Muzzleloaders and Wet Weather

[Northcountryman]

Hey Guys;

 

So how much does wet weather compromise the Muzzleloaders ability to fire anyway? I mean, as long as I have my finger guard condom over the end, Im good to go, right? Or is there still some leakage/absorption expected that can ruin my white hots? 

Thanks 

[mowin]

20 minutes ago, Northcountryman said:

Hey Guys;

 

So how much does wet weather compromise the Muzzleloaders ability to fire anyway? I mean, as long as I have my finger guard condom over the end, Im good to go, right? Or is there still some leakage/absorption expected that can ruin my white hots? 

Thanks 

That's all I do.  So far, so good. 

[wolc123]

To prevent condensation issues, I would recommend leaving your ML outside in an unheated area, maybe locked in your garage or barn.  Lots of hot/cold cycling is asking for problems.  
 

I leave mine out in my unheated pole barn and transport it in the unheated bed of my truck under the fiberglass cap.  I can lock it up in both of those spots.  I loaded on the first day of the earlier ML season, and I am confident it will fire on New Year’s Day. That process worked perfect for me on our first Holiday season two years ago.  New Year’s Day hunt, 2022:

As far as the finger condom goes, don’t take it off until you shoot it off.  I learned that lesson the hard way last year.  It works for snow also.  I hunted the Christmas blizzard of 22 without it, and snow got into my muzzle.  That melted inside the barrel and dampened my powder charge, saving the life of a big doe on December 26.  

Edited December 28, 2023 by wolc123

[airedale]

The rubber finger cots do a good job, have never had a problem myself in damp or snowy weather but to be perfectly honest I have never hunted with any of my muzzleloaders in a downpour.

Al

[Grouse]

I you use a cap lock ML like a Hawken, you need to keep the primer dry as well.  Same goes for a flint lock, which is even harder to do.

[Northcountryman]

12 hours ago, wolc123 said:

To prevent condensation issues, I would recommend leaving your ML outside in an unheated area, maybe locked in your garage or barn.  Lots of hot/cold cycling is asking for problems.  
 

I leave mine out in my unheated pole barn and transport it in the unheated bed of my truck under the fiberglass cap.  I can lock it up in both of those spots.  I loaded on the first day of the earlier ML season, and I am confident it will fire on New Year’s Day. That process worked perfect for me on our first Holiday season two years ago.  New Year’s Day hunt, 2022:

As far as the finger condom goes, don’t take it off until you shoot it off.  I learned that lesson the hard way last year.  It works for snow also.  I hunted the Christmas blizzard of 22 without it, and snow got into my muzzle.  That melted inside the barrel and dampened my powder charge, saving the life of a big doe on December 26.  

Shit; I knew that but got careless and left it in the house over the holidays! Should I change out the white hots now ?

[Northcountryman]

1 hour ago, airedale said:

The rubber finger cots do a good job, have never had a problem myself in damp or snowy weather but to be perfectly honest I have never hunted with any of my muzzleloaders in a downpour.

Al

Me either; I was thinking that, in a a steady rain, you might have issues from the powder getting damp, but idk.

[landtracdeerhunter]

I unload on wet afternoons, like yesterday.  Clean the barrel and gun, reloading for the next hunt on my way out. The money spent on a few sabots and powder don't warrant losing a shot at a keeper.

[Shoots100]

My inline smoke poles have breech plugs, so I remove the pellets when not in use or as Wolc said, leave them out in the environment so the metal has less of a chance to condensate.

Gave up using flintlocks and cap smoke poles for the FTF issues.

 

SJC

  

[wolc123]

Depends, do you feel lucky ?   If you have a removable breech plug, I would recommend removing that and pushing them out.  You can save them for later use on the target range.  For hunting, I would prefer to know that my powder charge has not been compromised, with any moisture.   

Edited December 28, 2023 by wolc123

[wolc123]

28 minutes ago, Northcountryman said:

Shit; I knew that but got careless and left it in the house over the holidays! Should I change out the white hots now ?

See prior post

Edited December 28, 2023 by wolc123

[wolc123]

12 minutes ago, landtracdeerhunter said:

I unload on wet afternoons, like yesterday.  Clean the barrel and gun, reloading for the next hunt on my way out. The money spent on a few sabots and powder don't warrant losing a shot at a keeper.

Last Holiday season, wet powder cost me a doe.  My neighbor was out hunting the same blizzard that morning and it cost him the biggest buck he ever saw on New Year’s Day.  He still brings that up almost every time I see him.  

[landtracdeerhunter]

Years back, wet pellets taught me a real lesson on a keeper in a freezing rain event. That's the breaks one takes muzzle loading hunting.  It's not as fun telling the story, with the story not hanging on the wall.

[Hock3y24]

After last evenings wet hunt I pulled my breech plug and emptied the gun. Ran a few dry patches and reloaded this am with fresh pellets, saved old ones for range. Can the sabots be reused? Or should I keep those for range too.

Edited December 29, 2023 by Hock3y24

[wolc123]

2 hours ago, Hock3y24 said:

After last evenings wet hunt I pulled my breech plug and emptied the gun. Ran a few dry patches and reloaded this am with fresh pellets, saved old ones for range. Can the sabots be reused? Or should I keep those for range too.

No problem reusing the sabots and bullets that you pushed thru.  The ramrod doesn’t hurt them like the powder charge does when it goes off.

[Northcountryman]

I noticed that a couple of my old 50cal bullets are missing the little plastic green tip at the end of the bullet; can I still use them? 

[wolc123]

9 minutes ago, Northcountryman said:

I noticed that a couple of my old 50cal bullets are missing the little plastic green tip at the end of the bullet; can I still use them? 

I’d save those for the range. 

[Daveboone]

I just keep the muzzle pointed down. If it isnt actively raining, I dont worry too much with my caplock. If it is raining...I wont be wandering, most likely will be in a covered stand. I change caps somewhat frequently. With reasonable care, I have never had a misfire. I leave my rifle on an unheated covered porch to avoid condensation, but thoroughly wipe it down when I return to camp. The charge itself is sealed in pretty tight, it is just a point of keeping excess water out of the barrel and keeping the nipple dry. 

With my flintlock...well, different story. I have a "Cows Knee", cover that goes over the lock if weather is wet. I frequently brush out the priming charge and replace it, and keep a small feather in the touch hole to keep moisture out, until I fire. I will not wander/still hunt with the flinter in the rain, but absolutely still hunt, most likely from a stand. And screw pyrodex/etc. the synthetics are much more unreliable and inconsistent with firing with a flinter....strictly black powder. 

[wildcat junkie]

On 12/27/2023 at 6:01 PM, Northcountryman said:

Hey Guys;

 

So how much does wet weather compromise the Muzzleloaders ability to fire anyway? I mean, as long as I have my finger guard condom over the end, Im good to go, right? Or is there still some leakage/absorption expected that can ruin my white hots? 

Thanks 

Unless I was hunting in a frog strangling rain, I used my flintlock and only once did I have  problems when the priming powder in the pan looked like grease.

Of course I never fell for the "substitute" propaganda and only used real black powder with a tightly patched round ball.

 

In fact, unless I encountered heavy rain that got the pan wet during my hunts, I would even leave my weapon loaded behind the seat of my pickup for the entire season. Avoiding condensation resulting from rapidly changing temperatures encountered when taking the weapon in and out of a heated structure (and using genuine black powder) was key to dependable ignition..

Edited January 19 by wildcat junkie

[Northcountryman]

Yeah, but would you expect the same result if using white hots ?