Introduction to Muzzleloading

[Irrelevant]

Hey I need to do something else. WA rifle deer sucks. And I'm still giving archery the middle finger. I've shot a muzzleloader once in my life. Does anyone know of any decent resources for how to do it? The equipment, the loading process, the cleaning process, etc. KISS, I'm a noob if ever there was one. Maybe an article or YT series. I'm probably not going to go all traditional, sorry @BrentD . WA allowed shotgun primers, and just this year 1x scopes or red dots.

 

[Sytes]

Hey I need to do something else. WA rifle deer sucks. And I'm still giving archery the middle finger. I've shot a muzzleloader like once in my life. Doesn't anyone know of any decent resources for how to do it? The equipment, the loading process, the cleaning process, etc. KISS, I'm a noob if ever there was one.

@BrentD is a guru with muzzleloaders as I am sure others on Hunt Talk. He along with a good friend guided me along with great info. I ended up with a Lyman High Plains .54 1-60 twist.

It's a blast on the range. Prepping my first Canadian moose hunt with this. Heck it's a great traditional muzzy! Variety of choices out there and this one fit my interests.

 

[Forkyfinder]

@cgasner1

 

[LuketheDog]

Hey I need to do something else. WA rifle deer sucks. And I'm still giving archery the middle finger. I've shot a muzzleloader once in my life. Does anyone know of any decent resources for how to do it? The equipment, the loading process, the cleaning process, etc. KISS, I'm a noob if ever there was one. Maybe an article or YT series. I'm probably not going to go all traditional, sorry @BrentD . WA allowed shotgun primers, and just this year 1x scopes or red dots.

While not as cool-looking as a Hawken-style, a muzzy with a removable breech makes cleaning waaaay easier. I have a T/C Impact that I improved with a Williams peep and front globe sight...

 

[Nick87]

@cgasner1

@cgasner1 And @Addicting.

 

[Addicting]

Read up on what’s legal in your state and buy once cry once.

Stainless and BH209 are the best combo I’ve found. Shoots great and makes clean up a breeze.

I’m a big fan of Hornday bore riders. They are easy to load and very effective.

Bore butter is what you take to the trailhead to put on the Aholes door handle. It should never be used in a muzzleloader.

Be warned it’s a lot of fun but hard in the shoulder.

 

[Irrelevant]

Read up on what’s legal in your state and buy once cry once.

Stainless and BH209 are the best combo I’ve found. Shoots great and makes clean up a breeze.

Looking at a .50 cal SS CVA Optima... what does BH209 mean?

I’m a big fan of Hornday bore riders. They are easy to load and very effective.

Ok what is different about them, makes them better, what should be avoided?

Bore butter is what you take to the trailhead to put on the Aholes door handle. It should never be used in a muzzleloader.

o.k.

 

[BrentD]

@BrentD is a guru with muzzleloaders as I am sure others on Hunt Talk. He along with a good friend guided me along with great info. I ended up with a Lyman High Plains .54 1-60 twist.

It's a blast on the range. Prepping my first Canadian moose hunt with this. Heck it's a great traditional muzzy! Variety of choices out there and this one fit my interests.

View attachment 347310

Always happy to help. Muzzleloaders with real black powder are very easy to own and operate. And, they kill stuff pretty damn dead. Remember, round balls are your friend.

While not as cool-looking as a Hawken-style, a muzzy with a removable breech makes cleaning waaaay easier....

I gotta disagree. Sorry.

 

[Ben Lamb]

The Sam Fadala books are easy to read and super-helpful in getting you started with black powder front loaders.

Amazon.com

TC Rifles are well made, as are Lyman - for production guns. The Ubertis are good as well.

Stick with a 50 caliber round ball. They're cheap and you can shoot enough of them to be a proficient marksman. The patched roundball worked from the 1740's to today in terms of killing game. Bulk purchase your powder if you can. 90 grains of FFg can be a fast way to burn through a can. Swiss black is great powder.

