an important safety tip and thanks for bringing it to the attention of the forum. Sometimes people forget to do the basics or just do not consider the obvious. Your post is a reminder that it can be the obvious or basic things that can gut us, and our pals, in trouble. Good job.

 

[Bob J]

Idaho PRB - That was my experience with a CO2 discharger. Now I pull the load, scrape the breech to get ALL the powder out, clean it with a damp then a dry patch. OR fire it, couple of ballistol patches, couple of dry patches. Actually firing and a quick clean seems just as easy.