Muzzleloader Hunting

I have had a .50 cal Muzzleloader now for a couple of years and have been working towards getting my first game animals with it.
After replacing the factory open sights with a ghost ring / globe sight, accuracy improved and I had been able to shoot hares and rabbits at close range.

Last winter I got on to a couple of handy red deer and managed to miss a reasonably easy close shot !!
So I decided I needed to put a period correct telescope sight on it so that my middle age eyes could see exactly where I wanted the shot to go.

So I brought in a 3x Malcolm Short telescope sight and a set of offset mounts from USA.
Offset mounts shift the scope across from the line of the bore so that the percussion hammer is not restricted.
I set it all up in the mill and drilled and tapped the 6 mounting screws into the octagonal barrel.

Attachment 105597

These scopes are a modern reproduction of a 1850s style externally adjustable telescope.
They are relatively cheap and sufficiently well made for the task and look the part on the muzzleloader.
Adjustment was easy to zero to be just a little high at 50m and zeroed at 75m
Grouping was around 30>40mm at 50m and I could now be reasonably sure to hit around where I am aiming.

Attachment 105598

Once it is adjusted the turrets are locked down and things should stay as per settings.
I have put a sliding front mount piece on it so that the scope doesn't recoil with the rifle and it should avoid the recoil damaging the optics.
Its a little bit like looking through a drinking straw ... but its crisp and clear.
The eyepiece has focus adjustment for individual eyesight etc

So after having picked up a very good red stag with the conventional rifle recently I decided to do a muzzleloader only trip to the West Coast for a few days.

Arrived late Monday and set up a decent camp because the forecast was for it to rain every day but not rain all day.
First hunt started very early Tuesday morning.
Kayak across the river and work up through 3 huge river terraces to the target area and slowly hunt along as the light starts to fill in.
Saw a few deer very early but they were in the open and I wanted to find something in the scattered cover that I would be able to stalk.

Found an animal at 100m in light scrub but couldn't see what it was.
Stalked in to 50m and waited to see it again and the used a couple of trees to get to around 20m from where I thought it would be.
Waited a couple of minutes to see it was coming towards me still.
Quietly brought the muzzleloader to full cock as he came into view and shot him inside the shoulder from almost front on.
He dropped absolutely on the spot and didn't even roll over.
When the smoke cleared ( i use black powder ) the antlers were still moving just a little so I reloaded just in case he jumped up when I went up to him.
By the time I had reloaded ( about 20 seconds ) and walked up to him he was totally dead.

This is exactly as he fell.
Attachment 105602

320 grain pure lead projectile had gone in through the front edge of the shoulder and out through the last 3 ribs of the off side.
The lungs were wrecked and the inside was a huge mess.
I am very pleased with the terminal performance ... but to be fair it was a 17m shot.

Attachment 105603

I saw 13 deer on that mornings hunt and considering it was going to be a yearling, spiker or stag only this was the very best outcome for my first ever muzzleloader big game kill.

Then I spent most of my time fishing and chilling out because it was very hot and the rain never really happened.

On the last morning I got on to a group of 5 wild pigs and got into reasonable range and took a nice very fat boar with a head shot at 50m.
As you would expect when it was shot just behind the ear, through the neck and out the off side elbow he went down and never really moved a muscle after that.

Attachment 105604

So I'm delighted with the terminal performance and accuracy potential.
The Malcolm telescope is a great solution for aging eyes and keeping it real with primitive hunting weapons.

I am doing some guiding on a couple of fly in tahr and chamois trip this autumn and will take the muzzleloader along and see if I can pick up a few more game species.

Awesome; 320 grains of lead would do the job on most things!

Cool looking shooter too!

Very cool ��

Good stuff.

looks like fun ! you would want one shot kills ,cause the animals will be long gone for the follow up !

Awesome!

Super effort. I've only shot a few goats and one small pig with mine (58 cal springfield repro) but 480 grains of lead really do tip them over.

Very attractive firearm, the blueing on the side plate looks fantastic. The stag has a nice head too. What a shame he doesn't have Beys - would make him a very pretty 12

Very well done, those big slugs sure are effective. Nice stag and pig.....who needs a modern shooter when you have one of these.

VERY NICE STAG AND BOAR... a tidy set of antlers that would look great on any wall. lovely looking weapon and it seems you are putting it to great use. so I see .50 cal and 320grn lead....I take it thats a ball??? how much of what powder are you pushing it with???

