Load longevity

[HAWKEN50]

Just read this ,Regarding how long a cap and ball can be left loaded From an article i found in an old arms magazine about Robert E Lee.....
The Confederate general carried an 1851 Colt Navy and the gun almost immediately made the “commentaries” (i.e. print news) after the war as an object of public fascination. According to Flayderman’s Guide To Antique American Firearms, when the gun was shot in 1870 after the General’s death, every chamber fired as was, last loaded during the middle of the War seven years prior.

[Hawg]

Powder doesn't go bad unless it gets contaminated. There's been a lot of people killed by Civil War weapons and ordnance. I remember back in the 70's there was a story in the newspaper about a farmer that found an 1861 Springfield barrel on his property and figured it was the ideal thing to fix a broken gate hinge with. He stuck the breech in his forge and it went off and the .58 minie took the top of his head off.