Leaving powder in the barrel

[Trooper]

This may be a dumb question, but I can't find any information on this. I hear that if you haven't shot your rifle for a few months with unburnt powder in your barrel will be permanently damaged. is this factual?

 

[Stykbow]

Untrue. If you loaded a clean barrel then leaving it loaded won’t hurt a thing. The fouling created when it’s shot is what’s damaging to the barrel if not cleaned properly.

 

[Brokennock]

This may be a dumb question, but I can't find any information on this. I hear that if you haven't shot your rifle for a few months with unburnt powder in your barrel will be permanently damaged. is this factual?

No.

 

[tom_in_vt]

Nope! Where it may become an issue is if your gun is exposed to moisture and the powder absorbs the moisture and sits in the barrel.

 

[Howard Pippin]

As I get along in years, I have an aversion again leaving a loaded gun of any kind in my gun rack inside. When I leave a muzzleloader loaded through hunting season, it's never put back in the rack, either put in a gun case or left in the vehicle, yes we can do that where I live without things getting stole, but when I'm ready to bring it back inside, it's either unloaded with air pressure, (if it was clean when I loaded it and never shot), or is just taken out and shot. Back in 83, had a friend passed away who had willed me some different guns. Every darn one of them was loaded and they were all in his house. The single shot guns had a shell in the barrel. Now I realize an unloaded gun is of no use for anything, but I don't put them back in the gun rack in my gun room. If I have a rifle or pistol in my pickup, more than likely there are shells in the magazine, not in the barrel. There is a difference to me, of a firearm in my vehicle, stashed in my bedroom, or in my gun room. I have my own place to stash my defense weapon and it's not in the gun room.
Squint

 

[Grimord]

There are many posts on this forum of antique guns that were left loaded and still fired off. I personally have a heirloom gun of my Great Great Great Grandfathers that I received from the family. The gun had been over the fire place mantle for over 50 years, and my G,G,G Grandfather passed away in 1865. He was the last one to shoot the gun to the families knowledge. So the gun had been loaded for at least 100 years, and I was able to cap it and fire out the load. Long story short, leaving the gun loaded probably will not affect the gun unless, as someone posted, moisture happens to get in the barrel.

 

[hanshi]

Absolutely not.

 

[Sidney Smith]

I left my GPR loaded for two months this past season. At the end of the season, since I didn't get to fire the gun, I pulled the ball and dumped the powder back in my flask(to scarce to waste these days).

 

[Brokennock]

I'd the gun was clean when loaded, even ambient moisture from the air getting in the barrel, even if slightly dampening the powder, will not lad to any more corrosion than it would have without the powder. Unburnt black powder is not a problem,,,, burnt powder residue is,,,,,,, I can't speak about the fake stuff though.

 

[FishDFly]

Maybe from Friday to Sunday, but that is all for me.

Barrel would have to be clean to start with.

 

[Okie Hog]

is this factual?

No.

Today i fired a .50 caliber TC New Englander that was loaded at least one year ago. The rifle cleaned up with a mirror finish bore.

 

[EC121]

If unburnt powder was harmful, it would melt in the horn or the metal can it used to come in. Never saw a rusty GOEX can!!

 

[FishDFly]

"Never saw a rusty GOEX can!!"

Not as long as the cap is sealed and airtight.

How come all the posts asking how to get a charge out of a loaded barrel and I cannot shoot it out and it has been loaded a long time?

 

[toot]

remember that old BP, brass & paper shells loaded over 100 yrs. ago still go off!! and when you look inside them they are relatively clean. I guess that the residue burns & goes out the front? granted that the paper ones sometimes split!

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

I made it a habit through the years if I keep my Muzzloader loaded during the Hunting Season I put Red electrical tape around the Barrel until it is discharged and or cleaned out. leaves no doubt as to condition for me.

 

[LME]

Untrue. If you loaded a clean barrel then leaving it loaded won’t hurt a thing. The fouling created when it’s shot is what’s damaging to the barrel if not cleaned properly.

He mentioned that "if you haven't shot your rifle in a few monts with u

As I get along in years, I have an aversion again leaving a loaded gun of any kind in my gun rack inside. When I leave a muzzleloader loaded through hunting season, it's never put back in the rack, either put in a gun case or left in the vehicle, yes we can do that where I live without things getting stole, but when I'm ready to bring it back inside, it's either unloaded with air pressure, (if it was clean when I loaded it and never shot), or is just taken out and shot. Back in 83, had a friend passed away who had willed me some different guns. Every darn one of them was loaded and they were all in his house. The single shot guns had a shell in the barrel. Now I realize an unloaded gun is of no use for anything, but I don't put them back in the gun rack in my gun room. If I have a rifle or pistol in my pickup, more than likely there are shells in the magazine, not in the barrel. There is a difference to me, of a firearm in my vehicle, stashed in my bedroom, or in my gun room. I have my own place to stash my defense weapon and it's not in the gun room.
Squint

I keep one loaded pistol by my night table. I never keep one in the chamber. I can rack my 9 mil. pistol back just about as fast as I can pick it up. I respect you for being careful with your weapons . You never know when someone else may come in contact with a loaded weapon. It is a recipe for a major problem!

 

[GAHUNTER60]

For some unknown reason, when I fire a BP load out if my Kibler Colonial flintlock that has been there for several weeks, that ball always shows up on paper as the "flyer" in a five-shot group. It's not anywhere near far enough outside thr group to preclude me from hunting with it, but is noticeably off.

I have no explanation for this phenomenon. It's not a clean barrel vs dirty barrel thing, as a fresh load rammed down a clean barrel does not produce this result.

I guess it's destined to remain one of those little mysteries of life in the world of black powder shooting.

 

[11Bravo]

Two of my original Colts are rusty in the cylinders. The rust is only in the bottom where the powder was, above that point you still have the bluing. My guess being carried for years loaded and not firing. One is a 1849 .31 pocket carried by a CW officer, the other a 1862 .36 pocket police. Neither were loaded when I got them.

 

[user 48679]

I made it a habit through the years if I keep my Muzzloader loaded during the Hunting Season I put Red electrical tape around the Barrel until it is discharged and or cleaned out. leaves no doubt as to condition for me.

I do something similar, with a red hanging tag marked "loaded".

I further uncap the gun and lower the hammer down onto the naked nipple with a section of leather between.

I've left the loaded gun in my humidity-controlled gun safe from the end of one deer season (if I didn't shoot it during the closing days of the season) until deer season the following year w/o any issues.

I don't fret about it firing the following deer season, as I usually shoot it before every deer season to check the sights & for practice.

 

[THBailey]

I have a stable of cap 'n ball revolvers. Just because I was curious I loaded 5 of them and left them loaded for a year. Granted, they were uncapped and stored in a "goldenrod" dehumidified gun safe, but they went boom with each pull of the trigger.