How long do you leave a bullet and powder in your gun?

[RC]

Been muzzy hunting the last few days, but won't be able to go again until this coming weekend, and I still have the bullet and powder in the gun (no primer of course).  Any issue with leaving the bullet and powder in there for an extended amount of time?

[Smokepole]

If it's raining, I change powder every day.  If not, I go several days without worrying.  I do use a fresh cap each day, unless they're 209's.  If you clean your gun, be sure to dry it thoroughly before loading up.   

[high_hunter]

What smoke pole said.  If in question,  shoot it off, otherwise I'm good on the website even after a few days.  Once cleaned or fired I typically pop a cap or 2 with a patch on the rod to check I have a good burn. 

[IFunk]

I loaded up my Bighorn in early September of last year and finally discharged it on the last day of ML season (Dec 15th).  It went boom!  I wrap my bore with electrical tape and it rained nearly every day I hunted.  Not ideal, but I live in the city and can't just discharge it in the backyard.  You can always unscrew your breech plug and push everything out through the breech which I've done, but it's messy.  That loose powder will stick to the breech plug grease if you use it and then you have to make sure and get that crap out of the threads. 

[storyteller]

Thompson Renegade, Goex 3F, 2 years in the gun, boom on first cap.   I know , it is bad and all sorts of stories, but I did it.

[phildobaggins]

I'll leave a load in for a year. But I don't hunt with it. I'll load at the beginning of the fall and generally shoot the load out for storage, but I've forgotten and just shoot it out in the summer and clean and reload before the season during practice.

[Mtnwalker]

I loaded up my Bighorn in early September of last year and finally discharged it on the last day of ML season (Dec 15th).  It went boom!  I wrap my bore with electrical tape and it rained nearly every day I hunted.  Not ideal, but I live in the city and can't just discharge it in the backyard.  You can always unscrew your breech plug and push everything out through the breech which I've done, but it's messy.  That loose powder will stick to the breech plug grease if you use it and then you have to make sure and get that crap out of the threads.

I always get sketched out doing that even though I know it's technically safe 

[cbond3318]

11 months, 28 days

[Timberstalker]

11 months, 28 days

What if it's a leap year?

[cbond3318]

11 months, 28 days

What if it's a leap year?

I archery hunt.

[JakeLand]

Me personally I unload every night and brush it and run dry patches through it as I learned the hard way on a huge bull , it fired but as I would say it was like a juicy fart going off ... reload every morning and I have no worries or second thoughts my 

[haftard]

Ask your self this. How tight is the sabot. How wet has it been and how wet have you gotten. My gun loads pretty tight and I haven't had an issue with it not going off. If you are worried about it. Reload the thing. For me I would not worry about it enless it went swimming.

[Dan-o]

I load up my hunting load and then electrical tape over the muzzle.    I've tested this.   It doesn't alter point of impact.  So I figure no moisture is getting in fro the muzzle.  I close my breech with a piece of rubber over the nipple so no moisture is getting in that way at night or in transit.

If it's wet when I hunted, I reload.   I just don't trust a must cap to keep water out.

If dry, I will hunt all season.   

I've also left loads in for months at a time just to see.

They go boom if protected.

[riverrun]

I've never had an issue with my gun keeping it loaded all season. It always fires! I do cover the barrel with electrical tape or a rubber boot for barrels.

[LDennis24]

Mines still loaded from last October... I'll let you know in a few days if it still goes off. Always has in the past. Thompson center in-lines are very reliable!