new to muzzle loading

[wolfmoon]

i just bought my first muzzle loader a cva magnum and i need all the help i can just wondered if anyone had any tips or tricks ?

[Varmint Hunter]

I've got 2 suggestions:

1. Read - read - read before you start shooting - shooting - shooting

2. It would be a good idea to have an experienced muzzleloader with you during your first shooting session.

Good luck & enjoy

[Skyline]

For the initial stages you might want to try using the Pyrodex or 777 pellets, start with light weight saboted bullets with the magnum loads.

Oh and clean your rifle faithfully after every shoot.........and when you take out the breach plug and clean it make sure you put enough lube on it before you re-install it.

Have fun!

[wolfmoon]

someone told me to put bore butter in my gun before i shoot it the first time is this true?

[Steverino]

I'm also new to muzzleloading. (received a T/C Omega, 50 cal. 28" barrelled rifle for X-Mas) I don't know much about muzzleloading but am excited at the prospects of extending my deer hunting opportunities.

Overall, I was very impressed with the T/C owners manual. Good warnings all over the place along with excellent diagrams and photographs. Also included a muzzleloading DVD (haven't had a chance to watch yet ) that I plan on watching when I get a chance.

I was surprised how crisp the trigger broke as well. Appears like a well made rifle. I'll probably shoot the sabots for accuracy (and appears will eliminate the need for barrel lube) when hunting and will probably also begin with the Pyrodex pellets until I am comfortable transitioning to the black powder.

Any good books that would be good for a novice?

[Underclocked]

No - on the bore butter question - instead clean the rifle thoroughly before shooting. Shiney clean, especially in the bore.

[steven gordon]

Sooner or later you'll put the bullet down without putting int he powder. IT's happened to all of us.

When that happens, take out the primer, trickle a little powder infront of where it seats, and replace the primer. That should be enough oomph to get the bullet out.

Cleaning is going to be a pain. Start the process with four times more patches than you need.

I think you're better off with power belt bullets than with sabots; they are much easier to load, but that brings us into a whole different set of posts.

(As long as I'm disagreeing, I think that if you're using triple 7 you don't have to clean all that often. When I do, I use a patch saturated with alcohol based gel hand cleaner like Purell and it cleans in one swipe. Occasionally I've just used a patch saturated with my saliva and it did a good enough job of cutting the crud. But remember that there are a lot of intelligent, experienced muzzleloaders out there who would disagree with me).

Be darned sure you seat the bullet all the way, otherwise what you have is a pipe bomb, not a rifle.

YOu will acquire a lot of accoutrement now that youwon't have any use for in three years. There's no telling what those things are going to be. Get used to the idea that you're going to get rid of a lot of things you haven't used much.

We're all on a learning curve. Enjoy yours.

[steven gordon]

What I meant about not cleaning all that often should be applied to cleaning between shots. When you finish shooting any blackpowder or blackpowder substitute, you have to clean the rifle promptly or you will be very, very sorry.

[Jabba]

Personally, I think the pelletized propellants put the cart before the horse.


I have had to many times... work for hours to try to find the powder combination that best suits the bullet I am shooting, and there just isn't enough combinations without using loose powder.

Plus... have you seen the 209 primers made especially for pelletized powder? You know WHY? Because regular 209 primers were shoving the whole charge down the barrell creating an airspace in the breech of the gun before the propellant was igniting. The SPECIAL 209 primers are not as hot as the regular ones. Loose powder ignites better.

So.. IMO loose powder (I use 777). Spit patch between every shot. Foul the barrell before shooting.

Go to a web site called PRbullet.com and look for a section in there that gives you loading tips. The guys that runs the site manufactures custom ML bullets and REALLY know his schtuff.

Good luck!!

Jabba

[rem 700]

All traces of bore butter should be removed before you begin shooting but it should be put on after shooting to prevent rust and in the long run make cleaning easier. If you're using a dirty powder such as pyrodex between every shot use 1 wet patch then 1 dry patch, but I use American Pioneer so you only need to wet patch dry patch every 6 or 8 shots to get the same consistency. My favorite load in my inlines is 250gr t/c shockwave and 120gr of FFG loose powder, and it seems to be a good load in most rifles.