To unload or not?

[Mknight702]

Just a quick question for anyone who has been on a driven shoot with a muzzle loader.

At the end of each drive do you just remove the caps and leave the shotgun loaded or fire off the loaded barrels?

Never having been on a shoot with a muzzle loader I don't know what the normal practice is.

I am tending towards fire off the loaded barrels then reload.

 

[Phil Coffins]

I pull the caps when I case the gun other then when the hunt is over. Having never been on a driven hunt I would ask the rest of the crowd what they require.

 

[chorizo]

It depends upon the nature of who is organizing the drives and their desires.

In Spain, if it is local Coto organized, a cased gun is all that is required. In paid organized hunts by guide service, they typically make you break down your gun into two pieces, if you can or prove that the gun is not loaded by snapping the hammer, or in a muzzleloaders case, discharge the gun.

I was only in one driven hunt in the UK in Scotland, and they required discharge or snap and case. Spain varies by the organizer.