Useful hunting load for Inline ML

[WRideout]

I purchased a CVA Buckhorn Magnum a little while back, but have not shot it a lot. The directions that came with it were somewhat equivocal on working up a load with BP. The factory recommends white hot pellets. I bought a can of FFg, and following the presumed rule to start with one grain per 0.1 inch of caliber, I used 50 gr BP under a patched RB. It seems to shoot fine, and recoil is very light. Now I am reading about other shooters using anywhere from 80-150 gr of various propellants, with boolits that weigh up to 300 or so gr. I am wondering if my load is too anemic to use for reliable hunting of deer. Any advice?

Wayne

[NSB]

I purchased a CVA Buckhorn Magnum a little while back, but have not shot it a lot. The directions that came with it were somewhat equivocal on working up a load with BP. The factory recommends white hot pellets. I bought a can of FFg, and following the presumed rule to start with one grain per 0.1 inch of caliber, I used 50 gr BP under a patched RB. It seems to shoot fine, and recoil is very light. Now I am reading about other shooters using anywhere from 80-150 gr of various propellants, with boolits that weigh up to 300 or so gr. I am wondering if my load is too anemic to use for reliable hunting of deer. Any advice?


Wayne
Yes, don't go back to the source of that rule for any further information. After forty-five years of shooting muzzle loaders, this is the first time I heard of that one. Nearly all shooters will find that their best groups come with somewhere around 80-110 grains of powder with a 50cal muzzle loader. White Hots are recommended simply because the company has some interest in them or simply had one gun shoot them well. Real black powder and most subs will shoot good in some guns and less good in others. You need to try a couple to find out what your gun likes best. On a personal level, I like Blackhorn209 in my guns. It shoots very well and cleans up as easy as smokeless powder. I can also shoot it all afternoon without cleaning between shots. Try bumping up to at least seventy grains and work up incrementaly until accuracy deteriorates and go back a bit.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

it is very common to tell someone a grain for each .01 inch of caliber meaning 45gr for a 45 cal 50 gr starting load for a 50 cal and patched round ball , 54 or 55gr for a 54cal , 70gr for a 69 cal it is a really safe and easy to remember starting point

this is a starting load for a patched round ball not a conical but 50gr of powder from a 50 cal will be safe with just about anything you could push down the barrel with a normal ram rod and your hands

this is a starting place for black powder to work up a load you then go up 5gr at a time till you find your best group then they open up again

if you were shooting a Wisconsin white tail at 50 yards with a .490 round ball and a good fitting patch and 50 gr of powder it would be adequate , at 100 it is bit lite

yes about 70-80 gr depending on what powder is a common hunting load for a 50 cal and a patched round ball

conical will be 70-90 something it's called working up a load because you start low and work up in steps when you find your best group you can fine tune

many would tell you you want the biggest load you can go before accuracy goes south , I just don't shoot deer at that far of a distance maybe 75 yards with iron sights , I like a Lee R.E.A.L 50 cal 320 gr with 60 gr of 3fg under this at 50 yards is fine and shoots to my sights this is a side hammer 1in 48 twist

my hunting load in my inline with a scope was 90gr 777 under a 410 gr hornady great planes conical it penetrates a deer nearly end to end

but i shoot targets with 25 to 60gr and it is accurate and pleasant when we shoot muzzle loader silhouettes in 4-H the kids work up a load for each distance so that the sights can stay the same generally 25-30 gr at 25 yards is a nice paper punching load then take it up to about 40gr for 40 and 60 meters then 50gr for 77 meters and 60gr for 100 meters , the 4-h kids are limited to 60gr of powder by program rules but it is adequate to get a ram to fall at 100 meters

[Lloyd Smale]

personaly I think your handicapping yourself with an inline shooting round balls. There twisted for saboted pistol bullets. Get your self a can of triple seven or better yet blackhorn and a box of 250 xtps and some sabots and load a 100 grains of powder with them. You step up into a different universe in power and range. Your inline will do anyting a 300 grain 4570 will. If you had an old percussion cap gun id say go with real black and a round ball.

[NSB]

personaly I think your handicapping yourself with an inline shooting round balls. There twisted for saboted pistol bullets. Get your self a can of triple seven or better yet blackhorn and a box of 250 xtps and some sabots and load a 100 grains of powder with them. You step up into a different universe in power and range. Your inline will do anyting a 300 grain 4570 will. If you had an old percussion cap gun id say go with real black and a round ball.

He just said it all! Get the full advantage of your gun. You don't need to load it to the max but you're short changing yourself a lot here.

[shredder]

Yup. 100 grains of Pyrodex or ffg with a Hornady 240 XTP in a sabot will put any deer to bed for good within 150 yds. If you need 777 or any newfangled powder, I have not had enough success with any to change from actual black powder or Pyrodex.

[Pyro&Black]

Wayne
If you encounter any kind of rain, snow or upwards-humidity while hunting, shoot that ML every day. That powder you bought will suck-up moisture pretty easy.

