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Sludge...

wooly

By wooly,
in Muzzleloaders

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wooly Newbie

wooly

Posted
Posted

Today I decided to finally admit I wont be doing any more yote hunting this year.

Time to polish up the ol' smokepole, and get it stuffed away for another off-season.

 

So, I cracked it open and pulled the breech plug instead of firing off the last round loaded back in January. (I know it's still on)

I waited for my pellets to drop out, but they didn't...

I gave the end of the barrel a thump, but still nothing...

I rapped the holy hell out of the business end of the barrel and STILL nothing...!!!

 

I assembled my 3 cleaning rods and attached a jag and decided to push the load through.

I hit a wall... oh shaieeet!!!!

 

Popped the end of the rod with the palm of my hand a few times before it finally gave.

100 gr. of Pyrodex pellets came ooooooozing out like the melting end of an upside down burning candle!

 

I panicked and completely forgot to grab the camera before I started dumping everything but the kitchen sink down the barrel.

I couldn't get it out fast enough even though I was so content to leave it in there so long since this has NEVER happened to me before.

 

.....my mistake.

I have an old Hawken 50cal. standing in the corner that 2 - 14" Ridged pipe wrenches wont crack the breech plug loose from.... to this day, it's still loaded for probably 10 years now at least.

One of these days I'll turn it into a lamp,lol

 

Besides that, I never thought this could happen to me.

 

All you guys that don't shoot ML's are missing out on all the fun and uncertainty that comes with loading your gun from the wrong end year after year.. week after week..., hunt after hunt.....! :rolleyes:

 

That was a damn close call, but I think I caught it just in time.

 

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nyslowhand Enthusiast

nyslowhand

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What you went through is my worst nightmare! Probably why I'm OCD about discharging &/or reloading after hunting with my ML in any wet or high humidity conditions like snow, rain, fog, etc. Rather throw away any questionable powder/pellets than to have a potential encounter end with only the pop of the primer after sitting for hours/days waiting for it to occur. Keep your powder dry! If the O-rings on your breech plug are in good condition, lightly grease the threads and you devise a way to keep moisture out of the business end (ie; balloon), you can minimize any moisture getting near the powder/pellets.

 

As scary as it might have been seeing the dissolved pellets dripping out of your ML, they probably wouldn't have gone off w/o a spark (primer) or possibly not at all. Modern BP doesn't get unstable, super potent or overly explosive from aging, deterioration or introducing moisture. It simply loses its' max effectiveness &/or explosive properties.

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wooly Newbie

wooly

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Yup, I wasn't worried about it igniting it was that wet.

I don't know at what point the pellets start to corrode the inside of the barrel, but I do know that this is one of the steps in the process. This was the first year I actually put a latex lid on the end of my barrel while hunting since I'd hang my ML on a hook beside me with the barrel pointed up. I have to wonder if it did more harm than good by trapping condensation in there as it repeatedly warmed and cooled between hunts. Like I said, it's never been a problem in the past.

 

I think I'm done experimenting with new ideas in that regard. I'll keep the end of the barrel pointed down and not worry about covering it any more.

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wildcat junkie Contributor

wildcat junkie

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Pyrodex is much more hygroscopic and corrosive than real Black Powder. Before Green Mountain Rifle Barrel Company sold out to Knight, they did not recommend Pyrodex unless Back Powder was not available. I had a friend that destroyed a Rugar Old Army when Pyrodex ate out the threads around the S/S nipples due to less than diligent cleaning..

 

Unless I had fired it or gotten caught in a downpour, I would carry my Flintlock loaded for an entire season, leaving it in a concealed gun rack behind the seat of my truck to prevent condensation. It would always fire correctly when I dropped the rock.

 

The idea that your load would shift when the muzzle was bumped is frightening. That is the way you check to see that your load is sufficiently light. If the load shifts when the muzzle is bumped it isn't safe. I quit using lead conical bullets for that very reason.

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sbuff Experienced

sbuff

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Because blackHorn 209 is the only non-corrosive muzzleloading powder. It's non-hygroscopic, meaning changes in the temperature or humidity will not affects its performance ,plus you can shoot 20 plus times with out swabbing the barrel.

Steve

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wildcat junkie Contributor

wildcat junkie

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What black powder are you using that you can get 20 plus shots with out swabbing the barrel.

Steve

Dupont AKA GOEX..

 

Back in the 1980-90s I shot competition. I used uo ob=ver 260# of lead casting my own round balls in one summer.

 

When shooting on the line I would use either spit or "Moose Milk" as a patch lube. I would shoot about 40 round before build up on the p]breech face would have my ramrod showing 1/4" of build up on the breech plug face. I would then clean between the next relays W/a breech face scraper.

 

Spit works just fine if you are going to shoot the round in short order. It doesn't hurt that my barrel has a 1 in 70" twist W/.015" deep rifling.

