Preparation to Load for Hunting

[northmn]

Since the seasons are right around the corner I was wondering what others do to try and guarantee that their flintlocks go off when they see game.  Usually our guns are stored oiled.  Just for start things, I wipe the heck out them with dry cloths to try to get all the oil out, load about 10-15 grains in the barrel and flash it off, maybe 2X, wipe off the frizzen and pan with a dry cloth.  I like to put in a new flint, or use one that has been sparking and freshly knapped but snapped a couple of times.  I may look into suggestions about enlarging the touch hole to .070 as I would rather have reliability than high velocity.

DP   

[Roger Fisher]

You have much answered the question.   I would add take her out an d fire a few rounds to make sure some jealous husband hasn't whacked your sights during the 'off' season

[roundball]

Since the seasons are right around the corner I was wondering what others do to try and guarantee that their flintlocks go off when they see game.  Usually our guns are stored oiled.  Just for start things, I wipe the heck out them with dry cloths to try to get all the oil out, load about 10-15 grains in the barrel and flash it off, maybe 2X, wipe off the frizzen and pan with a dry cloth.  I like to put in a new flint, or use one that has been sparking and freshly knapped but snapped a couple of times.  I may look into suggestions about enlarging the touch hole to .070 as I would rather have reliability than high velocity.

DP   

My vents are all .070 and ignition seems instantaneous.
Note: suggest you check-zero the ML's POI after enlarging the vent.

Early in the morning before leaving the house I:
Check the bore with a dry patch
Check the vent with a pipe cleaner
Wipe off the frizzen & pan with an alcohol wipe
Install / ensure there's a fresh sharp black english flint
Load the rifle
Put a piece of tape over the vent to block any accidental ignition source
Put a finger cot over the muzzle

[tg]

I do the same as any time I shoot one, I swab the oil out of the barrel, run a pipe cleaner thru the vent, wipe the pan and frizzen, check the flint for tightenss, usually load at home and go hunting haven't had a problem since I gave up on the old Kentuckian tears ago, if the rain has  not  been comming down real hard I will leave the gun loaded with a feather in the vent and wipe the outside down and runn a lightly oiled patch down to the ball and back.

[long carabine]

 You leave your gun loaded at home.....baddddd mistake! Always shoot out the ball so a accident does not happen. 

[roundball]

Personally I don't leave a ML loaded overnight but its not from a safety concern...its from a hang fire on a buck years ago and I won't ever take that risk again so I pull or blow the loads out after every hunt and load fresh for the next hunt.

A Flintlock with tape over the vent, set in a gun cabinet with a large red & white warning label hanging on it, in a gun cabinet inaccessible to others is no more dangerous than having a set of sharp steak knives in their oak wood blocks on a kitchen counter.

And muzzleloaders aside, I've had more than one loaded gun in my houses 24 x 365 for the past 30+ years...

[northmn]

Leaving loaded is one issue.  If locked up or disabled there should be nothing wrong with it.  Do any of you have to deal with cold weather?  I like to leave mine in an outside building overnight before loading or if loaded.

DP

[Dphariss]

I wash the barrel out with denatured alcohol, dry it then load. Can then remain loaded for quite some time, months in Montana, with no problems.

I never fire any powder this will simply lead to corrosion or moisture problems.

In cold weaher I never bring a loaded gun into a warm area unless its in a cover, preferably leather or wool with leather over it. This will eliminate condensation in most cases.

Dan

[northmn]

I was wondering if there was a chemical de-oiler that might not work better.  When I hunted with a ML shotgun, if you I a barrel and reloaded it, it would usually misfire the next day unless you poured 4-f under the nipple.  Then I would get a hangfire. 
DP

[Daryl]

I once left my 14 bore cap lock loaded for 3 months or perhaps a bit longer.  When I finally set it off, it went without any hestiation at all. It was common when moose hunting to leave a gun loaded for 2 or 3 days or until the opportunity arrose to whack a moose. In very cold weather (same moose hunting trips), I'd leave the gun outside leaning against a tree (just outside the tent) with a small tarp over it to keep the snow off.  I never experienced difficulty with ignition nor accuracy doing this.  Cleaning was with cold water, and a WD 40 flush after it was fired the last time, which may have been a week or 2 before the hunt, so the residual WD40's carrier liquid may have evapourated.  I always run a patch down the tube and out to bring out any oil that may be left in the bore.

