leaving my gun loaded?

[tom deinek]

If you score your rod, why don't you check it with that? Who handles any firearm after a year without checking it first?

To hear you guys talk, there is no limit to redundancy. Your unreasonable fears frighten me.

 

[S.Kenton]

I do check it by scoring my ramrod.. or I simply tag it as loaded..either or works fine for me..

 

[Kabo1313]

I agree with Crockett, and Kenton, there are posts on this forum itself that you do not have to have a cap on the nipple to have a spark exchange and for the rifle to go off so just merely leaving the cap off is not perfectly safe. Unload it please.

Lastly, leaving a black powder load for a whole season, or between seasons as I believe was referenced, can scar a barrel considerably. Powder eats away at a barrel if left too long.

IMHO, you should leave a load in the barrel for more than a day...at the most and even then make sure you have some sort of checking process to remind yourself of if it is loaded or not.

 

[kopfjaeger]

I wonder if the 18th century longhunters and settlers left their guns unloaded. "LOL" :stir:

 

[hanshi]

I have two loaded now and will be hunting with them until I score on game; I alternate them each time out.

 

[capt_turk]

I've always kept mine loaded at all times, for years, and have never had any sign of erosion or damage to a barrel.

A gun is useless as anything but a club if it is not loaded.

 

[MacRob46]

There is a post elsewhere in the forum from a member who bought an antique Civil War rifle and a gun show only to find out it was loaded. I think it is always a bad practice to leave a muzzle loader loaded around the house, although I have a good friend who used to do that. You cannot open the breech and check to see if these guns are loaded as you can with modern firearms. You may leave it loaded for years without any problem but then one day someone picks it up and fires it - and someone is injured or killed. Take a few minutes to clear it and clean it then reload when you take it hunting the next time.

 

[chuck-ia]

Yes you are right, an unloaded gun is useless, they are made to kill or injure. flinch

 

[S.Kenton]

uhhmmm... you have obviously not read the entire thread...but thats ok. Anyhow, I have NEVER had any issues with leaving my M'ler loaded..ever. I have left my Hawken loaded for over 3 months..no rust ring,no pitting..nothing, that is due to fact that it takes moisture to cause rust.Also, the chemical reaction from simply firing the rifle can cause rust as well...if it gets shot and reloaded, then I shoot the charge out and clean. IF it does not get fired at all during the season..it stays loaded until the opportunity arises..The rifles I have are mine, I shall leave them loaded if I wish

 

[S.Kenton]

Treat every (and I mean EVERY one, even the modern centerfires) firearm as if it's loaded... and you'll never have to worry about accidents.

 

[MacRob46]

Treat every (and I mean EVERY one, even the modern centerfires) firearm as if it's loaded... and you'll never have to worry about accidents.

It's not ME that concerns me. It's them!

 

[chuck-ia]

Good one. Lots of bad things can happen, gun gets stolen, inlaws going through your stuff when you die, kids messing around messing around. I wish someone would do a survey thing on this, would be interesting to know the percentage of people who says it's ok to leave a muzzleloader loaded for extended periods.flinch

 

[tom deinek]

Civil war ended 1865. This is 2013.

I'd hope we'd all agree that it is improvident to leave a ml loaded for 148 years.

Pull the load or discharge it if you plan to store it that long.
:wink:

 

[MacRob46]

Civil war ended 1865. This is 2013.

I'd hope we'd all agree that it is improvident to leave a ml loaded for 148 years.

Pull the load or discharge it if you plan to store it that long.
:wink:

My point, which I think you got, was that in the old days safety was not so important so a lot of guns got put away loaded and apparently forgotten. As sharp as we all should be these days, an accidental discharge of a muzzle loader should not happen but they do at times and a lot more often with modern weapons. The late Dave Higginbotham of Lone Star Arms was killed by accident pulling a loaded gun out of a truck. And Dave, God rest his soul, was a gunsmith and shooter of long experience. Don't invite trouble by leaving guns loaded, just because it is your gun and you can (to quote one poster above).

 

[kopfjaeger]

I'll leave my flintlock loaded a day or two if I'm going out hunting again with in that time period. If I had kids it would be a different issue, but I don't have kids. I always have the frizzen up, the cock down, and a tooth pick in the flash hole and the gun is kept in my gun safe in the cellar. But I also keep two loaded glocks in the house, one in the bedroom and one in my game room. After 30 years in law enforcement ( retired now ) I've learned a unloaded gun is just a expensive brick. Each to their own.

 

[roundball]

I wish someone would do a survey thing on this, would be interesting to know the percentage of people who says it's ok to leave a muzzleloader loaded for extended periods.flinch

http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/284845/

 

[S.Kenton]

Im trying to figure out what you guys think could or would happen if one left a loaded M'ler in your home?? Caps are locked up...flint is NOT in the jaw. I also have a gun safe.. lets throw that in the mix. Scenerio: Loaded M'ler.. lets say a Percussion hawken, put away in my gun safe..or left in my garage in the cabinet. Tagged as loaded..with a piece of leather between the hammer and nipple.. I would like to know how much safer one can get? I honestly think if you fire your M'ler many times in a row sighting it in, you'd have more of a chance of an ember firing off your charge as you load it, putting the ram rod through your hand as you push the ball down , seating the load..then you do of an uncapped M'ler going off just randomly....

 

[chuck-ia]

thanks, flinch

 

[chuck-ia]

Ok, why would you leave it loaded? flinch

 

[S.Kenton]

Because I can.. and it's safe to do so... :blah:

Actually if I am going out the next day, why wouldn't I leave it loaded? or the next week... or even the next month??