 

My challenge still holds. I'll compete against any modern  ML shooting off-hand W/my .54 round ball rifle @ a 9" gong 100yds distance. Loading from the pouch.

 

Start W/an empty weapon that is ready to load. When the 1st contestant gets 10 hits, the contest ends.

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wildcat junkie Contributor

wildcat junkie

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Just did a .little research on BH209 Vs black powder.

 

10oz of BH209 is $34.59, GOEX ffg is $16.99 a pound.

 

BH209 = $3.46 an oz, GOEX ffg = $1.06 an oz. BH209 costs more than 3x as much.

 

Now factor in the cost of casting your own round balls vs expensive, inferior (@ ML velocities) conical bullets & it costs maybe 10X as much to shot "modern" muzzle loaders than traditional.  Which guy is going to be deadlier W/his weapon?

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sbuff Experienced

sbuff

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I highly disagree because one can cast lead conicals not just round balls. Bh209 might cost a bit more but it's worth it. It seems we are talking different muzzloaders, I encourage you to try to get 40 shots out of a modern inline with goex.

I forgot how great a shooter you are, have you tried your marksmanship at friendship?

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wildcat junkie Contributor

wildcat junkie

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I highly disagree because one can cast lead conicals not just round balls. Bh209 might cost a bit more but it's worth it. It seems we are talking different muzzloaders, I encourage you to try to get 40 shots out of a modern inline with goex.

I forgot how great a shooter you are, have you tried your marksmanship at friendship?

Why in the hell would I even want to shoot a modern inline when I have a.54 caliber round ball rifle that will shoot 2" @ 100yds off a rest & kill a deer as far as anyone would ethically shoot W/iron sights? And conicals are seldom as accurate as a patched round ball.

 

I learned how to care & feed a traditional muzzle loader more than 30 years ago. I doubt that there are many on this forum that ever had the chance to shoot a good round ball rifle in a caliber suitable for big gamer W/a barrel that had the proper rifling. Thomson Centers Hawken & Renegades were mediocre at best. The only decent ones were the CVA Big Bore .54 & .58 Mountain Rifles & they never got the publicity that the TC did.

 

This whole inline stuff is a marketing ploy to sell black powder substitutes by Bass Pro shops & their ilk. With black powder you don't need all the "modern" stuff. 

 

It is harder to ignite & therefore it less reliable. Go to a big ML shoot & see how many use substitutes in competition. 

 

As far as Friendship, I lived in Southern Indiana for 22 years not to awful far from Freindship. In the spring & summer one could shoot in competition almost every weekend. We shot for powder, patches, meat, etc. No trophies or medals. Flintlocks didn't get any special consideration yet they were more often than not the winners against percussion guns. I went to Friendship once & shot ML trap. The crowds were just too big for my liking. There was bumper to bumper traffic for miles.

 

For the better part of that 22 years I lived in S Indiana I hunted exclusively W/muzzle loaders. I had 3 different squirrel rifle finally building my self a .36 cal Flintlock Tennessee rifle. I have two 12ga dbl barrel muzzleloaders that I hunted Cottontails with probably taking over 100 W/my dogs using them. I've taken pheasant & squirrels W/the shotguns too. I've taken a few dozen deer W/the .54s.

 

I would burn up over a pound of powder a week shooting 100rds of ML sheet during the summer when I could afford it. We bought 10# lots of BP for $45 in those days.

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Jaeger Newbie

Jaeger

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Posted

Had a similar experience decades ago with a CVA mountain rifle and pyrodex.

 

Was hunting the shotgun/muzzleloader January hunt down on Long Island out on Hither Hills.  Was out all day in the on/off rain with about a hundred other guys, no chances to shoot.

 

At the end of the hunt, I tried to pull the bullet with a puller, got it out and when I turned the gun upside down, Sludge oozed out the end of the barrel, even the primer had got wet from the inside!!  Good thing I didn't see anything.

 

Now I use some sort of muzzle protector, mitt, tape, etc. even with in lines.

 

Lessons learned.

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wooly Newbie

wooly

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Wooly ---- Did you get it cleaned out and try to fire it as a test ? 

 

I got it cleaned up good and put away for another summer.

I'm confident it cleaned up nicely and will suffer no ill effects.

I'll send one or two down range as usual before season starts to confirm all is still well.

 

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fasteddie Grand Master

fasteddie

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I love shooting an in-line ...... a big boom , puff of smoke and then looking through the cloud of smoke to see what you hit .  Before they allowed rifles , I used to take my 12 ga pump out opening day and I would take the ML the rest of the season just because it is so much fun to shoot . 

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wildcat junkie Contributor

wildcat junkie

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I love shooting an in-line ...... a big boom , puff of smoke and then looking through the cloud of smoke to see what you hit .  Before they allowed rifles , I used to take my 12 ga pump out opening day and I would take the ML the rest of the season just because it is so much fun to shoot . 

You should try ML skeet. The doubles on stations 1 & 7 come out of the cloud of smoke & they are right on top of you before you can see them..

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