Loaded up me and my partners ML's weekend before last, and have left the pellets and saboted bullets down the pipe, pulled the primer when heading out of the woods--is it OK to leave the pellets in there, or will they corrode the barrel, or is that only after they have ignited??

Are you talking about leaving the pellets and bullets in the barrel after the hunt or for a few days during the hunt?

Buglemine, I'm talking about leaving them in during the hunting season, maybe 3-4 weeks if you don't get a shot, or between shots. They've been in our rifles for 12 days now, today is day 13.

you can leave them in for a year if you wish,pyrodex is not corrosive until fired

Thanks jb, that's what I was trying to cypher out!

Not a good idea to leave them in your gun for even a few days. Most black powder substitutes are either acid based or sugar based. Both types are hygroscopic, meaning that they attract moisture much like real black powder does. Given the nature of the bases, do you really want to leave an acid based substance in your bore ??? Some of these substitutes have proven to be even more corrosive than real black powder.

quote:

Originally posted by bowhuntrrl:
Not a good idea to leave them in your gun for even a few days. Most black powder substitutes are either acid based or sugar based. Both types are hygroscopic, meaning that they attract moisture much like real black powder does. Given the nature of the bases, do you really want to leave an acid based substance in your bore ??? Some of these substitutes have proven to be even more corrosive than real black powder.

Especially since you will be bringing the rifle from cooler outdoor temps to indoor warm temps. I'd say at the end of the hunt fire to clear and then clean it and oil

quote:

Originally posted by bowhuntrrl:
Not a good idea to leave them in your gun for even a few days. Most black powder substitutes are either acid based or sugar based. Both types are hygroscopic, meaning that they attract moisture much like real black powder does. Given the nature of the bases, do you really want to leave an acid based substance in your bore ??? Some of these substitutes have proven to be even more corrosive than real black powder.

once fired they are corrosive.not before.

I can't say about Pellets but I have left Pyrodex RS in my Stainless 54cal for over a year with a piece of leather sealing the nipple.
Since it hadnt been shot I didnt want to waste the charge.

actually,I can only speak for blackpowder and pyrodex.I havent used any of the newer stuff

I have left Pyrodex pellets and sabot/bullet in a clean bore from one year's season to the next. No visible issues when I have cleaned the bore after firing it at "next year's" sight in. I remove the breech plug to clean and the there have been no issues with corrosion.

BTW, the year old loads always fire too. T/C 45cal stainless Omega.

JPK

Had the following experience. Removed cap, and brought gun into house for the night. Temp. outside, under 20 degrees/inside 68 degrees. Temp change caused condensation in the barrel, and the next day the charge would not fire. Cost me a deer.
Do as you think is best.

quote:

Originally posted by Yankee Doodle:
Had the following experience. Removed cap, and brought gun into house for the night. Temp. outside, under 20 degrees/inside 68 degrees. Temp change caused condensation in the barrel, and the next day the charge would not fire. Cost me a deer.
Do as you think is best.

Good intel Yankee Doodle, do you leave your rifle out in the truck now or what???

Nope, I lock it in the unheated shed. The first time you make a mistake it's ignorance. Making the same mistake again is stupidity. I may be crazy, but I ain't stupid.

Fish,

I loaded my knight a year ago and it's been sitting in the gun cabinet since last hunting season. I have no doubt at all that it woul have fired instantly and hit zero this year, but I went ahead and removed the breech plug and dropped the pellets out to reload for this season. Didn't get to fire it once again and it's back in the cabinet with pellets still in until the late ML season in Jan. If I don;t fire it then, back to the cabinet until next fall. As long as you don't fire it, no corrosion occurs.

Good Luck

Reloader

Thanks Reloader, I actually fired it this weekend, so I'll clean her up......
and probably reload it!!!!

Black powder keeps about forever. As a gunsmith, I've had ML's come in that were "grampa's" ole gun" that had been loaded for decades. I removed the loads & sometimes tested the powder. It always flashed as well as new. That said, condensation can get in, in a humid environment & turn the charge to mud. I leave my hunting ML's loaded from year to year and never had a problem except once when I pulled the nipple to check the powder and found it damp. I also check the powder (on flinters) through the flash hole. If it isn't dry & "crunchy", I pull the load and reload it. I work on quite a few inlines that have sat with substitutes in them and the powder is usually fine. There is sometimes corrosion in the powder area, though. Never had that with real (black) powder. It's also important to have the barrel dry & clean when you load it. I think a patched ball seals the bore better than conical or sabots. You can also seal the nipple with a plug & touch holes with toothpicks.