[tg]

"--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 "You leave your gun loaded at home.....baddddd mistake!"


You've got to be kidding... A flintlock with the vent pluged and  a hammerstall over the fizzen, locked away in a closet which is in a room that is also locked, in a house that has no childern is about as dangerous as a goldish in a bowl of water... baddddd mistake...good lord! that is about the most ridiculous response I have ever heard. silllllly response!

[chapmans]

When I load my rifle for hunting I run a dry patch to soak up any oil left in the bore, then with the patch on the jag pushed all the way down against the breech plug I fire 3 or 4 caps, the patch will catch any oil the blast pushes out of the drum, I then put a clean patch on and fire 1 more cap, pull the patch out and examine it for any oil ,if it is only burned a little with no oil residue I load the rifle, if there is signs of any oil on the patch I continue to snap caps until the breech is dry, then you are sure the drum and breech area are dry. If I don't fire my rifle while hunting I remove the cap and fold a clean and dry cleaning patch and let the hammer down on it and the nipple. I never bring the gun into the warm house, I leave it in the garage or locked in my truck. Another thing I do is, if I haven't hunted for a week or so I will take the cleanout screw out of the drum and dig out some of the powder and replace it with some ffffg priming powder. The only misfire my son or I have had is when a cap failed, when a new cap was put on the gun fired, this only happened one time in over 35yrs of hunting.
    One thing about this procedure is you must make sure the gun is EMPTY I knew one fellow that forgot his gun was loaded from the year before and he shot out his ramrod, it was never to be seen again.
 Steve C 
  I just noticed this thread was for flintlocks, I have only squirrel hunted with a flint but that will change this fall ,I have a fullstock .50 with a Douglas barrel and a Haddaway lock that I hope to make meat with!!  

[northmn]

I mentioned flintlocks because that is what I hunt with, didn't mean to sound exclusive.  Hope you enjoy your hunt.  If I miss the "buck of a lifetime" because of a hangfire or misfire I can live with it.  After about 40 years of deer hunting I have been there done that anyway.  They get big as much because they are lucky as anything.  You hunt with a muzzle loader or stick bow and any deer is a trophy.  One buck I shot was white up to his eye lids.  About as tough as boiled owl.

DP

[longcruise]

I do the exact same as Dan does with the alcohol.  When checking my zero before the hunt I use alcohol swabs after a wet patch to try to simulate the same bore condition of the first hunting shot.

I leave the gun outside protected from rain or inside a vehicle if available and never case it.

Even after being loaded for weeks they go off and shoot to poi

[Dphariss]

You leave your gun loaded at home.....baddddd mistake! Always shoot out the ball so a accident does not happen. 

I raised 2 kids with loaded guns in the house at all times.
As soon as they were old enough I taught gun safety. Never had a problem. They never accept or pick up a firearm without clearing it or otherwise checking its status. They are both in the 20s now and have their own guns at home, no kids yet. Both have shot deer and KNOW what guns do to bodys as a result.
The PROBLEM is NOT teaching people properly as soon as they are strong enough to handle a firearm. Hiding guns from kids and otherwise exciting their curiosity without TRAINING them in their proper use and basic firearms safety.

If I shoot out the ball before going home I would use 15-20 times the powder and lead (not to mention all the cleaning) I use over the course of a hunting season since I hunt a LOT and don't have a "job". Then there is shooting the gun empty then deciding to try one more spot on the way home or seeing something...
If loaded I leave a ML (mine are all flint) in a cover. This is my "the gun is loaded" marker for MLs.
Percussion guns are a different matter since it is very difficult to be sure they will not fire even if the cap is removed once they have been capped.
This is a choice everyone has to make. But given the number of criminals and druggies loose in the country being unarmed in your house or elsewhere transfroms the individual from a sheepdog who can confront the wolf to a sheep who gets eaten...
I am seldom unarmed outside gov't buildings, banks or airports. I ain't a sheep.

Dan

[longcruise]

Percussion guns are a different matter since it is very difficult to be sure they will not fire even if the cap is removed once they have been capped.

That's a point well brought up Dan.  I have seen the priming come out of the cap cup and stay stuck across the nipple hole.

The other thing I do is to place a rubber automotive vacuum hose sealer over the nipple while it is stored overnight or between hunts.  They are available in various sizes at the parts store.  The are also handy to plug the nipple and fill the barrel with water to soak a bit before cleaning.