Barrel Sweat?

[bigbuck]

I’m using a small shank savage with a 209 BP. I’m shooting 65gr H4198 with 270Emax.

I’m currently in Iowa on a 5 day muzzleloader Hunt. Being new to the smokeless muzzleloader game here’s my question. 

Verified zero yesterday upon arival with one shot. Reloaded rifle excluding the primer and left in vehicle overnight. Was 2*F this morning. Uncased the rifle and walked 3/10 of a mile to a blind with a heater. Upon the blind coming up to temp I noticed a pretty heavy frost on the barrel as it warmed up. I’m sitting all day also. 

What if any issue will this cause over the 5 days?  Should I change my storage routine?

Overnight temps are going to continue to fall over the next several days. -20*F and below is predicted. 
 

[nick50471]

I always keep my rifle warm. I don't leave it in the hut or truck. I bring it in.

I've never had a misfire from temperature.

I am also hunting in Iowa late muzzy. -8°F at the moment. I'm in a heated hut at 58°F.

[jims]

I try to keep it cold, leave it out. Some fire after everyday to maintain fresh powder. I have even when worried about condensation faced the ML muzzle down so the condensation would not fall towards the powder but away from it. I have not had misfires because of moisture issues that I can recall but did have two triggers freeze up and not work. Later cleaned them of all lube and that problem was cured.

[cvadave]

I have always stuck my gun's out in the garage for a day, then loaded them up, either my mussy using BH 209 or the SML'S, and have been in a heated hut then they stay in the vehicle/garage until end of season, have not had a problem with them going Bang.
Know of a couple of guy's that were shooting pellets, that would bring it in the house then out in the cold,. called me to look at it because it would not go off, the pellets looked like a big wad of gum behind the bullet.

[Deleted]

I also shoot bh 209 and sml and I leave my mzl in the truck over night and through out the season.And I use the through gun season and mzl season.But I put one of those 9'' round balloons around the barrel and I have yet to have a misfire.I guess maybe because my hunting hut doesn,t have a heater in it.I don,t like smelling the fumes.

[Dunthat]

Going from cold to warm in a short time is asking for trouble. I try to keep it to a minimum...Sometimes it's hard to keep them cold all the time. If I come in from the cold and have to bring my rifle indoors I put it in a insulated case and keep it in the coolest part of the house...Thinks it makes the transition from cold to warmer a slower process which I believe helps with a condensation problem.

[Dave W]

Dec 30, 2017 18:43:30 GMT -5 Dunthat said:

Going from cold to warm in a short time is asking for trouble. I try to keep it to a minimum...Sometimes it's hard to keep them cold all the time. If I come in from the cold and have to bring my rifle indoors I put it in a insulated case and keep it in the coolest part of the house...Thinks it makes the transition from cold to warmer a slower process which I believe helps with a condensation problem.

Same here.

[bowhunterjsc]

I agree to avoid cold to hot to cold to hot, but external morning frost when exposing a cold gun to cold weather? Other than making sure the frost doesn't thaw quickly and turn into water I haven't had too much trouble and even then, just give the outside surfaces a quick cleaning.

[Dunthat]

I think there's a possibility of creating immediate condensation in a powder chamber by firing a cold rifle in the field and immediately reloading it while the chamber is hot. I believe the extreme temperature change that occurs when the powder is ignited in a Sub-zero barrel will cause enough condensation that could contaminate and turn your gunpowder to sludge. I've only had one misfire in the 11 years of shooting these guns and it was under these circumstances. I was coming in one night after spending 3hrs in -8* weather and decided to discharge my gun. I'd been chasing this big buck for week in bad weather and thought I'd be safe and load a fresh load. I shot the gun into the ground, it fired perfectly, and immediately reloaded. The next day I finally got a chance to kill that big buck and when I pulled the trigger the primer went off and nothing happened...big bummer for me...When I got home and pulled the breechplug I found the powder had turned to sludge telling me that condensation had did its job....extreme cold turning to immediate hot will make water...I'll run a patch next time if I ever need to do a quick reload.

[Deleted]

Dec 30, 2017 20:21:13 GMT -5 Dunthat said:

I think there's a possibility of creating immediate condensation in a powder chamber by firing a cold rifle in the field and immediately reloading it while the chamber is hot. I believe the extreme temperature change that occurs when the powder is ignited in a Sub-zero barrel will cause enough condensation that could contaminate and turn your gunpowder to sludge. I've only had one misfire in the 11 years of shooting these guns and it was under these circumstances. I was coming in one night after spending 3hrs in -8* weather and decided to discharge my gun. I'd been chasing this big buck for week in bad weather and thought I'd be safe and load a fresh load. I shot the gun into the ground, it fired perfectly, and immediately reloaded. The next day I finally got a chance to kill that big buck and when I pulled the trigger the primer went off and nothing happened...big bummer for me...When I got home and pulled the breechplug I found the powder had turned to sludge telling me that condensation had did its job....extreme cold turning to immediate hot will make water...I'll run a patch next time if I ever need to do a quick reload.

Rookie! Dang old timers thinking they know what's what!! Lol

[Dunthat]

You better be nice or I'll start sending all the pictures of the big bucks I've killed over the years 

[Deleted]

Dec 30, 2017 21:39:43 GMT -5 Dunthat said:

You better be nice or I'll start sending all the pictures of the big bucks I've killed over the years 

Only deer I got pictures of are little deer from you. Yeah lots of people think they may be big but honestly they are little. Plus when you make rookie mistakes like getting your powder wet you can't shoot the big ones. Lol

[gregk]

Dec 30, 2017 16:46:07 GMT -5 cvadave said:

I have always stuck my gun's out in the garage for a day, then loaded them up, either my mussy using BH 209 or the SML'S, and have been in a heated hut then they stay in the vehicle/garage until end of season, have not had a problem with them going Bang.
Know of a couple of guy's that were shooting pellets, that would bring it in the house then out in the cold,. called me to look at it because it would not go off, the pellets looked like a big wad of gum behind the bullet.

+++ on what Dave said

Greg

[miked]

Dec 30, 2017 20:21:13 GMT -5 Dunthat said:

I think there's a possibility of creating immediate condensation in a powder chamber by firing a cold rifle in the field and immediately reloading it while the chamber is hot. I believe the extreme temperature change that occurs when the powder is ignited in a Sub-zero barrel will cause enough condensation that could contaminate and turn your gunpowder to sludge. I've only had one misfire in the 11 years of shooting these guns and it was under these circumstances. I was coming in one night after spending 3hrs in -8* weather and decided to discharge my gun. I'd been chasing this big buck for week in bad weather and thought I'd be safe and load a fresh load. I shot the gun into the ground, it fired perfectly, and immediately reloaded. The next day I finally got a chance to kill that big buck and when I pulled the trigger the primer went off and nothing happened...big bummer for me...When I got home and pulled the breechplug I found the powder had turned to sludge telling me that condensation had did its job....extreme cold turning to immediate hot will make water...I'll run a patch next time if I ever need to do a quick reload.

I have had this exact thing happen with Blackhorn as well!