320 grain projectiles are cast pure lead conicals
balls for a 50 cal are about 180 grain but my rifles twist is to fast for balls and it rips the patches to pieces
I would like to have been able to use the balls for practice on hares and rabbits but I'm very happy with how the bigger projectiles are shooting.

The conicals are very accurate with the telescope set up and grouping around 30mm at 50m

I also have a mold for 400 grain projectiles and will start trying them for if in the future I go after a bull tahr.

I'm using 80 grains of Holy Smoke FFFG because the barrel is only 25" long
I run the faster FFFG and am getting around 1500 fps with the 320 grainer

Ha, ha... nice to see my old rifle being used well!

Well done :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by Seventenths

Ha, ha... nice to see my old rifle being used well!

Well done :thumbsup:

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Yes I noticed you spend time with us in this forum now

It's been a work in progress to get it to where it works for my hunting style
It's a well lives rifle and absolutely everyone wants a try

yes I can see why...me too LOL.

Excellent result! Congratulations to you!

Nice work mate, very nice muzzleloader

Shit thats cool!
congrats mate

i will never show my wife this link!
her history's from cherokee down arkansas way.
my safe is full (and not tall enough) but bloody hell i want to try it !







































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Originally Posted by gonetropo

i will never show my wife this link!
her history's from cherokee down arkansas way.
my safe is full (and not tall enough) but bloody hell i want to try it !







































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You are pretty handy to me mate
Come over some time and have a go
It will certainly put a smile on your dial

berg243...you CAN do that...there have been BP substitutes around for years that make life much less messy....

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Originally Posted by berg243

it brings the skill of stalking into focus when you don't use a rifle to shoot them from 500m . nice looking setup now if you could use a smokeless powder that didn't require all that cleaning of blackpowder I would definitely get one.

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Well I'm going to try Triple 7 soon with my 400 grain projectiles for when I get away tahr hunting and I want it to be a little easier to clean

SOOOO Cool! I love the rifle and scope set up.

Well done on the hunting. Nice wee head on the stag and lovely fat piggy. Some good chewing there.

Top work ,awesome skills.

Well in the pursuit of field hunting ability
I have done some extended range work using Triple 7 instead of Black Powder
Its a lot cleaner and will be easier to look after in the field for extended trips.
Black Powder is fine at home when you can boil the kettle and do it in the luxury of your kitchen
Its a different story in a tent in the rain and at altitude etc

I also have moved up to using my 395 Grain Lyman Plains cast bullets.
They don't seem to go "off aim" the same as the 320 Grain Lee Real bullets as the barrel fouls.
I'm keeping the range sessions to only a few rounds each time to replicate field hunting conditions
2 or 3 shots at game animals in a day would be a lot of shots.

The best way to work out a range chart was to just keep shifting the target back

50m range and adjusted to be 25mm high
75m range is 25mm low
100m range is 100mm low
Will have to have a session to look at the 125m and 150m drops ( for just in case ).
Actually the drop is way better than I was expecting !

So elevation is locked down and I have given it a little tweak to the left because the 395s have been a little right of the previous 320s point of impact.

Attachment 106631

So now I still have to get some spare parts sorted and fine tune the contents of my "Possibles bag" which holds all the things you use when hunting.
Get together a camp kit bag for more major servicing and hot water cleaning.

And go chase a bull tahr and chamois

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Originally Posted by akaroa1

Well in the pursuit of field hunting ability
I have done some extended range work using Triple 7 instead of Black Powder
Its a lot cleaner and will be easier to look after in the field for extended trips.
Black Powder is fine at home when you can boil the kettle and do it in the luxury of your kitchen
Its a different story in a tent in the rain and at altitude etc

I also have moved up to using my 395 Grain Lyman Plains cast bullets.
They don't seem to go "off aim" the same as the 320 Grain Lee Real bullets as the barrel fouls.
I'm keeping the range sessions to only a few rounds each time to replicate field hunting conditions
2 or 3 shots at game animals in a day would be a lot of shots.

The best way to work out a range chart was to just keep shifting the target back

50m range and adjusted to be 25mm high
75m range is 25mm low
100m range is 100mm low
Will have to have a session to look at the 125m and 150m drops ( for just in case ).
Actually the drop is way better than I was expecting !

So elevation is locked down and I have given it a little tweak to the left because the 395s have been a little right of the previous 320s point of impact.

Attachment 106631

So now I still have to get some spare parts sorted and fine tune the contents of my "Possibles bag" which holds all the things you use when hunting.
Get together a camp kit bag for more major servicing and hot water cleaning.

