Unloading muzzle loader ???

Camp Cook

Camp Cook

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I'm new to hunting with a muzzle loader I have a load worked up for my T/C Contender Gonic 50 cal mag muzzle loader barrel and I'm ready to give a try hunting for the first time then I started thinking I can load the powder/bullet and transport without a primer in place, I can hike/hunt all day with it loaded and with a primer in place but how do I put it away at the end of the day?

Do I have to fire off the load and waste the bullet or is it ok to leave it in the barrel till the next time I head out or what do you guys do/recommend?

I am loading with Triple 7 powder.

Thanks for your thoughts.
 
Unless I am mistaken, the rules are interpreted to mean that you can drive between hunting spots on logging roads / gravel roads with the barrel loaded but no cap, but once you go onto paved road there can be no charge in the barrel. If you chose to pull the charge from the muzzle, you would almost certainly deform the bullet to the point of inaccuracy. Conceivably you could buy or make a pneumatic discharger which would screw into the back of the barrel (after removing the nipple) but the simplest method would be to simply shoot the charge out

cheers mooncoon
 
Thanks thats what I was thinking.

At issue is I have a very limited number of specialty Gonic slugs that are no longer made and I do not have enough to waste shooting into a stump at the end of each day which is why I asked this question I was really hoping there is a trick to save the slug.
 
Pretty much anywhere you can get a good selection of muzzle loading rifle supplies, you can find a CO2 ball remover.

Another possible source, would be to look for a CO2 tire inflator at a bike shop. Look for one that uses 12 gram cartridges, rather than the harder to find 8 gram units. The 12 gram ones can be got at CTire or any other hardware store or sporting goods outfit. 8 gram carts, if you end up looking for them, are sold by Sears in their cooking supplies as Soda Charger Cartridges, also used for whipped cream dispensers.

In any case, you would simply have to set up a means to get an airtight seal against the nipple, and apply pressure while the muzzle is pointed in a safe direction. As you wish to save the ball, perhaps cloth bag over the muzzle...

It occurs to me, that there is a possibility that you could simply remove the breech plug, and push the charge out that way.

Cheers
Trev
 
It occurs to me, that there is a possibility that you could simply remove the breech plug, and push the charge out that way.
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Ecellent that is what I am looking for I can definately do that.

So simple I should have figured it out myself.

Thanks.
 
Unless the laws are different in BC...just leave it loaded without the cap on it. I have left my TC loaded for weeks, and she still went bang at the end of the season.
 
I actually just emptied my Flinter today as I wanted to give it a good cleaning...been packing that ball and charge around for two weeks now.
It went bang just fine...as always :cool:

I took this from the BC regs...
A muzzle loader containing powder and shot in the barrel but
unprimed (ie, no powder in the pan of a flint lock or no cap in the
nipple of a percussion lock) is not considered a loaded firearm under
the Criminal Code (Canada).
Click to expand...
The Firearms act only says that nonrestricted firearms must be "unloaded" during transportation ;)
 
Technically, at least in Sasktachewan, the muzzleloader is only considered loaded when there is a charge present in teh barrel AND there is a cap in the ignition system. Un capped is unloaded. I routinely leave mine with a charge in it over a couple of weeks.
 
Thanks I like the idea of leaving it loaded like that = even better than pulling it apart each time and I definitely have no issues with leaving it loaded for a few weeks.

I've not been hunting with it on my hunts because I didn't want to mess around with discharging or trying to empty it.
 
I put a sticky note on mine that says loaded so I don't forget between hunting days and leave it loaded with no cap in place
 
but once you go onto paved road there can be no charge in the barrel.
Click to expand...


I do not see how pavement has anything to do with it? Is this just a guess or is there some actual precedent? Not many places out there that you can travel afew kms from one hunting spot to another and not hit some tarmack.
 
I put a sticky note on mine that says loaded
Click to expand...

Maybe change "loaded" (which it is not cause there is no cap) to "charged" " ball place" or something else that does not say "loaded", hard to argue after the fact that you were not storing a loaded firearm when the note is in your hand writing LOL. I know you are totally in the right and that thousands and 10s of thousands of smoke poles are legally stored with a ball in place, pretty sure a rookie mountie from dartmouth will get pretty focused on the "loaded" part though.
 
beefman said:
Unless the laws are different in BC...just leave it loaded without the cap on it. I have left my TC loaded for weeks, and she still went bang at the end of the season.
Click to expand...

You have to separate what the game regulations say from what the criminal code and firearms act says. In BC, it is the game regulations that allow you to transport a gun with a charge in the barrel but not primer or with the flint lock removed. Once you return to paved roads, you fall under federal law and I believe they define the gun as loaded.

