late muzzleloader season

[The_Real_TCIII]

Ready for action


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[vizslas]

Ready for action


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Oh that's gonna put the whomp on some deer. Black powder baby

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[wolc123]

1 hour ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

Ready for action


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If you do hunt with that side-lock, you might want to prime the channel behind the nipple with some powder, in addition to the normal load.  I just remove the nipple, and force some powder down the channel with a nipple pick or a needle.  Until I started doing that, hang-fires and mis-fires were a recurring problem, especially in real cold and snowy conditions.   Firing off a few caps before loading also helps out a bit, but having that continuous band of powder, right up to the load, made it go off instantly, just like an in-line, every time.  That is on the target range anyhow, and when unloading after an unsuccessful hunt.  I never fired it at another deer since getting my in-line/

I am not taking chances, until my buck tag is filled, but I might bring out my old Traditions side-lock for DMP's if I am able to do that with my shotgun this weekend or my T/C Omega in-line early the following week.  The only thing I killed with my old side-lock was a gray squirrel that I decapitated with it after a 2 second hang-fire (my point of aim was center lung).   It would be cool to get a doe or better yet, a button buck with it.  My Omega has hit right where I aimed and killed every deer that I shot it at.  

I did loose one of those because I wrongly assumed a miss, and gave up tracking a little too soon.   With fresh snow, you would think at least a drop of blood would have showed on over 300 yards of tracks, but it did not.  He made it another 50 or so, past where I lost his tracks, with a what was likely a single lung hit. The coyotes got most of him in the week it took the crows to point him out to me.   The loss of that deer, 13 years ago, caused me to reduce my range with that 50 cal ML to 150 yards on anything other than a broadside shot.  The ill-fated shot was quartering away at 175.                 

[The_Real_TCIII]

If you do hunt with that side-lock, you might want to prime the channel behind the nipple with some powder, in addition to the normal load.  I just remove the nipple, and force some powder down the channel with a nipple pick or a needle.  Until I started doing that, hang-fires and mis-fires were a recurring problem, especially in real cold and snowy conditions.   Firing off a few caps before loading also helps out a bit, but having that continuous band of powder, right up to the load, made it go off instantly, just like an in-line, every time.  That is on the target range anyhow, and when unloading after an unsuccessful hunt.  I never fired it at another deer since getting my in-line/
I am not taking chances, until my buck tag is filled, but I might bring out my old Traditions side-lock for DMP's if I am able to do that with my shotgun this weekend or my T/C Omega in-line early the following week.  The only thing I killed with my old side-lock was a gray squirrel that I decapitated with it after a 2 second hang-fire (my point of aim was center lung).   It would be cool to get a doe or better yet, a button buck with it.  My Omega has hit right where I aimed and killed every deer that I shot it at.  
I did loose one of those because I wrongly assumed a miss, and gave up tracking a little too soon.   With fresh snow, you would think at least a drop of blood would have showed on over 300 yards of tracks, but it did not.  He made it another 50 or so, past where I lost his tracks, with a what was likely a single lung hit. The coyotes got most of him in the week it took the crows to point him out to me.   The loss of that deer, 13 years ago, caused me to reduce my range with that 50 cal ML to 150 yards on anything other than a broadside shot.  The ill-fated shot was quartering away at 175.                 

175 with open sights? I wouldn’t even be shouldering the gun


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[wolc123]

19 hours ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

175 with open sights? I wouldn’t even be shouldering the gun


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2-7 scope cranked up to 7 for the 175 yard shot.  That combo holds a 3" group at 200 and I had a pretty good rest.   The snow and lack of any blood helped convinced me of a miss after 300 yards of tracking.  I never trust snow now, because small drops of hot blood cuts right through it.   I might push a broadside shot to 200 now with that setup but any kind of an angle will keep me under 150 yards.   There just is not enough energy on a 50 cal sabot load pushed by 100 grains of 777 to penetrate well beyond that range.   With my open-sighted side-lock, 75 yards is about as far as I would shoot.