Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Reload an already loaded Muzzleloader?

Last October I loaded a very clean Traditions Pursuit .50 cal with 2 pellets of Pyrodex behind a Hornady 300gr HP/XTP. Sat in a stand two times with it. Removed the primer and put it in the back of the safe. Has not been out since. Shoot it? Hunt with it or punch it out and start over?

Make sure the bullet is still seated and once you know it is, fire it off and clean it.

shoot it at an old refrigerator then clean it up before hunting season.

Or junk car door or washer? Cool!

I would punch it out & re-clean barrel & nipple. I would ditch the pellets & use loose powder but that is shooters preference. I would save the bullet for a good re-sightin or hunting.

Yes, get rid of the charge, shoot it off or push out, then clean & start over. I would of done it after your last hunt.

I have left mine loaded from one year to the next if clean and not fired. Took it hunting and killed a deer. I noticed that shooting right before hunting season to clean, that I always hit the target, so why waste the load? After shooting, it needs to be cleaned before too long. miles

Last thing you should do after a day at the range or a hunt is clear and clean you firearm. Especially with black powder since it is extremely corrosive. I can't imagine leaving my black powder loaded and not clean it.

You get to go hunting once a year's season and you are worried about two pellets and a bullet.
Pull the bullet and powder, clean the gun and start over.

Your going to feel awful stupid if a really big buck walks by your stand and your gung goes CLICK because you didn't feel like cleaning it.

This rifle was clean and loaded with pyrodex, but not fired. The cap was removed and the bolt let down on a small piece of leather. A rag was put in the muzzle to keep moisture from getting in. I leave it this way from the October season until the two day December season and if it is not fired then, I usually will go fire it at some later date and clean and store. We go from the two day muzzle loader into a two or three day modern gun season the next day so things get put off for a little while, in this case a long while. miles

why waste the load ??? mmm good question .
If your worried about cost , get a Co2 discharger and blow the load , save the bullet and leave the pellets where they lay .
If your gun was clean prior to loading , its clean now as you never ignited the powder .
Takes less then a second to do and wont effect your rifle hunt that�s the next morning .
For that mater the camp time or what ever your wanting to do instead of cleaning your gun .

Myself I never trust a old load . I don�t care what process I have done to protect the load . Thus every morning my rifle gets a new fresh load . Why , because I have no idea whats happened to that load throughout the day or what happened to it over night if I leave it in .
In theory its probably ok . But I don�t know and I don�t like not knowing . .
I also never leave my guns loaded and put away .There are oh so many reasons not to do that . With the acceptation of those I use for home defense and have in or want in close proximity . Even those I shoot and clean at least 2 times a year

Now past all that , as to your question .
I would fire the load and clean the gun so that its ready to hunt with .

Can't imagine not shooting the gun in the off season.....

With that though I would be shooting it prior to the hunt to make sure everything is honkey dorey.

Exactly!