Old Dog Needs New Tricks?

[Marker]

Marker...nice to finally find someone with some experience shooting .58 PH Musketoon.

The manuals all say they are designed for conicals and from what I have seen they do shoot those well.

Have you tried a saboted .45 thru that barrel ? The literature with the bullet says they will have 'best' accuracy with a 1:48 twist, but since I rarely shoot past 50 yds I don't think that will have much affect. I picked up a couple dozen at PR's last sale but haven't tried them yet.

I tried sabots when I first got my 45 and quickly switched to patch and ball due to cost savings, never tried them (sabots) in anything else again as the maxis shoot well in my 50 and IMO are easier to use and would deliver a bigger payload (over sabots), if required.

Patch and ball out of a 50 will deliver adequate hunting accuracy at the intersection of 'cheap' and 'terminal energy' streets LOL.

In my opinion, for what that is worth.

[MikePal]

I shoot P&B out of my .45 CVA Kentucky....sabotted bullets out of my .50 Traditions inline and now Conicals out of my .58 PH Musketoon. Nice to have a variety of ways to make smoke.

I'm just curious to find out how a sabotted .45 will shoot out of the .58 Musketoon with the 1:20 twist. As long as it don't go crazy with the velocity, I should be OK, especially at the 50 yd range.

[benjhind]

Folks,

After all of the good advice I've received, I decided to mount a simple 4x scope and try some Hornady XTP Mag 300gr saboted bullets.

The idea was to get some more accuracy by using a scope, more knock-down power by going heavier on the bullet, and then maybe try out some of the fancy "clear shot" powder and see how it stacks up against the old tried and true Goex. I was also going to keep my second gun on hand with open iron sights for times when I'm walking through the thick stuff. That was the plan.

After mounting the scope, I slowly came to the realization that I can't clean my through the breech, since the breech plug is seized. That means to do my normal hot water clean, I'd have to remove the scope to dunk the breech. This does not sound like a good idea for maintaining accuracy. Can I pop the scope on and off and expect it to shoot the same?

I'm not feeling too bright today!

Ben

[MikePal]

If you used a clean set of rings, tightened the scope well (loctite) and fastened to the rail or mount you should be OK. Machined surfaces allow your to remove and install with little error, as long as you snug them back together.

[benjhind]

Thanks again Mike.

After mounting the scope last night, I rough bore sighted the gun by shining a flashlight through the breech and centering the crosshairs on the light on the wall.

I took it to the back yard to finish sighting in the scope this afternoon. After getting comfortable with it at 50 yards, I moved to 100 and my 3-shot group was 2 1/32" resting on a tree (no swabbing in between shots). This isn't any sort of marksmanship, but I'm happy with the results given that it is only a 4x scope. The gun can likely do better than that as is, but no doubt cleaning between shots wouldn't hurt either. Today I cleaned with hot water every third shot. I did not see any difference in how it shot after removing and replacing the scope during cleaning. One pleasant surprise (for my wife) is that the Clear Shot powder doesn't smell when cleaning the barrel!

Again, I'm happy with the level of accuracy I'm getting and confident that the heavier bullet will pack a little more punch. I'll be hunting with the muzzleloader next week so wish me luck.

Thanks again for all the information and advice!!

Ben

[benjhind]

The changes paid dividends on the opener.

I scored my first ever "double" while still-hunting with the ML. First, a doe came through at 100 yards. I wasn't happy with her speed for the distance so she got a pass. I watched a nice 8-point freshen a scrape, and came in to a shooting lane at 75 yards. Boom. Great shot placement, if he was broadside. Too bad he was quartered towards me and I barely clipped lung (stupid mistake! He was walking briskly so I didn't take the time to think about shot placement, but I should have!). I reloaded and he ran into the bush. Luckily he paused and gave me time to reload before coming through behind me and I shot him again at 50 yards through the bush. He dropped on the spot, but when I fired, my ramrod fell out of the tree.

As I watched him expire, a deer approached from behind (dead downwind). He walked up and stared at the dying buck, a smaller 7-point. I stood there helpless with a quick load in one hand and my gun in the other, with no ramrod to load with. I poured the powder down the barrel, for some reason, thinking that might help??

The 7-point wandered off and I snuck down out of the stand and grabbed my ramrod. I pushed the bullet down the barrel and seated it as best I could without making any noise. Just then the little 7-point came back! I picked a good shooting lane and shot him as he came into it at 45 yards. This was a solid double-lung broadside shot, but the little bugger still managed to run 120 yards before he expired.

I think the jump from 240 to 300 grain was a good move, although I wish that little guy hadn't run so far on a double lung shot. I also enjoyed the scope for still-hunting. After the hunt, I fired my old White Mountain (240gr XTP w/ 90gr Goex BP) and my Black Diamond (300gr XTP w/ 90gr Goex ClearShot substitute) both at 2L pop bottles filled with water. The 300gr certainly looked like it blew the bottle apart more, whereas the 240 gr seemed to just punch a hole in it. I do think that the 300gr packs more punch, just not enough to put them down in their tracks on a lung shot.

Oh, and the best part? I was party hunting with some folks who don't bow hunt. They tagged the deer and mine is still in my pocket!

[bellerivercrossbowhunter]

Good job man.

I use the Hornady .300gr XTP in my Savage 10ML ii. It has never let me down...

[Monster29/66]

id keep your TC white mountain for foggin and trade the other with the stuck breech in, might want to try a good penetrating oil like 3 in one or try heating the nipple very gently with a lighter once its shot and unloaded !!

as for best mz for $ get a tc omega with decent 3 to 9 scope, 250 grain tc shockwave bullets and run 120 grains yukon gold loose powder down it.

you dont have to clean your mz after every shot with the yukon gold its a non corrosive powder and accuracy isnt affected say till 5 to 7 shots.

you will have a 200 yard set up thats served me very well in the field for over 10 years i had other muzzleloaders before the omega and ive seen friends buy newer breakactions etc nothing shoots like the omega.

ive drilled 2 yotes this week n neither moved from where i shot lol

[Monster29/66]

[QUOTE=Monster29/66;1000689]id keep your TC white mountain for foggin and trade the other with the stuck breech in, might want to try a good penetrating oil like 3 in one or try heating the nipple very gently with a lighter once its shot and unloaded !!

as for best mz for $ get a tc omega with decent 3 to 9 scope, 250 grain tc shockwave bullets and run 120 grains yukon gold loose powder down it.

you dont have to clean your mz after every shot with the yukon gold its a non corrosive powder and accuracy isnt affected tootill 5 to 7 shots.

[Bushbaby]

I found that the xtp's worked ok but the terminal performance was not what I would have liked. The pr bullets have worked well, either the QT's or the dead centres depending on whether I want an exit hole or not. So far they have been impressive. But dead is dead and if your bullet is doing what you want then why change.