Thompson Center scout 54 cal.

[DLCTEX]

I have come into an unplanned posession of a Thompson Center Scout in 54 cal . It came with a few sabot bullets that approx. 50 cal with a red tip and sabot, are these made by Thompson as well? Lee offers two hollow base molds in 54 cal. a .533 and a .540 dia. Which would fit this rifle? Would the REAL bullet work? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Dale

[versifier]

Yes, they're made or sold by T/C. Probably the .540 though it might be a bit hard to load the fourth or fifth - its a hunting boolit. The REAL would work fine, but I'd try a MaxiBall first. I have a .54 T/C maxi mould and would send you some to try if interested. Empty .54 sabots are getting very hard to find, but they will let you use your favorite .45 boolits.
Scouts are not very common in .50, much rarer in .54, and it will likely appreciate well over time.

[DLCTEX]

Versifier; Thanks for the speedy reply. I would like to try the T/C bullets. Please pm me with the cost. How much powder and which do you use for hunting loads? Dale

[versifier]

I shoot these out of a Renegade, so you'll have to play with the loads, but you would have to anyway.
430gr MaxiBall 120gr volume equivalent of Pyrodex RS
Lee .452 225gr RNHP in sabot 120gr vol.eq. Pyrodex RS

T/C will send you the manual with loading information for free. You might be able to download it from their website.

I'm not sure what the Max load for the Scout is, but these are listed max for the Renegade. Best accuracy with both in the factory barrel with 90-100gr of powder, the max load opened up the groups to around 3" @ 100yds. I used the MaxiBalls for about 20years, then injured my back and switched to the sabot load along with installing a recoil pad on the rifle. I bought a GM barrel for the old girl a few years ago and it will shoot rb's and sabot loads into 1" or less and the MaxiBalls under 2".

I would expect the Scout to keep everything in 2-3" at the minimum with its preferred charges. This was designed strictly as a hunting rifle for "minute of deer" accuracy. My buddy has one in .50, but he doesn't shoot targets. It got sighted in (he stopped shooting when it put five MaxiBalls offhand in a 4" circle @ 100yds) when he got it NIB and he hasn't "messed with it" since. He has fired it while hunting four times in the last ten years and killed four deer. If I owned it, I would put a recoil pad on the sucker as fast as I could, and if he ever wants to sell it, he has promised me first refusal.

PM me your address and I'll send you some Maxis to play with.

[7br]

The scout manual is on T/C's website as a downloadable pdf. I have one of the rynite stocked carbines. I would dearly love to find a wood stock I could cut down for my kids. If anyone has a line on one, I would appreciate it.

[Taylor]

I shoot 90gr 2fg Hodgdon Pyrodex RS,with Lee 320 REAL in a .50 Scout. It seems to like this real well.Great little rifle.

[wire nut]

I bought a used .50 cal in december. What really surprised me was how well it shoots with a round ball and 70 grs of 2f black powder. It shoots pretty darn good too with a maxi hunter ball and 80 grs of 2f. You can down load the manual for this gun at tc's web site and it has suggested loads for both round abll and the maxi hunter ball
Wier nut

[fenris]

I have a 54 cal T/C scout. The twist rate is 1 in 38. I shoot .530 round ball with a ten-thousandth lubed patch. From a bench at 80 yards i get a grouping of 1.25 to 1.75 in. using 60 gr. of pyro. RS Haven't tried any hallow base stile bullets at this time. My boar mic. at 540/550 Hope this is of some help. Have tried the 90 and 100 grain but I don't like my gun to kill on both ends. You can contact me at fenris@mail2artist.com

[35remington]

Kill on both ends? I think the rifle Scouts are tame compared to the pistol version.

My Scout pistol is in .54, and of course takes the same charges as the rifle does, 1-20 twist. Neither rifle nor pistol is a roundball gun except at low velocities.

Try a 435 with 120 grains sometime if you want your hair parted and your forehead tatooed with front sight. Or better yet, how about the 530 they offered for a short time?

I shot this indoors (range allowed it) while some police officers were qualifying with their 12 gauge pumps. After I lit off 435 grains w/120, several stunned looking faces were peering around the partitions between lanes, saying "What the HELL was THAT?"

Muzzleloading rifles are loud. Muzzleloading pistols with 12 inch barrels that take rifle charges are much louder. Shooting it with full powder loads is kinda like getting a nuclear facial.

