How long to trust a loaded muzzleloader?

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Are you using hot soapy water? Many muzzleloader manufacturers recommend something like dawn dish washing soap and I get my barrel so hot it's hard to hold on with bare hands. If you arn't satisfied with that you can always wash it down with some isopropyl alcohol, however, alcohol type washes will remove all the seasoning out of your barrel, like in bore butter, etc.
 
Thomasss said:
Are you using hot soapy water? Many muzzleloader manufacturers recommend something like dawn dish washing soap and I get my barrel so hot it's hard to hold on with bare hands. If you arn't satisfied with that you can always wash it down with some isopropyl alcohol, however, alcohol type washes will remove all the seasoning out of your barrel, like in bore butter, etc.
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Seasoning a barrel is a marketing scheme. You can't season steel.
 
Gotta disagree with ya Hawg, one can "season " cast iron cookware by cooking it at low temperature with a coating of olive oil, kinda glazes the surface, no reason you couldn't do it to a muzzleloaders barrel.
 
Jackrabbit1957 said:
Gotta disagree with ya Hawg, one can "season " cast iron cookware by cooking it at low temperature with a coating of olive oil, kinda glazes the surface, no reason you couldn't do it to a muzzleloaders barrel.
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It's not a glaze. It's a layer of hard carbon. If you could do it to a rifle barrel you wouldn't want to. I season my cast iron with canola oil at 425 degrees for four hours and then repeat three or four times.
 
Sorry Hawg, just not interested, shows one way of doing something, not necessarily the only way or the best. My wife was shown how to season pans by my Grandmother and her ways works, keep in mind that this not burning something onto the metal but making a coating to fill the pores. Your article states that it's a Polymerization process which makes sense so why not in a muzzleloaders bore? I will agree that bore butter most likely won't do it without some heat involved, maybe someone else can weigh in on it with some real proof.
 
Jackrabbit1957 said:
Sorry Hawg, just not interested, shows one way of doing something, not necessarily the only way or the best. My wife was shown how to season pans by my Grandmother and her ways works, keep in mind that this not burning something onto the metal but making a coating to fill the pores. Your article states that it's a Polymerization process which makes sense so why not in a muzzleloaders bore? I will agree that bore butter most likely won't do it without some heat involved, maybe someone else can weigh in on it with some real proof.
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barrel steel really doesn't have pores. First of all they're microscopic compared to cast iron and going through the steel and barrel making process they're hammered closed. But think what you want to.
 
Got an update.

I shot the gun in question today. Rested on my tracker roof, 25y. No prep, gun fired without any issue. No hang fire. It hit maybe 2” low. So maybe some low velocity or maybe I flinched.

I shot a few more at 50y and figure I’ll hunt with it. I guess I’ll have to clean the nipple cause the last shot hangfired. Season is a week long, so I figure I’ll clean it afterwards.
 
Bazoo said:
I’m hunting in the back 40, it doesn’t cost me anything. No license or tags for land owner.

long as the deer drops between where it was hit and the fence line, it’s considered ethical to me.

My question is, will the charge work like it should or will I get a hangfire or misfire. I’m not a muzzleloading enthusiast so I really want to know if the gun is still ready after 2 years.
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No. I wouldn’t trust it as you describe it.
 
I will not take a loaded muzzleloader home after hunting even if I plan to hunt again soon. Too much stuff could happen to change my plans: car wreck, illness, family emergencies, etc. I shoot it, clean it when I get home, recharge when I go out again.

Shooting 10-15 shots without cleaning? It is to laugh!

Clean more frequently, which will take less time and effort. Swab the bore with something for storage, wipe it out before loading for the next hunt. It ain’t rocket surgery.
 
Why don’t you just use real Black Powder I used Pyrodex for years went back to real black.All the more you shoot a pound would last years
 
wild willy said:
Why don’t you just use real Black Powder I used Pyrodex for years went back to real black.All the more you shoot a pound would last years
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I used Pyrodex for a while, no complaints, but I could always get (cheap) BP in any Sporting goods store, or General store so I just got into the habit of always using it. I did buy into many of the myths (?) about Pryro before I met the Hawg. Now that I've met Swiss, there just would not be any reason to switch, and it's still not as difficult to obtain as many people say.
 
We don’t use Black because my buddy buys pyrodex out of convenience. Black isn’t available commonly here. I know of only one place it’s available.

So what can I use to lube the bore and small bits with that is better than the vegetable oil we used 3 years ago? I don’t have the extra cash to buy anything at present. I need to use what I already have. I have nothing specifically for BP firearms but I have remoil and other normal gun cleaning solvents.
 
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