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muzzleloader tips
mossberg500man
Member Posts: 833 ✭✭✭✭
I bought my first muzzleloader recently. It is an older knight. I wanted to know If You guys have any tips as to the cleaning and care of my muzzle loader. I am planning on takeing it out to shoot this weekend and get a feel for it before I take it hunting.
Comments
You will almost always find your most accurate load is NOT your maximum power load. That is good news for both your pocket book and your shoulder. [:D]
ahhh ok [:D]
You will almost always find your most accurate load is NOT your maximum power load. That is good news for both your pocket book and your shoulder. [:D]
Very True. First forget about the 150 gr HV stuff you see on TV. It's BS!
Read the owners manual couple times.
Start out with 70gr charge (powder or pellets) and then not over 80 gr. If it's 50 cal try a 45cal bullet and a plastic sabot. Whatever the caliber keep the bullet caliber as large as possible with a sabot. (the less plastic the more accurate usually) Ie, 50 cal bullet for a 54 cal gun. Do not get the plastic or barrel warm or hot, (cold plastic produces best groups, use a bore brush with a cleaning patch wrapped around it to clean the bore between shots. (the bore brush with a patch wrapped around it don't hang-up in a dirty bore like a jag does and is more user friendly. Do get yourself a patch getter, to retrieve a in barrrel patch without having to remove the breech plug, etc. (you will loose a patch in the bore every once in awhile)
When first starting shooting for groups, (at 50-60 yards) if you are not getting decent groups with 70 gr, you need to change your sabot bullet choice if it's a 1 in 48 or faster twist barrel. You will USUALLY find that the higher the charge you use the less consistent the guns accuracy will be, 99% of time.
Black Powder unlike modern guns sometimes require a fouling shot to get you on target.Mine shoots high left first shot then after that right on the money. You will just need to experiment with powder loads and sabots and also bullet types to find what your gun likes.Then keep a log of the best load combinations.I shoot 95 grain with a 265 grain Barnes expander for the best results. My full bore conical need 80 grains to be on the money.Just have fun and try loose powder different types and pellets if you want.
Thanks all for the advice, I did some experimenting and found I can get a 1 1/2 inch group at 75 yards with 185 .45 cal Tc sabots and 90 grains of Pioneer ffg loose powder
that will kill just about any deer around..... have fun
Ive been hunting with Black powder for many years.Just remember to clean your rifle after a day at the range or after you shoot it in the field.
Black Powder unlike modern guns sometimes require a fouling shot to get you on target.Mine shoots high left first shot then after that right on the money. You will just need to experiment with powder loads and sabots and also bullet types to find what your gun likes.Then keep a log of the best load combinations.I shoot 95 grain with a 265 grain Barnes expander for the best results. My full bore conical need 80 grains to be on the money.Just have fun and try loose powder different types and pellets if you want.
My encore is the same way, but the 3rd shot is the most accurate. After I clean I shoot it twice, and then go hunting. I have the same to true in some of my center fire rifle's also.
It's just that a follow up shot is not so quick, but I have gotten a lot faster than when I started shooting BP. And, of course, if the first shot is good, the follow-up shot is not necessary!