Flintlock powder fouling from temp changes?

[dispatch55126]

I'll be using a flintlock Kentucky this year as I'm letting a first time hunter use my percussion cap Hawkens.

Are there any special precautions I need to take when going from warm to cold and cold to warm environments?

Going from warm to cold shouldn't attract any moisture into my pan but I'm concerned that going from sub-freezing into a warm environment will cause the metal to "sweat" fouling the powder.

I could just unload and clean it whenever I bring it inside but I'm still curious.

Thanks.

 

[BCRider]

Um, flintlock virgin here so excuse the perhaps safety issue if it's not an issue....

If there's powder in the pan doesn't that imply that the hammer is locked back for firing? If so and you're coming in for a break isn't it normal safety practice to unload and make safe by emptying the pan and lowering the hammer so it can't fire by accident?

Or if it's kosher to leave it on a half cock as a "safety" then why not just wrap the action area in a few wraps of a towel so it slows down the warming up period and thus avoids condensation forming. Photograpers coming in from the serious cold were advised to leave their gear in the zipped up bag and wait for a couple of hours for it to warm slowly so that the cameras would not get a sudden bloom of condensation from the exposure to the warm and moist indoor air.

 

[Voodoochile]

Try this one, that I wrote just for keeping our smoke poles loaded during the hunting season.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showpost.php?p=5826242&postcount=28

 

[4v50 Gary]

If you're in the woods, leave the gun outside the cabin?

 

[SammyIamToday]

I leave the rifle outside the house and hung up during the day if I go back inside. Then I "unload" at the end of the day and clean. Granted, I've only had one muzzle-loading season so far, but it seemed to work well.

 

[Chawbaccer]

With a flintlock, dump the pan and push a tooth pick or something in the vent, be carefull not to break it off. When resuming the hunt, pull plug, fill vent with priming powder and wipe and fill the pan.