Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Unloading an old muzzleloader charge

I know zero about muzzleloaders. I was talking to a good friend of mine about how I want to start hunting with one and he said that he had one he'd give me.

So he just gave me a .54 caliber Remington 700 stainless. The issue is, it's been loaded for about 7 years. It was loaded with 777 powder and a Powerbelt. What are my options for getting the bullet out, and do y'all think there will be a corrosion issue from it being loaded for so long?

Thanks for any and all help.

If it was clean when loaded, it will probably just shoot out. miles

Unless it was shot and reloaded without cleaning, there should not be any corrosion. I would prime it and shoot it out. If the charge does not ignite, I would wait for a couple of minutes and use the ramrod to reseat the charge and try again to shoot it out.

Unlike traditional muzzleloaders, the Remington inline breech plug can be removed and cleaned more easily. So you can remove the plug and push the charge out if you desire.

Well I just took the bolt and breech plug out and pushed the charge out to be safe. Looks like there is some corrosion on the bbl and on the load side of the breech plug. Will a little corrosion cause an issue, or should it be ok to start shooting?

As long as the threads aren't corroded and pitted bad, and the barrel's clean ahead of the charge area you should be good to go. I have a couple muzzleloaders I bought used that have a little pitting in the barrel and they shoot fine.

Mine is corroded in the powder area and I think that all used ones will be to some extent. Be sure to lube the threads when you are replacing the plug and nipple. It will save you a lot of grief. There are lubes made for that by the gun companies but I hear that you can get anti-seizure grease from the parts store that works well. Maybe someone else will chime in about it. miles

Thanks guys. I appreciate the info.

Now I just have to figure out what she likes to shoot and what all I need to keep it clean.

I clean the barrel and chamber, in fact all places that gets powder blowback, with a mixture of peroxide, rubbing alcohol, and Murphys oil soap. I have been using it for a long time with zero problems. Googled this as my recipe is out in the shop. miles

The correct recipe is, 2 parts isoproply alcohol (rubbing alcohol 70%. Walmart has it).....2 parts hydrogen peroxide......1 part Murphy's Oil Soap. Stirred not shaken . Store in a dark container.

I have used this for YEARS and it is in MHO, the best thing going. Here is HOW i use it....

Dry brush bore with a nylon brush, dump out soot.

Block off nipple and pour barrel full, leave a half inch low at muzzle.

Stand rifle in corner for 30 minutes...it will foam up a little.

Pour out cleaner then brush vigorously while barrel is still wet.

Push wet patches through until no discoloration shows.

Wet/dry patches with CARBURATOR CLEANER to finish clean.

Oil bore with 3 in 1 oil.

Windex will do just as well without having to mix anything.

If you are burning black powder you should not use any petroleum based oil.

When in the field hunting, I keep a container of methanol at camp. If I clean the gun, it gets wiped out with that. Alcohol is hydroscopic and will remove any traces of water in the barrel.

any lube you keep in the barrel will cause accuracy issues. Petro oil is fine, you just have to remove it first before loading, same with natural lubes.

Probably a stupid question, but how to I plug/block the nipple?

So Windex would clean the barrel just as good as that concoction or Hoppes no.9?

And bigblock, I thought you were supposed to run something like Bore Butter down the barrel between shots?

It is not the accuracy issues I was referring to. Yes, you do have to remove before loading but obviously the OP is not a seasoned ML'er.

After loading in hunting season, I run a lightly coated patch with Bore Butter. I have not missed an elk yet. Shooting tiny groups on paper might be another story.

Using petroleum products in a ML with BP is said to cause extra carbon build up that is tougher to remove. Just wiping with a patch does not remove it all. That is why they talk about seasoning the bore. You don't want to season it with carbon build up. Not much has ever been said as to whether that is true with pyrodex or 777. I don't use BH209

If I am doing a thorough cleaning I use Windex. I don't flood the bore, I just use a wet patch. In the field I carry a few pre wetted patches of TC Bore cleaner.

There are products out there for barrel cleaning when using sabots to get the plastic fouling out.

If you are talking about sealing the breech/nipple, while cleaning, the acceptable way is to fire a primer or two after swabbing the bore. If you are doing a full cleaning, remove the breech plug and nipple if there is a separate one ,clean it, set it aside while you clean the barrel. Then lube with breech plug grease, anti-seize or use Teflon tape.

Some of the older ML that do not have a breech plug, the acceptable way was to set the barrel in a bucket of hot soapy water and with a wet tight fitting patch work it up and down in the barrel. The patch would suck the water thru the nipple in and out.

However some of the older Hawkins had ribs on the bottom of the barrel that had ferrules for the ram rod. No one ever took those ribs off and when they did they found a lot of rust under them.

I have a small piece of leather that I use. Just put if on the nipple and let the hammer down to keep pressure. miles

Awesome. Thanks again guys.