If you have time to work-up a roundball load using a 2nd pellet, go ahead and put up some targets. But if not, then just stick to hunting with what you're already familiar with....one pellet

[WRideout]

Thanks everybody. I got busy for a bit, and didn't answer right away. Whenever I am done with the FFg that I have, I may try the Blackhorn as an experiment. I will bump up the load of BP a bit, and shoot some targets. Next will be getting some maxi balls to try out.
Wayne

[OnHoPr]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?290396-FS-Lee-1oz-slugs-44-240RN-Slip-on-Recoil-Pad

Really don't mean to advertise in this section, but in this case these would be a good cheap little test for you. These TC sabots really don't squeeze down the groups like the old black TC sabots in my gun, but they still shot an 1" @ 50 yd. I think they changed the plastic composition. The boolits are what I use for general deer hunting and work quite well. I only use a 120 gr Pdex select with them. The groups open up in my gun any higher. They are soft enough to work well with the lower charges though. If they shoot for your gun the boolit will do its job even with a less than perfect hit. You may consider buying a mold like this or something similar to go with sabots. It can cut the cost of shooting down and these have performed for me better than any of the jacketed stuff so far. 100 yds should be easily doable with perhaps 150 to 200 yd.

[Muddydogs]

110 grains of BH 209, 300 grain .45 XTP, Harvester crushed rib sabot and CCI 209M primer in my Traditions Vortek strikerfire for a muzzle velocity of 1930.

If you're going to hunt with an inline might as well get all you can out of it.

[WRideout]

Thanks, OnHoPr and muddydogs. I have generally shied away from sabots, but that's just a preference. I like the traditional feel of shooting patched round balls; the inline ML I got just because it was on sale. I suppose just for meat hunting I should go ahead and get a scope, and do the whole thing.
Wayne

[DIRT Farmer]

Shoot in the late evening to see how much powder you are blowing out of the end of your barrel.
Most of the buffalo were shot off the plains with a 350-400 grain bullet and 70 grains of black powder.
In my 50 flinter I use a round ball and 60 grains of ffg Goex. It makes a hole in both sides of a deer.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

my T/C Omega will do 1 hole at 100 yards with a 250gr shock wave and 150gr of pyrodex pellets 153441
and my Encore will do about the same with 100 gr of Pyrodex pellets does not like a max load but you should
shoot sabots out of your inline to make the most out of it also use http://www.cabelas.com/product/shooting/black-powder/sabots-bullets%7C/pc/104792580/c/104701680/sc/104547780/harvester-crush-rib-50-caliber-sabots-per-50/740770.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fsabot s-bullets%2F_%2FN-1100204%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104547780 with my cast boolits

[Win94ae]

Yes, don't go back to the source of that rule for any further information.

Indeed.

[Muddydogs]

Thanks, OnHoPr and muddydogs. I have generally shied away from sabots, but that's just a preference. I like the traditional feel of shooting patched round balls; the inline ML I got just because it was on sale. I suppose just for meat hunting I should go ahead and get a scope, and do the whole thing.
Wayne

Yep throw a scope on it as well. If you want a little traditional you can cast your own lead bullets to put in the sabot. Out of my .54 I shoot 300 grain cast lead I make from a 454 mold then stick them in a sabot for .45 cal bullets.

[TCLouis]

Shootin paper . . . I'd stick with the 50 grains if it were accurate

Hunting . . . I would go up until you lose accuracy.

2 more rules of thumb that they used to use 1.5 times the caliber for a beginning hunting load.

Anotheer was place a RB in your hand and carefully pour powder until it covers the ball . . . DO NOT USE this one, for informational/entertainment purposes only

For the doubters, try this one then measure the charge, if done right I think most folks will be surprised.

[Ramjet-SS]

That gun has pretty fast rate of twist and will do best with conical bullets. Power belt Areo Lites will do a great job out of that gun with a charge of 80-95 grains by volume of FFG or equivalent. Recoil is reasonable. Power belts load easy. Now at the range swab between shots to get the most from the gun. I use a copper pot scrubber wrapped around a patch you can cut a nice patch of the scrubber for getting out the fouling. That fouling will be worse down towards the breech where the powder sits. Good idea to make sure the cleaning rod moves freely. Then run a slightly moist patch and load for the next shot. This is important so you do not short load the bullet you want it down on the charge. The TC Maxi balls will shoot pretty well too but they are more work to load like the sabots. But of the ones we talked about the Sabots mentioned before and the Power Belts will be the most accurate and effective on game.

[rodwha]

Have you considered paper patching bullets?

I would ask about using Lee REALs but I'm not sure they'd be easy to seat in a shallow groove barrel. They do well when I use a wad in my deeper PRB barrel with a 1:48" twist (longer 320 grn .50 cal version).

[Tar Heel]

I would get a real gun! :bigsmyl2:

153701

[Ramjet-SS]

Nice rifle but he is asking about what he has now. Did you make that rifle?

[WRideout]

I got the inline because it was on sale, and I wanted to take advantage of the early ML seasons here in PA. I have considered getting the Lee mold that throws both RB and REAL 50 cal, but decided I would just use the RB's that I traded for to start. I may need to trade for some conicals, just to experiment before I invest in a mold. I generally like Lee stuff, but if I had the money I would probably get a steel mold.
Wayne

[Ramjet-SS]

Nothing wrong with the gun you have but agin the rate of twist is pretty fast not ideal for round balls. Try the TC Maxiball over 80 grains of FFG or equivalent.