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Posted: 5/8/2016 10:10:00 AM EDT
| I need advice on an inline muzzleloader for deer. Ive never hunted with a muzzleloader before and I'm going to try for the week long ML season this October so I have a pretty steep learning curve. Im a good shot and not recoil sensitive and know how to place shots on deer for quick, humane kills. That said, I know almost nothing about the range, accuracy potential and lethality of ML rifles. 50 cal vs .54 cal? Sabots or Minie balls? Optics? School me. |
| Find out what's legal in your state. Buy a book on muzzleloading. It's not hard, but you'll need to pay attention to details and buy a lot of special equipment. Clean your gun every time you shoot it and don't leave it loaded for long periods... Just trust me on this. Fouling and moisture can ruin you gun in a very short time. Mountain rifles and Hawkens replicas are very cool and shoot round balls decently out to about 75 yards. Mini-balls will extend your acceptable accuracy another 25 - 50 yards or so. Some guys get more range and accuracy, but what I'm telling you is what I've seen average shoots do. Modern in-line guns with right barrel twist, modern bullets, and scopes will almost double your range. I have an old Knight Big Horn that'll put 3 shots into about a 2 inch group if I do my part at 100 yards. Calculating bullet drop after 150 yards gets to be real interesting. Do a lot of testing with different powders and bullets to find what your gun likes best. Good luck. |
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Most of the guys I hunt with use .50, myself included. I bought a CVA Optima in stainless for about $300, dropped another $150 on a Nikon Prostaff and it's a tack driver. Keeping it clean is a serious task, but if you neglect it you'll pay the price. I use the 295 Gr Power Belt bullets with the skirt on the bottom, they leave less melted plastic in the barrel than the Sabot type. 3 pellets (150 gr equivalent) and the 250 or 295 gr Power Belt have taken deer at 125+. The Power Belt are also a full .50 caliber, unlike all the Sabots which are smaller than the bore to accommodate the Sabot hull.
I scored a pretty good deal at Muzzleloaders.com |
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Quoted:
Most of the guys I hunt with use .50, myself included. I bought a CVA Optima in stainless for about $300, dropped another $150 on a Nikon Prostaff and it's a tack driver. Keeping it clean is a serious task, but if you neglect it you'll pay the price. I use the 295 Gr Power Belt bullets with the skirt on the bottom, they leave less melted plastic in the barrel than the Sabot type. 3 pellets (150 gr equivalent) and the 250 or 295 gr Power Belt have taken deer at 125+. The Power Belt are also a full .50 caliber, unlike all the Sabots which are smaller than the bore to accommodate the Sabot hull. I scored a pretty good deal at Muzzleloaders.com Pretty spot on .. i have the wolf in blue i purchased years ago.. for 149.99 with the start kit.. But right about keeping it clean.. I got two does with it one at 65 yards ran 5 yards and piled up the other was 125 yards dropped in its track. I use goex in 2f real powder it seems to have better accuracy than with fake stuff... i use 90grs of 2f with a powerbelts and works awesome. If i had it all over again i would have gotten the TC with real gun receiver. It boils down to how much you want to spend and how much are you going to use it. |
| I didn't have any experience with muzzleloaders when I bought mine (online to boot), but I couldn't be happier with it. I got some coaching from the guys I hunt with, but for the money spent I feel pretty good about my blind grab. Hunted 2 seasons in Ohio with it so far, taken 3 does. I use an 870 with a cantilevered barrel and pretty good Nikon optics during gun season, I think I have more confidence with the Optima beyond the 100 yard mark. |
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I got an old Remington 700 ML cheap (had a scope on it too) and then got a 209 Conversion from here: www.BadgerRidgeInd.com for $157 (got the new mainspring too). So Less than $350 total in a rifle that looks just like a regular rem 700 and takes all the short action accessories.
As designed the 700ML had issues, but with the Badger Ridge conversion it Shoots awesome. You can use any powder or pellets with it, but I use BH209... you'll find it produces the best velocities and cleans up with normal gun cleaning products (all the other powders need water, windex, and other things you'd never expect to use to clean your rifle). Black Horn209 also doesn't foul out the barrel so I can shoot all day and not have to clean between every shot. I use black sabots and 45 cal hand gun bullets and shoot under 1.5" at 100yds. Its like having a single shot 45-100, or 45/120... i basically get 450 bushmaster performance out of my muzzle loader. Loved it so much I made a thread for it here too. |
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Quoted:
I got an old Remington 700 ML cheap (had a scope on it too) and then got a 209 Conversion from here: www.BadgerRidgeInd.com for $157 (got the new mainspring too). So Less than $350 total in a rifle that looks just like a regular rem 700 and takes all the short action accessories. As designed the 700ML had issues, but with the Badger Ridge conversion it Shoots awesome. You can use any powder or pellets with it, but I use BH209... you'll find it produces the best velocities and cleans up with normal gun cleaning products (all the other powders need water, windex, and other things you'd never expect to use to clean your rifle). Black Horn209 also doesn't foul out the barrel so I can shoot all day and not have to clean between every shot. I use black sabots and 45 cal hand gun bullets and shoot under 1.5" at 100yds. Its like having a single shot 45-100, or 45/120... i basically get 450 bushmaster performance out of my muzzle loader. Loved it so much I made a thread for it here too. thats an awesome price you paid for a used one.. Thats worth it.. |
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