I wouldn't trade this gun for anything. For deer hunting, I use a Buffalo Ball-et (310 grains) with 60 grains Pyrodex Select. I don't need all that power for shooting a little ole whitetail, and I shoot a lot better if I'm not flinching my brains out.

[725]

The .54 REAL bullet works just fine in the T/C Scout pistol, as does a .535 RB. The rifle must be close to it. Search around for the load that works best but , by all means, try the full power load recommended in the T/C manual. Make sure the area is clear and hold on to the thing for the ride of your life. It's a scream. Personally, I prefer the round ball loads. You should see what it does to an armadillo!
725

[35remington]

I find my Scout pistol to be pretty tolerant of almost everything. It shot saboted 240 XTP's well, Barnes all copper bullets, REALs, Ball-et and any heavy conical.

Only thing it didn't like was roundballs at high speed, but it shoots them well at low speed.

I don't doubt they'd open up an armadillo.

[Rattus58]

The .54 REAL bullet works just fine in the T/C Scout pistol, as does a .535 RB. The rifle must be close to it. Search around for the load that works best but , by all means, try the full power load recommended in the T/C manual. Make sure the area is clear and hold on to the thing for the ride of your life. It's a scream. Personally, I prefer the round ball loads. You should see what it does to an armadillo!
725

Why are you shooting armadillo's ? Are they good to eat?

Aloha... :cool:

[Rick Hodges]

I have a wood stocked .54 TC Scout that I lugged around the Michigan deer woods for about 20 yrs. It is a delight to carry. Hunting accurate 3-5" at 75 yds. with just about any full caliber bullet and 3f Goex. I started off shooting TC Maxi-Hunter's ahead of 90g. of 3f. Same load with the Lee REAL bullet (380gr.) and dropped to the 310gr. "Ball-et" behind either 80 or 90 gr. of the same powder. The heavier bullets will loosen your fillings if shooting in a light shirt.

In an attempt to flatten the trajectory of the rifle I experimented with sabots and J-words, and Beartooth cast for sabots. They were terrible to load and accuracy was iffy.

My Scout was relegated to a back up role last year when I picked up an Omega. It shoots saboted rounds very well with a point blank range of 200yds, is easier to clean, but just doesn't handle or carry as well. When I head into the swamps and tight woods I'll still carry the Scout.

Rick

[725]

Rattus58,
I was hunting hogs in Fla. and the owner / rancher pleaded with us to shoot any and all armadillos we ran across. Seems that they bore holes in the ground or do some other such thing that endangers the cattle. I'm not an armadillo aficionado but it sounded like a woodchuck kind of thing to me. In any event, I was happy to comply and he was happy for the service. That was my one and only armadillo adventure. At 30 yards, that 535 RB might as well have been an RPG for the terminal effect rendered.
725

[Rattus58]

:grin: "At 30 yards, that 535 RB might as well have been an RPG for the terminal effect rendered."

Hahaha.... :grin: :cool: :drinks:

[Underclocked]

You mean those dern things haven't made it to Hawaii yet? ;)

NO reason is needed to shoot armadillos.

[Bullshop]

Dale
This summer we had a mold made for the TC 54 rifles with the 1/38" twist. I dont know what your pistal would have for twist. We are offering these in diameters starting at .538" increasing in diameter in .001" increments up to .543". In pure lead they weigh 420gn. Using the MM design program it was the longest boolit that would stabelize with the 1/38" twist use by TC. They shoot good in a TC 54 hawkin we have.
BIC/BS

[Rattus58]

You mean those dern things haven't made it to Hawaii yet? ;)

NO reason is needed to shoot armadillos.

Do they float.... :)

[Bad Ass Wallace]

May help

http://hunting.about.com/od/blackpowder/a/tcrifleloads.htm

[fenris]

We don’t have armadillos here in Ky. But we do have coyotes and you can bet your bootstraps it will make real short work of them.
Went hunting with a couple friends that made fun of my little o rifle. They call it stumpy and that I needed to buy me one of these high tech front stuffer. I just smiled. I’m a ground hunter don’t like climbing up in trees so build a small blind usually just outside of a cider thicket to hunt from. To make this story short I called in a coyote at about 30 yds. Give or take 5. squeezed ole stumpy off and after the smoke cleared. The .530 round had hit it just under its chin went out the other side leaving a hole one could have drove a Mac truck in. When my buddies came to see I just smiled stating not bad for a stumpy low-tech front stuffer now you kiddies just run along so us big boys play. They still pick on me and stumpy but that’s ok he get the job done.[smilie=1::Fire: