Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Muzzleloader Hunting => Topic started by: wapiti hunter2 on September 15, 2016, 04:37:00 PM
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I forgot to clean my muzzleloader after last season. I want to do it now to get ready for the opener on Oct. 1. It is a Knight Bighorn stainless. Should I just shoot it or pull the breach plug and empty it? Would there be any damage from leaving it?
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Pull the breach. Make sure you don't have corrosion starting. Powder/ pellets are tough on barrels. Even stainless.
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Just shoot it
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I highly doubt it is corroded, unless somehow moisture was introduced into the barrel.
I would take it apart, clean it as normal and see what you have.
Let us know what you find out. :tup:
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shoot it and count how long it takes to fire. then use some good kroil on the lower portion on the barrel
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If it was clean when it was loaded and you did not fire it and reload it. Then there should be nothing for corrosion. Just go fire it off.
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I bet it drew moisture and you will have a little corrosion but not too bad. No way I would shoot it. Pull the breach soak it in water for a bit so the powder can't go off. Pull the breach plug and knock the bullet and powder out. Then clean like crazy!
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I'd shoot it.
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Can't hurt to try and shoot it. If it doesn't go off then take it apart and push through.
Update is if it goes off.
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I forgot to clean my muzzleloader after last season. I want to do it now to get ready for the opener on Oct. 1. It is a Knight Bighorn stainless. Should I just shoot it or pull the breach plug and empty it? Would there be any damage from leaving it?
I've done it many times. Just shoot it!
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I just did this. I purchased a back up knight bighorn from my brother and it had the powder and bullet in for a couple years probably. I pulled it apart and it was better than I was expecting, especially because it isn't stainless. I ran hot water over everything then soaked the plug and nipple with a little T.C muzzleloader solvent. After that I got to cleaning the barrel and oh boy that was a job. Make sure you have plenty of cleaning patches. From reading on here a few guys like to use original Windex as a cleaner, seems like a good low cost choice. Just make sure your nipple and pug are clean and the hole is not clogged.
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So what I did was shoot it. I figured that it would either go off or not. It fired just fine. Then I cleaned it and reloaded it for this year. I will not do that again though.
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FYI On a barrel that did not have a removable breech plug and a slug that would not come out I removed the nipple and replaced it with a zerk grease fitting. I then used a grease gun to push the charge and slug out. It was kinda messy but it worked. I've done it twice on two different rifles that belonged to friends. I got it out but they cleaned up the grease. :chuckle:
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Just shoot it
thats what I did, fired no sweat :tup:
