Pumpkinslinger wrote:

I know that Pyrodex won't light as easily as black powder so when I first tried Hodgdon 777 I tried some blank loads. It lit off fine. Years back a reenactor was having trouble with his blanks not going off at all. I checked his powder and asked him "What the h#*& is that stuff?" It was Pyrodex. It would only ignite if it was sufficiently compressed.

I've never had any problem with Pyrodex pellets firing in my Encore, or my 54 cal. Hawken. We did a little test with Pyrodex and triple 7 with the cronagraph and found the pyrodex was faster, (FPS) than the 777, I know it doesn't mean much but It surprised me, I thought the 777 was supposed to burn faster and increase your FPS.

Update to the saga... Now that I figured out I only need a spit patch between shots... I am chunking the 195gr Powerbelts on top of 100gr 777 pellets into a very tight cluster at +2' @50 yards. I will check the real drop at 100 and beyond an Chrono next trip to the range.

Now that I have that part figured out I will try the 245 gr. maxi hunter lead slug and the XTP sabots and then some loose powder. If I can get over 2100 fps with the power belts I should have enough whump to drop a doe at 150 yards+.(1200ft.lb) I know I am handicapping myself with the.45 a bit but I am having fun now!

Glad your gettin it figured out . I love huntin with the muzzle loader
Joe

The Saga continues - Less is more.

Wanting to have as much energy as possible and as flat a trajectory a possible I tried out a max load of 150 grains of 777 pellets with the powerbelts.... lousy accuracy!

Still have to try the TC maxi hunter lead slugs and the loose powder yet.

But on the bright side - I do have my slug gun dialed in putting the sabot in a 2" group at 100 yards and the .44 magnum is ready to go dead on at 50 yards and -3" at 100 yards. Once I get the front stuffer settled in on a good load I will be ready for two months of deer hunting!

glockman55 wrote:

Pumpkinslinger wrote: I know that Pyrodex won't light as easily as black powder so when I first tried Hodgdon 777 I tried some blank loads. It lit off fine. Years back a reenactor was having trouble with his blanks not going off at all. I checked his powder and asked him "What the h#*& is that stuff?" It was Pyrodex. It would only ignite if it was sufficiently compressed. I've never had any problem with Pyrodex pellets firing in my Encore, or my 54 cal. Hawken. We did a little test with Pyrodex and triple 7 with the cronagraph and found the pyrodex was faster, (FPS) than the 777, I know it doesn't mean much but It surprised me, I thought the 777 was supposed to burn faster and increase your FPS.

Lucky you! I recently got a TC Contender G2 in 50cal and loaded it with NEW pyrodex pellets, and the darn things just puked out the barrel smoldering from the primer shot. Could not get the darn pellets to do what they were supposed to do until we used some green high pressure sabots with 300grain Rainier flat points. And they were hard to load!
Traded it off! We will stick to our flintlocks and percussion side lock muzzle loaders. they work good for us.

Dawgdad, I can tell you that the plain lead bullets won't shoot in a fast (1 in 28") twist. I tried them in my Encore over about 100 grains of 777 and they apparently just strip out of the rifling. Lead bullets will work in a slow twist, like 1 in 48".

Two months of hunting now I'm really jealous. We have a 9 day firearm season and about 3 week muzzle loader season. By the end of the muzzle loader season it is getting pretty cold up here.

I just love hunting with my side locks, it kinda bring me back in time.

I do not normally admit to owning any BP guns, someone might ask me to go shoot one and I do hate to clean the nasty things. Any way, here goes on the tips and tricks trail.

I learned from a Ned Roberts match shooter and whent a couple of times to the Ned Roberts matches in New Hampshire to watch the pros handle their tack drivers. The match shooter's gun was a 45 cal underhammer slug gun with a 1 1/4 across the flats heavy barrel, on wheels. I watched him shoot bowling pins with the gun at 175 yards, using patched balls.

1) If you want the best accuracy in a 45 use FFF black powder.

2) Increase the load until the report turns into a solid crack, sounding like a 30-06. Usually this is around 100 grains.

3) A patched ball is very accurate at 100 yards in a 45. Use precut pillow ticking patches soaked in Crisco or other lube such as water pump greese.

4) Between shots swab the bore using a heavy swab soaked with rubbing alcohol. It cleans / dissolves the crud and evaporates almost instantly. No dry patch is needed.

5) Use empty straight wall cartridge cases for a powder measure. Example, a 45-70 case holds 80 grains of FFF as I recall. Just put duct tape around it marked with a magic marker.

6) With a conical bullet, for hunting, fill the base with modeling clay and it will not contaminate the powder like a soft lube will.

I have not used bore butter but I understand it does real well to keep the rust away. I have never used a sabot. I have used Pyrodex and do not like it.
Best,
Ed

PS: To keep the wrath of the lovely lady from biting your rump, wash out the bore in a 5gal bucket of soapy Dawn hot water out in the yard.