While we might say, it will never go off etc, a gunsmith friend of mine a few years ago was asked to work on an antique double shotgun. He asked the owner "was it loaded ?" Definitely not was the answer, he had shot it off before putting it away 6 months ago. Gunsmith checked one barrel and it was definitely empty, so he didn't bother with the second barrel. Began heating the breach with a torch to remove either the plugs or the nipples (can't remember) then spray WD 40 on to cool . On about the fourth cycle ---- kablooey and the barrel he didn't check was now no longer loaded

cheers mooncoon
 
I have heard of flintlocks firing without any powder in the pan, the sparks from the flint strike being enough to ignite the small amount of powder poking through the vent liner hole. Just be aware of that if you leave it loaded.
 
41 Colt said:
I have heard of flintlocks firing without any powder in the pan, the sparks from the flint strike being enough to ignite the small amount of powder poking through the vent liner hole. Just be aware of that if you leave it loaded.
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A very good point......yes Flinters can go off without a prime charge in the pan, one little spark from the flint could enter the flash hole and well........Boom !

I use a piece of leather between the flint and frizzen face, with the hammer down at half #### it pinches it in place. You can buy leather premade "frizzen" covers that slip on as well.
Just some extra insurance the flint isn't gonna get bumped into the frizzen (hammer, if your old school) when I place it in the case for transport and there happens to be a "charge" in the bore ;)
 
mooncoon said:
Unless I am mistaken, the rules are interpreted to mean that you can drive between hunting spots on logging roads / gravel roads with the barrel loaded but no cap, but once you go onto paved road there can be no charge in the barrel. If you chose to pull the charge from the muzzle, you would almost certainly deform the bullet to the point of inaccuracy. Conceivably you could buy or make a pneumatic discharger which would screw into the back of the barrel (after removing the nipple) but the simplest method would be to simply shoot the charge out

cheers mooncoon
Click to expand...

First I've heard of that. When did that change take place ? My rules still say not capped , not loaded.

Definition :
“unloaded”, in respect of a firearm, means that any propellant, projectile or cartridge that can be discharged from the firearm is not contained in the breech or firing chamber of the firearm nor in the cartridge magazine attached to or inserted into the firearm. "

10. (1) An individual may transport a non-restricted firearm only if
(a) except in the case of a muzzle-loading firearm that is being transported between hunting sites, it is unloaded; and
(b) in the case of a muzzle-loading firearm that is being transported between hunting sites, its firing cap or flint is removed.
 
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tonyg said:
“unloaded”, in respect of a firearm, means that any propellant, projectile or cartridge that can be discharged from the firearm is not contained in the breech or firing chamber of the firearm nor in the cartridge magazine attached to or inserted into the firearm. "

10. (1) An individual may transport a non-restricted firearm only if

(b) in the case of a muzzle-loading firearm that is being transported between hunting sites, its firing cap or flint is removed.
Click to expand...

I am not sure just what your point is. You seem to be quoting the firearms act and as I read what you quoted, a muzzle loader with a charge in the barrel would be considered loaded unless you are transporting between hunting sites. That is different from transporting from a hunting site and your home or vice versa.

In reply to horseshoe; while inlines may have easily removeable breach plugs, most traditional style guns do not. There is a gadget that uses compressed gas to remove the charge but I am not sure how well it would work on a flintlock, particularly one which does not have a hooked breach and removeable barrel.

cheers mooncoon
 
mooncoon said:
I am not sure just what your point is. You seem to be quoting the firearms act and as I read what you quoted, a muzzle loader with a charge in the barrel would be considered loaded unless you are transporting between hunting sites. That is different from transporting from a hunting site and your home or vice versa.


cheers mooncoon
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It is not different, unless you can provide a cite. The transport between hunting sites, and home, that is.

You ought to look that one up before you start selling it as fact. I am pretty certain that the BC acts simply fall in line with the Federal statutes. There should be no difference that depends on whether a paving crew has been past that particular spot.

To add to that, in all cases I have ever heard of, the Federal statutes apply as well as the Provincial ones. One does not take prevent the need to follow the other. Except maybe in Quebec. :)
Without pulling it out to look, I am pretty certain that the BC Hunting regs actually state that the Federal statutes are how the muzzle loader is defined as loaded or not.

Edit: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/wildlife/hunting/regulations/1214/docs/hunting_trapping_2012_2014.pdf Page 17.
"4A muzzle loader containing powder and shot in the barrel but
unprimed (ie, no powder in the pan of a flint lock or no cap in the
nipple of a percussion lock) is not considered a loaded firearm under
the Criminal Code (Canada)."

Find me anything that says that "loaded" changes by the type of road surface, and I will believe. Until then...
Cheers
Trev
 
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