54 cal rifle

[gunsofliberty]

hi ,picked up 54 cal rifle from flea market but it has 1/20 twist the barrl is 34'' long ,now i want to shoot this rifle but what bullet weight should i use for this rifle help thanks

[docone31]

Sounds like a Sabot rifle.
If that is so, it will take a pistol casting, and sabot.
Hodgdon powder will have load data for it.

[shunka]

Greetings -
I would be inclined to try a "Maxi Ball" or a Lymans Great PLains" bullet as seen here:
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/TableList.aspx?catID=2&subID=25&styleID=65

yhs
shunka

[Nobade]

What sort of rifle is that? I can't imagine anything with that tight a twist in 54 cal with such a long barrel.

[DIRT Farmer]

I was walking down commercial row at Friendship a few years ago and saw a closeout on a top name barrel in 54. I snatched it up and when I got home, noticed it was a 1/20. I decided that much fun was more than I needed. My guess would be a slug between 1 to 1 1/4 inch long.

[mooman76]

My T/C Scout has a 1/20 twist. Pretty tight and that's probably why they loosened it up on later models. You should still be able to shoot conicals and RBs but with milder loads. You just need to play with the loads a little. I have only took it out shooting once since I got it but it shot RBs very good.

[wgr]

My T/C Scout has a 1/20 twist. Pretty tight and that's probably why they loosened it up on later models. You should still be able to shoot conicals and RBs but with milder loads. You just need to play with the loads a little. I have only took it out shooting once since I got it but it shot RBs very good.

that rifle will shoot a long pp bullet great

[fryboy]

two of my .54's have a 1' in 22'' , the lee r.e.a.l.'s do tolerably well , in fairness i havent tried the lighter of the two , sabots arent as easy to find as say for a .50 but there's a few around ( great way to use up boolits !!! ) and the hollow based hollow pointed hornady great plans boolits are awesum in mine

[idahoron]

This would be the bullet I would try. Two wraps of 9# onion skin these should slide right down. I have that mould but have not broke out the 54 yet to try them. Ron

http://leeprecision.com/xcart/MOLD-533-410-M.html

[John Taylor]

I made several rifle in 54 caliber with a 1 in 22" twist many years ago. They did very good with a home made bullet of about 500 grains.

[gunsofliberty]

jonh im looking for 500gr up to 600gr mould for this rifle,who make a 500 to 600 grain bullets for 54 cal

[josper]

I have a TC big boar .58cal. IT shoots really good with the grate plains bullet but I still like patched round ball best.

[George Tucker]

I also have TC 58 Big Bore, the 555gr Maxi shoot extreemly well in my Rifle, George.

[jbelder]

jonh im looking for 500gr up to 600gr mould for this rifle,who make a 500 to 600 grain bullets for 54 cal

That's way to heavy! The ideal weight in my opinion is between 425 to 450!! I shoot a Lyman plains 432gr H.P on top of 100grs of 777 and can achieve 2" 3 shot groups at 100 yrds with peep sights. No excuses bullets sell a 525gr but thats as heavy as I've seen. I shoot a 54 cal Knight mk-85 with a 1:28" twist.

[nicholst55]

I used to shoot the fast-twist 'Hunter' barrel on my Lyman GPR with excellent accuracy at 100 yards - 3.5-4" using the T/C Maxi-Balls and Maxi-Hunters(?) over 80 grains of 2F Goex. I decided to go traditional and switched to a slow-twist round ball barrel.

I don't recall which conical was the most accurate - I still have some if I decide to switch back, but everything is currently 8,000 miles away.