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View Full Version : got sighted in for deer muzzle loader season.



johnson1942
09-19-2014, 01:20 PM
built a new side lock last winter. .45 1/30 twist. it shoots a .440 paperpatched 335 grain swaged bullet. i set the sights for 35 yards last spring and havent shot it much since. today i put a five gallon pail on a fench post and it is 100 yards from the deck railing. used 100 grains of blackhorn 209 powder behind it. when tested before through a chronograph this load clocked at 1700 ft. per sec. well i shot six shots and hoped to hit minute of deer some where close on the pail. i drove around to look at the pail and i only saw 2 holes 1 inch apart perfectly in the center of the pail. **** i thought. on closer inspection the two holes were 3 ragged holes each. not bad for a 72 years old with slight tremors. the gun is so well balanced im going to use it for my deer gun this year. i was going to use my other .45 1/18 twist but i dont like the sights on it so later this year im going to put my favorite sight on it to make it easier to shoot. ive been useing those skinner aftermarket marlin ghost ring sights. i dont even use the insert but take that off and just use the hole it screws into for the sight pictures. august was cool but sept is proveing to be warmer than usual.a huge mule deer buck and a huge elk was taken near here by bowhunters about a wk. or so ago. got permission to hunt on some riverbottom ranch land this year so am excited about that. never know what pops up infront of my sights.

idahoron
09-19-2014, 02:03 PM
Awesome! I went on an elk hut and I had a chance to shoot but I passed. SHe was 175 yards and my limit for the first shot is 150. My gun is sighted in for 300 yards, and my paper patched bullets have the same energy at 200 yards as a 44 mag with 300 gr bullets has at the muzzle. I have no doubt I could have done it, but I didn't. I hope my son ets a chance at a deer this year. Good luck on your hunt. Ron

johnson1942
09-19-2014, 03:24 PM
thanks ron, do you think the 335 grain bullet is big enough? as im used to useing bigger bullets. i really like this gun as i can shoot it off hand as well as rested on something. if i can get my wife to post pictures on it i will. i call it my junk drawer gun. everything on it is from my spare parts junk drawer except the barrel. the wood for the stock cost me 9 dollars at the local lumberyard. turned out to be the best off hand gun ive ever built.

idahoron
09-19-2014, 05:58 PM
I think you will be fine with the 335 gr bullet. A lot of deer have fell to the Lee REAL bullet and it is 320.

Boaz
09-19-2014, 06:41 PM
Good luck johnson 1942 , hope you get one . Be a great way to break in your new rifle .

starmac
09-19-2014, 11:08 PM
Sounds like you have pretty much got that thing tamed. As far as the boolit probably more legal game taken with a 170 gr, 30 cal bullet going not a lot faster than any others combined. I think your boolit should be plenty good medicine.

ReloaderEd
09-20-2014, 07:24 PM
We have found that muzzle loaders sighted point of aim are good out to about 180 yds. Here in Washington state Elk require 50 caliber minimum with exposed ignition no 209 primers. However you can be proud of the rifle you built. Be safe.

OverMax
09-20-2014, 08:22 PM
335-gr. seems like a lot of bullet for a 45. If it groups as well as you wrote. Why not.
Good luck to yaw this season.

johnson1942
09-20-2014, 08:36 PM
sighted in my sons in line .50 cal 1/32 twist, with 9 power scope. used 125 grains blackhorn 209 powder behing a mmp sabot and a .451 hollow point copper coated bullet. kept a tight group at 100 yards. have to admit that gun can really shoot. i honestly had a harder time keeping it on target than the one i custom built for my self but man can it shoot. their is nothing like a stock of a gun that fits you perfectly. that makes for easiery shooting. if ever you want to make a custom stock for a gun for your self this is waht you do. make it out of heavy cardboard un til it fits your eye hand and shoulder perfectly. their you are, then transfer it to the wood for the stock and shape. i use a new hoof rasp as that is a better wood file that any wood file out their. that last gun fits me like a glove.

koger
09-20-2014, 09:18 PM
Sounds like you are ready Roger! I am still chasing deer here with a bow, seen several bruiser bucks, a new one this evening. I tagged a hen turkey in my back hay field last week, #14 , was delicioius, my 18th traditional turkey with a longbow an recurve!

johnson1942
09-21-2014, 01:10 AM
i see their are also getting to be a lot of turkeys around here and i may look into when the seasons are. they are bunching up for the winter now and get together in some really big flocks. my wife and i had to stop the car a while back as they went single file across a rural road we were on. 68 of them one behind the other. they sure do taste good. with all the nice cover down in KY. i bet they are really thick.

quilbilly
09-25-2014, 11:32 PM
thanks ron, do you think the 335 grain bullet is big enough? as im used to useing bigger bullets. i really like this gun as i can shoot it off hand as well as rested on something. if i can get my wife to post pictures on it i will. i call it my junk drawer gun. everything on it is from my spare parts junk drawer except the barrel. the wood for the stock cost me 9 dollars at the local lumberyard. turned out to be the best off hand gun ive ever built.
I was using a 265 gr SWC 429 boolit with sabot in my 50 cal White MTN. carbine elk hunting when I shot a cow elk at 50 yards. The last sight I had of her before smoke filled the scene was of her lifted completely off the ground with hooves pointed skyward. She had a live weight of close to 500 pound and never took another step. The load was 78 gr of FFF Goex. 335 gr is plenty.

johnson1942
09-26-2014, 11:00 AM
thanks