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Primevalpapa · May 27, 2009, 02:46 PM

I have an older model of the Traditions Buck Hunter that was given to me by my father a few years back (maybe 7 years). I was visiting him in MI and he said to take it because he wasn't going hunting any more. I bought a locking case so that I could fly it back to AZ with me. I have never shot any BP weapon.

I have been getting discouraged with lack of big game drawing success here and thought that I might put in for BP hunts that have better odds of getting drawn. After reading up a bit, I thought that it might be nice to convert it over to use the 209 primer so that I could use the pellets or whatever. There are a lot of 209 primers around as I load shotgun.

The conversion kit arrived and I started the process of change over at the kitchen table. I pulled the nipple and then the breach but to my surprise, I could not see any light looking down the breach end. Yep - there is that sinking feeling knowing that you just dismantled a live one. I don't know how likely an old charge would be to discharge if you got a spark unscrewing the plug but I would really rather not find out.

Second thought was that I had flown a live one. Well that was old history but unscrewing the breach on a live one was not a happy thought. I soaked the breach end in soapy water and pushed out the wet plug of powder along with the sabot/bullet.

Dad always claimed that he shot it after a day in the field. I guess that didn't happen this time. Heck he hadn't been hunting in about 5 years when he gave it to me, so I guess that the load was about 12 years old. I now have the ramrod marked for empty.

May 27, 2009, 02:46 PM	#1
Primevalpapa Member Join Date: December 24, 2008 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 40	Ever Have That Sinking Feeling I have an older model of the Traditions Buck Hunter that was given to me by my father a few years back (maybe 7 years). I was visiting him in MI and he said to take it because he wasn't going hunting any more. I bought a locking case so that I could fly it back to AZ with me. I have never shot any BP weapon. I have been getting discouraged with lack of big game drawing success here and thought that I might put in for BP hunts that have better odds of getting drawn. After reading up a bit, I thought that it might be nice to convert it over to use the 209 primer so that I could use the pellets or whatever. There are a lot of 209 primers around as I load shotgun. The conversion kit arrived and I started the process of change over at the kitchen table. I pulled the nipple and then the breach but to my surprise, I could not see any light looking down the breach end. Yep - there is that sinking feeling knowing that you just dismantled a live one. I don't know how likely an old charge would be to discharge if you got a spark unscrewing the plug but I would really rather not find out. Second thought was that I had flown a live one. Well that was old history but unscrewing the breach on a live one was not a happy thought. I soaked the breach end in soapy water and pushed out the wet plug of powder along with the sabot/bullet. Dad always claimed that he shot it after a day in the field. I guess that didn't happen this time. Heck he hadn't been hunting in about 5 years when he gave it to me, so I guess that the load was about 12 years old. I now have the ramrod marked for empty.