Pellets or powder

[RED BEAR]

On the inline rifles do you have to use the powder pellets or can you use loose black powder. Not much of a bp shooter have a couple pistols thinking of getting a rifle.

[toallmy]

I prefer powder in my inline .

[NSB]

Loose is better for two reasons: you can use exactly the amount your rifle/load likes best, and pellets can crack when being pushed down and the result is a different burn characteristic. Accuracy overall is better with loose.

[BigAlofPa.]

I use the loose powder too. I need to check my zero too. Last year the last day i discharged mine at a dead tree and missed.

[1Hawkeye]

Powder is always the best and if you know what your doing its just as fast if not faster than pellets. Also you don't have to worry about damaging powder.

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

what inline are you shooting?

[Gtek]

Loose, and several options for charge containers out there. They will hold bullet with sabot, powder, primer in one unit with a flip top end. Pop, pour, push, ram, seat, cap, PDQ! I usually carry four in nylon belt pouch. If your just balling you can still run some type container for individual load charges with a patch board and cap stick. And yes I have other pouches with leather fringe on them for the real stuffers, depends on the mood.

[OverMax]

Pellets: Convenient to carry and they reload easier in the heat of the moment and will garner ball park accuracy for a least a couple shots. Although if contemplating a inline? The best sub powder? _Black Horn 209.
A loose granular powder that measures easily and shoots accurately> shot after shot.

[RED BEAR]

I don't have one yet just wondering if i had to use pellets really didn't want one if i did. So now i can start looking.

[Rich/WIS]

A member of the club I belong to changed from pellets to measured charges and using a slightly different charge than the fixed pellets made a significant improvement in accuracy.

[RED BEAR]

The last black powder rifle i owned there were no pellets and i just wasn't sure if you had to use them or not. I have had friends tell me you had to use pellets didn't make sense to me but i didn't own one so just took there word. My brother uses pellets and saboted bullets . Cost more to shoot than my center fire rifle. I just want one for fun don't want to go broke shooting it.

[charlie b]

If you really want cheap fun then there is not much better than patched round ball. If you can get real black then flintlock too.

One of these days I will build a long twist barrel plinking rifle. For me the 45cal has a lot of appeal but might go smaller.

Shooting heavy loads with conicals is not that cheap unless you can cast your own bullets. Even then it still is not that inexpensive when you burn that much powder.

[1Hawkeye]

Na Red, Iv'e had a knight bk92 black knight rifle in .50 caliber since the came out in the early 90's and the only thing I ever have used in it is loose powder. Either black mag 3 for the short time it was around or Fffg black powder 50 grs for a patched ball or 90 grs for a 260 gr sabot.
I will say that an inline is harder and takes longer to clean than a traditional muzzle loader especially if you can remove the barrel from the stock like a hawken.

[dave951]

The last black powder rifle i owned there were no pellets and i just wasn't sure if you had to use them or not. I have had friends tell me you had to use pellets didn't make sense to me but i didn't own one so just took there word. My brother uses pellets and saboted bullets . Cost more to shoot than my center fire rifle. I just want one for fun don't want to go broke shooting it.

For real fun, try shooting Civil War era muskets. Once you have the mold, it only costs powder, cap and whatever you pay for lead. And yes, they can be quite accurate. My 1st gen Parker Hale 2 band Enfield is a sub 2moa gun.

[RED BEAR]

My brother in law was on a canon team in reenactments used to go watch him looked like a blast.

[rodwha]

Are you stuck on an in-line or would you consider something else?

[RED BEAR]

Oh i would consider something else. I would love to have a flint lock but don't think i can afford one.

[rodwha]

Lyman imports a fair inexpensive couple of rifles. Mine is the caplock version of the Deerstalker, and I really like it. It was about $400. They have a few flintlocks as well.

[RED BEAR]

Yea $400 is a lot of money for me most of the guns i buy are in need of repair i have a lot more time than money.

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

CVA Optima if you are in need of an inline. Great gun for little money.

[LAGS]

I had been picking up Used BP rifles from local gun shops and Pawn Shops for around $150 to $250.
Some were European made and some were TC's mostly crudely finished Kits.
I didn't care, because I was going to rebuild them anyway.
So far, I have gotten really lucky, and all of the barrels cleaned up real nice.
But if one had a bad barrel, I would Pay Less and I would probably just send it to Hoyt to be rebored, or just use the good parts on something else.

[RED BEAR]

Cva is one i was looking at. But i will try the pawn shops don't go in the gun stores much anymore they just don't carry guns like they used to i guess its because of internet. I like working on them.

[LAGS]

The shops keep their inventory low because of the economy.
A lot of shops went under in 2008 because no one had the money to buy the stock that they had on hand.
Then there was the Ammo shortage.
You couldn't sell a rifle if people couldn't get ammo for it.
They want to only stock what they know will move out the door quickly like AR's

[1Hawkeye]

Red, keep an eye on williams gunsight co's web site they have a used gun section with photos and it has a black powder section. They are good to deal with and ship to us here in Va. fast. Right now they have a few old T/C's and some modern stuff (inlines).

[triggerhappy243]

Oh i would consider something else. I would love to have a flint lock but don't think i can afford one.

not sure what is available in your area, but around here there is a fair amount of used caplock rifles for sale. T/C is an excellent rifle if you can find a nice clean rifle.

And on top of all that, they are american made.

[RED BEAR]

Hey thanks hawkeye i will check them out. Just tried website can't get it to work will try later on computer.

[megasupermagnum]

The only advantage of pellets is that you don't need a powder measure. That's it, no other bonus.

There are a number of disadvantages, including the 777 crud ring which isn't as bad with loose powder, very poor shelf life (I wouldn't trust them more than a year after opening), and poor reliability. The pellets are only good for a single caliber too. You can't shoot 50 caliber pellets in anything but a 50 caliber gun. Pellets are not a good idea in anything but an inline ignition gun, and usually require a 209 primer. I've on two occasions with two different people try to shoot 777 pellets that sat after opening 3 years and 5 years, and both were bloopers. Pellets do make cool smoke bombs for the 4th of July.


Loose powder works in any gun, and you can adjust the powder charge to your hearts content. Nobody is winning matches with pellets. FFg black powder is the most versatile, but 777 is not a bad alternative. If you can get 777, don't even consider Pyrodex.


Buy a good Blackpowder, or loose 777, and buy whatever gun you desire without worries.

[RED BEAR]

Thanks all i have been told you had to use pellets made no sence to me but i don't have one so what do i know. Will look into one now.

[Arkansas Paul]

I have the CVA Optima Elite, the one you can change barrels on, though I only have the ML barrel.
I shoot 80 grains of loose Pyrodex and a 295 grain Powerbelt hollow point. It's very accurate with that load.
80 grains seems weak when compared to folks shooting 150 grains of pellets these days, but I killed a doe at 160-170 yards with that load, and the bullet landed right where the crosshairs were resting.