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Moho81
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Picked up a Traditions Evolution muzzleloader yesterday. Mostly got it for the late holiday season the DEC implemented this year. It’s topped with a Nikon prostaff BDC scope.

 

I have to give it a good cleaning on top of learning about muzzleloaders in general.

 

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I can get together with you if you have a place to shoot it. Talk to the Academy guys, I'm sure there are several guys that will help you get it sighted in. plus they will probably have an assortment of powders and bullets to see what that rifle likes. Gman is also a great source for starting into black powder. 

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I can get together with you if you have a place to shoot it. Talk to the Academy guys, I'm sure there are several guys that will help you get it sighted in. plus they will probably have an assortment of powders and bullets to see what that rifle likes. Gman is also a great source for starting into black powder. 

Thank you for the generous offer. Fortunately a friend shoots the same muzzleloader so I’m already picking his brain about it.


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Was it new or used , I use butches muzzleloader bore shine to clean barrel, does a great job . Big nikon fan  the ML should provide years of service 

Used. Only shot a few times but I know the person it came from and he’s notorious for not keeping his guns clean.


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What a nightmare it was yesterday shooting the muzzleloader for the first time.

Surprisingly the gun wasn’t very dirty but I still did a complete clean of it before using it.

Started the day with 2 mis fires. Only the primer went off.

First 2 shots not even on paper at 100 yards even though the gun was supposedly sighted in before.

Pulled the breech plug and looked down the barrel at the target and the scope. Looked to be about 6 inches low.

Made the adjustment to the scope and still not on paper.

Put a target up at 25 yards and I’m still over 12” low.

Shoot 2 more times at 25 yards and now I’m close.

Shoot 2 times at 100 yards and I’m 7” high WTF!

Make the adjustment to the scope and shoot again. This time perfect elevation at 100 yards 1.5” right. Load up one more round and 1” left perfect elevation again.

I totaled 13 shots, disassembled and reassembled the gun numerous times learned a ton about muzzleloading from the guys that where there to help. So the day wasn’t a complete disaster but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t frustrated towards the end.

To top the evening off I pulled out the 30-.06 to check zero and the scope is off again. 100 yards no shots on paper. This is the third time the cheap scope lost zero from season to season. I’m ordering a vortex to put on it before shooting it again.


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AND…..a large piece of cardboard, steady bench, quality front and rear bags add to your success and can save much frustration when sighting in a new gun.  
31DAE59F-C7A4-41EE-8445-9BE45356A0C1.thumb.jpeg.5c40a01380562763acc076980509902e.jpeg

Uggggg. Had all that and more. I don’t think I’ve ever struggled like that before. Probably made it more frustrating that I was also learning the ways of a muzzleloader at the same time.


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12 hours ago, Moho81 said:

What a nightmare it was yesterday shooting the muzzleloader for the first time.

Surprisingly the gun wasn’t very dirty but I still did a complete clean of it before using it.

Started the day with 2 mis fires. Only the primer went off.

First 2 shots not even on paper at 100 yards even though the gun was supposedly sighted in before.

Pulled the breech plug and looked down the barrel at the target and the scope. Looked to be about 6 inches low.

Made the adjustment to the scope and still not on paper.

Put a target up at 25 yards and I’m still over 12” low.

Shoot 2 more times at 25 yards and now I’m close.

Shoot 2 times at 100 yards and I’m 7” high WTF!

Make the adjustment to the scope and shoot again. This time perfect elevation at 100 yards 1.5” right. Load up one more round and 1” left perfect elevation again.

I totaled 13 shots, disassembled and reassembled the gun numerous times learned a ton about muzzleloading from the guys that where there to help. So the day wasn’t a complete disaster but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t frustrated towards the end.

To top the evening off I pulled out the 30-.06 to check zero and the scope is off again. 100 yards no shots on paper. This is the third time the cheap scope lost zero from season to season. I’m ordering a vortex to put on it before shooting it again.


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What powder and primers were you using ?

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What powder and primers were you using ?

Triple 7 primers and triple 7 pellets 100gr.

I think the 2 mis fires was a me issue. I put the breech plugs back in and may have not completely dried them after cleaning.

The second issue was me assuming the scope was sighted in properly. It was not. Lol.

As you know being a muzzle loader it’s just a slow process. Can’t just rifle off round after round. Shoot 2-3 times clean. Shoot 2-3 times clean again.

It probably took 2 hours in total


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8 hours ago, Moho81 said:


Triple 7 primers and triple 7 pellets 100gr.

I think the 2 mis fires was a me issue. I put the breech plugs back in and may have not completely dried them after cleaning.

The second issue was me assuming the scope was sighted in properly. It was not. Lol.

As you know being a muzzle loader it’s just a slow process. Can’t just rifle off round after round. Shoot 2-3 times clean. Shoot 2-3 times clean again.

It probably took 2 hours in total


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after cleaning and before season i always fire a primer to clean out - had that happen to me too.  

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I drop the block on my T/C omega inline, point the muzzle at a light, and make sure I can see light coming thru the touch hole.  That way I dont need to waste a primer.

A few times, when no light was visible, I pulled the breech plug and drilled it out.  Powder residue plugs that up pretty solid if you dont clean it good.

I am using Traditions foaming bore cleaner now, after use, and that always gets rid of all the powder residue in the stainless steel breech plug.  I have not had any more plugging issues since doing that.

I have never had a misfire or hang fire with my in-line (always have used the see the light trick), but have had a few with my old side-lock.  That was mostly corrected by firing a #11 cap, prior to loading, and feeding some loose powder down the spark channel.

I have killed over a dozen deer with the inline, but not one yet with the sidelock.  It misfired the only time I fired it at a deer. That was before I learned the pre load cap and loose powder trick.  

I aim to try it again this year, with a brand new set of fiber optic sights.  I am bringing it with me up north, during the early ML week, next month.  It is a light weight carbine that would be real nice to carry in the swamps where the deer tend to hole up at that time.

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