Get a possibles bag/kit and shoot the living heck out of it. Clean with warm soapy water and a good lube post-scrubbing. It's a fun, low tech way to enjoy the outdoors and increase your odds of seeing game.

 

[BrentD]

I would opt for a .54.

A .54 round ball is legal in Colorado and every other state as far as I know for elk. A .50 cal around ball may not be legal depending on the state you are hunting.

 

[brymoore]

A .50 cal around ball may not be legal depending on the state you are hunting.

Really? Seems odd. 50s will kill any elk that has lived.

I’d help on the topic but my .50 cal Thompson Center Renegade muzzleloader is 40 years old and uses iron sights. Completely Idaho muzzy legal.

 

[BrentD]

Really? Seems odd. 50s will kill any elk that has lived.

I’d help on the topic but my .50 cal Thompson Center Renegade muzzleloader is 40 years old and uses iron sights. Completely Idaho muzzy legal.

I'm not arguing with you. I'm just telling you what I have read is the law in colorado.

 

[brymoore]

I'm not arguing with you. I'm just telling you what I have read is the law in colorado.

I was commenting, not arguing.

Just looked up Colorado muzzy laws. 50 cal for conical bullets and 54 for round balls. No one is using round balls anymore.

 

[BrentD]

I was commenting, not arguing.

Just looked up Colorado muzzy laws. 50 cal for conical bullets and 54 for round balls. No one is using round balls anymore.

Someone is using roundballs. Actually thousands of us are.

 

[shb]

No one is using round balls anymore.

Are you sure?

 

[shb]

A traditional muzzleloader is easier to clean than a centerfire. You just have to do it.

 

[MTLabrador]

Good timing for this thread as I’m currently half assed looking at Hawkens. I think it would be a lot of fun to do some December hunting in the timber, especially for whitetails and elk. I don’t like that Montana added this season, but if you can’t beat them…

 

[shb]

The mountain men who opened up the great plains, and rocky mountains, did it with plains style rifles that averaged about .53 cal......shooting roundballs.

 

[Addicting]

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Looking at a .50 cal SS CVA Optima... what does BH209 mean?

Ok what is different about them, makes them better, what should be avoided?

o.k.

Blackhorn 209 is a special powder substitute that is easy to cleanup with just soap and hot water. It doesn’t have the sulfur stink or corrosive properties. It is far superior to actual black powder in modern inlines. If you go more traditional like Brent or Ben use than Swiss black powders seem to be the ticket.

There are literally 100’s of options when it comes to projectiles. It can be overwhelming when you first start. Everyone will have an opinion on what works best. Most haven’t tried many to actually say what’s best. They tried one or two and it worked and they kept using it.

A lead round ball will absolutely kill a deer. A high speed .40 cal sabot will kill that same deer, just as dead with less drop.

I’ve been doing this for 30 some years. I’ve tried probably 40 or so different projectiles. Not all are created equal.

What I look for is ease of loading accurate, and terminal performance in that order.

There are some great bullets that use Sabots. They can take a lot of force to load especially after the first shot. I have literally had to tap one in by ramming the whole gun into the base of a tree.

As you can imagine that changes your pressure when you fire it. It makes the gun inaccurate and dangerous.

Power belts solved that and were easy to load and are accurate. However, their terminal performance is suspect. Lots of horror stories of wounded game because of bullet failure. They are too soft and can make a mess. Same as pistol bullets in sabots.

Thor is a great bullet and you size it to your barrel. Then you order what size you need. They load ok and meet the other two criteria with ease.

The bore driver loads great and is slightly undersized. It is like a .499 or .498 bore size. The base is a plastic ring that seals the .002 difference. When fired it catches the gas and pushes the lead outward expanding it to bore size. They are accurate and the lead is hard enough it stays together on impact. Hornady really did a great job designing them. I had drawers full of different projectiles and they either got sold or pitched after I started using these new bore drivers. They simply are the best I’ve seen and used. There is a thread on here with pics of how they perform. I’ve killed deer and elk with them without issue.

 

[shb]

Look at what was in today's mail