How do you unload your muzzleloader when your done hunting for the year?

[Aim1]

So you're done hunting and you didn't shoot your muzzleloader how do you unload it? I used to fire it and then clean it when I used Powerbelts and Triple Se7ven pellets. I am now shooting Blackhorn 209 powder (not pellets) and Federal Copper BOR Lock bullets.

Can I open the breech plug, drain the powder, push the bullet out and re-use both?

Or can I not do that since the powder could have gotten moisture in at and returning the powder to the original can with the rest of the powder would contaminate it. And the bullet could also be deformed by pushing it out of the breech, right? If the bullet is ok can I discard the powder and reuse the bullet?


How do you unload your muzzleloader when your done hunting for the year?


Update:

After seeing some of the responses in another post: could I leave the gun loaded all off-season, then put a primer on it and shoot it for sighting in next year when I sight in?

 

[Duster340]

I use to keep it loaded, removed cap and left it the trunk or on the porch. I was taught the bringing a cold gun into a warm cabin might cause condensation and possibly moisture in powder. Not sure it is the case, but figured it seemed logical.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I think he means when you're done for the season.

I just shoot it. But I'm lazy so............

 

[milemaker13]

If there is a reason you can't fire it, then I would say yes, push or pull it out. I would not reuse the components for a critical application, such as hunting , due to possible malfunction or lower accuracy. But if the components looked ok I might reuse them at the range.

*** I shoot lead round balls so pulling from my traditional ML is the only way to unload aside from firing. Modern ML with removable breech plug maybe pushing out is a better option, especially considering copper saboted projectiles.

 

[Gemmer]

Point it in a safe direction and pull the trigger.

 

[LaneP]

I always shoot them to unload them.

 

[Fyrstyk]

I only shoot traditional muzzle loaders with patched round ball. At the end of the season, I just use my compressor with a fitting I had made that fits the nipple and blow out the load, or I could use one of the C02 dischargers,I then run a alcohol soaked patch thru the bore, let it dry, then lube the bore with Barricade. good to go till I go to the range with the gun.

 

[AJumbo]

Fire into an adequate backstop. Clean and oil.

 

[firedawg60]

Boom!

 

[mcb]

I usually shoot it that last day of muzzle loader season I hunt but I have waited until sight in the next year once or twice. I am always impressed when I put a cap back on it after sitting 6+ months in the gun cabinet and it still goes bang.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I have a stump in the woods where I hunt, but I unload at the end of the day. I have a mark on said stump, and I get about 25 yards away and fire at that mark. After two or three years, having been unloading after each day's hunt..., in the Spring when it warms up I bust into the stump and remove the lead. Then I melt it and cast it back into muzzle loader bullets. I'm on my third stump on one particular property.

LD

 

[J-Bar]

Several years ago at sunset on the last day of the season, I aimed my Hawken at the ground about 10 yards away and pulled the trigger to clear it.

Click.

Cap was still on the nipple so I cocked the hammer and pulled the trigger again.

Click.

It was discouraging to realize after a full day of hunting that even if I had seen a deer I could not have made the shot.

I replaced the cap and it went bang on the third try. The bad cap appeared ok on the inside although a bit mashed. It just wasn’t my day.

Enough stuff goes wrong without trying to save a few cents on a year old charge. Clear it, clean it and begin with fresh luck next year.

 

[Duster340]

Oh, I misunderstood the OP. At the end of the season I empty mine into a mud bank or dead tree.

 

[Jimster]

Choote!

 

[earlthegoat2]

This thread has reminded me that I have never actually needed to “artificially” unload any muzzleloader. Every time I have loaded it, I either have been shooting at a target or a game animal to unload it. Never loaded it again until the next season and repeated that process.

If I had to though then I would just shoot it.

 

[Aim1]

I usually shoot it that last day of muzzle loader season I hunt but I have waited until sight in the next year once or twice. I am always impressed when I put a cap back on it after sitting 6+ months in the gun cabinet and it still goes bang.

What type of powder are you using?

 

[mcb]

What type of powder are you using?

Goex FFg

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

Ideally when I am done hunting for the year, my muzzle loader has just been fired.
I have never worried about saving one bullet and a little powder.

 

[climbnjump]

How do you unload your muzzleloader when your done hunting for the year?

Well, DURING the season, I've been known to remove the breach plug, dump the powder and save the bullet. But AFTER the season (if it wasn't "unloaded" on a deer), I always shoot into a tree. Sort of an end-of-season celebration.

 

[woodnbow]

Shoot it. The components aren’t precious metals and rare earth... shooting the rifle every chance you get is a good practice. That way when you fire it at a living target, everything that follows, good or bad, isn’t a complete surprise.

One poster above noted that his rifle wouldn’t have fired if he’d seen a deer in range. It’s always good to learn these things in practice.

BTW, when does your season end?

 

[alsaqr]

Point it in a safe direction and pull the trigger.

Works for me.

 

[Steve Traxler]

I always shoot mine. I’m using traditional lead balls so they are really cheap.

 

[damoc]

Goex FFg

Just shoot it out but if you needed to hold it real BP keeps very well.

 

[CraigC]

Unless the bore is already dirty, I don't.