Thinking of Muzzleloader barrel for t/c prohunter...questions

[218bee]

I've been toying with the idea of getting a Muzzleloader barrel for my T/C Prohunter and wanted to ask a few questions from anyone who has gone this road before me.The reason for this would be to play with of course but also to use for the muzzleloader deer season in Illinois.
My questions are as follows... Bergara barrel?? others??
If I were to get .45 cal barrel, wonder if any boolits I cast for 45/70 cartridges could be forced down barrel without damage?
Do any of you cast boolits for yours, or do you stick with "saboted" bullets?
Thinking I would like to use "real black" rather than the fake stuff or pellets.
So, in a nutshell I'm thinking .. real black powder, with bullets I can cast, probably 45 cal.
Any ideas suggestions appreciated especially from anyone doing the same.
What say ye?

[pietro]

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My Son bought a new 2-barrel ProHunter several years ago, with both a .300 Winchester Mag, and a .50cal muzzleloader barrel - and Nikon BDC 3-9x40 scopes for each bbl, with one scope's reticle elevation dots calibrated for the .300 and the other for the .50 cal.

I would suggest you simply buy a .50cal bbl directly from T/C. (My Son shoots/hunts it using three 50gr pellets, up to 250yds - so far)



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[nagantguy]

T/c barrel all the way, stick with .50. My number one hunting rifle is the encore in .50. Lots of deer, a bear few pigs all one shot dead within 50 yards. The Lee reals in 320 that I've been playing with now that they are powder coated are the most consistent and accurate and very little fowling, like 9 10,shots before poi shifts even slightly!!!! There is a reason .50 has stayed on top in terms of sales, it works!!!! Also just to save you time, the encore barrel is to fast a twist for patched round balls and the smaller 250 real. Like it so much my next encore barrel will be another 50, the short kathdin or how ever you spell it.

[218bee]

Thanks for the thoughts. "nagantguy" is the LEE REAL a bullet you cast? Are you using pellets?
Really want to cast my own and use real Black

[nagantguy]

Yes the REAL is the Lee mold, rifling engraved at loading. I'm using 90 grains pyrodex.

[218bee]

I should have looked before I typed.
I guess I'm still wondering about 45 or 50 cal.
Know of a good place to get a seal on a barrel?
Thompson just as good as Bergara?

[dualsport]

Sounds to me like you may have a little 'buckskinner' in you. The interest in real black and home casting gives you away. Check the auction sites for a nice replica of a muzzle loader you like. No end to the varieties out there. The modern types are effective tools but not likely to be a real source of pride or joy.

[218bee]

Buckskinner?? a nice way of sayin I'm an old man hehe
Well I did skin two a couple weeks ago, and I like single shot rifles, side by side shotguns and single action revolvers..
I actually did consider a "real" muzzleloader many moons ago but never did get one. Now with my failing eyesight and the fact that I want to use this for deer I'm planning on scoping it. I still shoot my Rolling Block and two Trapdoors, but them sights seem to get smaller every time I shoot them.

[Anonym]

I've got the 209x50 and it shoots beautifully. I've been sticking with sabots and casting 45 caliber lead boolits for mine. Your 45-70 boolits may be able to be sized down to fit in a sabot just fine. I've been using a 457122 HP and a 454424 with great luck when sized down to 0.452.

The factory barrels are very nice. At one time (when I was young, single, and had a disposable income), I was shooting Dead Center swaged lead bullets with the ballistic tip and had worked up THE load for my barrel (78 grains of pre-measured 777) and was shooting 1-inch groups at 200 yards off a bench all day long. Once I got married and my disposable income became extinct, I decided that $1.00 a shot out of a muzzleloader, and sub-minute of angle was overkill on whitetail around here with a "long shot" being 100 yards, so I've gone with a variety of others with success, just settling in on my cast ones just because...

With these inline barrels, you're looking at a very fast rate of twist (1:27 if I recall correctly). They will stabilize a good, heavy bullet/boolit. Loading them with a bore-sized projectile may work fine, but I think I'd recommend going with a 50 caliber in case things didn't work out. Fifty-cal stuff is so much easier to come by these days, and 45 bullets are commonplace to put in a sabot and sling out of these rifles.

As far as TC or Bergara, I've heard both are great barrels and will shoot great. It's hard to argue with Bergara's price point...