And go chase a bull tahr and chamois

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Usual problem with me and my images !
It's a wonder I can dress myself !!

That's a great looking setup! I love shooting and hunting period correct muzzleloaders. Way more challenging/frustrating than with a modern inline, but the reward is so much better.

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Originally Posted by akaroa1

320 grain projectiles are cast pure lead conicals
balls for a 50 cal are about 180 grain but my rifles twist is to fast for balls and it rips the patches to pieces
I would like to have been able to use the balls for practice on hares and rabbits but I'm very happy with how the bigger projectiles are shooting.

The conicals are very accurate with the telescope set up and grouping around 30mm at 50m

I also have a mold for 400 grain projectiles and will start trying them for if in the future I go after a bull tahr.

I'm using 80 grains of Holy Smoke FFFG because the barrel is only 25" long
I run the faster FFFG and am getting around 1500 fps with the 320 grainer

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You should be able to shoot round ball if you back the powder off and use a tight patch. Also cleaning while away hunting I just wipe the bore with a spit patch then run a lube patch through the barrel. Deer was shot with .495 round ball and 80gr homemade black powder.Attachment 106683

Cheers @Tasbay that was a good solution to the practice shooting and small game load.

40 grains Triple 7 FFFG and the 175 grain round balls are basically in the same location at 50m as my 395 grain conical's
Grouping nicely and man its gentle on the shoulder
I'm sure a rabbit or hare won't have a clue how much slower its going when it hits them !
Well greased patches were almost intact and the lesser greased ones were still fairly ripped, but it didn't seem to affect where they landed.

Half the lead, half the powder a fraction of the recoil !!

Nice

Attachment 106822

What type of patch material are you using? (try ticking from a draper). What lube are you using on your patches? (try olive oil). Also 777 burns hotter than Black and could be part of your problem, I`d go back to BP for round ball and 777 for Conical. Using Black powder I always wipe the barrel between shots with a spit patch then a dry patch. After loading I now wipe the bore once more with a dry patch down to the ball, I do this to get the gun shooting from as clean a barrel as possible every time. Muzzleloaders are known for throwing the first shot or two. Now we just have to get you making your own powder!!!

@Tasbay
0.014 cotton patch with wet wax lube.
I still have plenty of black powder and yes will continue to use it around the farm on hares and rabbits and practice.

I between shots spit patch it to avoid any lurking sparks and get that shot to shot consistency

777 with the 395s for field use as its very easy to clean up at the end of the day.

I'm just happy that they are arriving at the same general location and that the grouping is very good
Now a gong needs to go up in a handy tree and the balls will hopefully be ringing that from standing field positions

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Originally Posted by Tasbay

Now we just have to get you making your own powder!!!

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That's a little unlikely as I have way to many projects on the go already !!
But it's great to know there are guys out there doing that sort of thing .... just because they can

Don`t underestimate the killing power of a pure lead round ball. A lot of deer are taken in the U.S with a patched 180gr 50 cal round ball and 45-60 Gr of black powder. My load with a round ball in 50 cal is 80gr.
I have shot a lot of Red Deer with a suppressed 38 special spitting out a 158gr hard slug at 990fps. I`d take on a deer out to 75yds with a 50 cal round ball and 45gr of powder, will probably still get pass through.

Any way you look at it they are fun guns and have that tinker factor:thumbsup:.

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Originally Posted by Tasbay

Don`t underestimate the killing power of a pure lead round ball.

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@Tasbay I'm certainly not underestimating the round ball killing power.

But I really mainly want to use the round balls for practice and the conicals for big game and I'm happy with how its all going now.
The terminal performance of the 320 grain Lee conicals was very impressive and I expect the 395s to be even better.
The 320s started to spray considerably after multiple shots on the range, but the 395s don't seem to be as fussy about bore fouling.
Although this is not a big deal as multiple field shots will not be the norm !

I used to use a fully suppressed 44 mag a lot ( still have it just don't use it so much ) with 240 XTPs and always got full pass through at any range I ever used them at.

All I was really searching for was good 100m accuracy and killing power for ethical reasons.
I missed an easy shot at relatively close range on a red hind last winter ... all I could see through the open sights was red hair ... so I aimed an nothing and hit nothing !!
Then I wounded a red hind due to poor shot placement and spent a whole morning on her trail, but every time I got within 100m of her she slowly moved on and managed to keep the gap just a little bigger than I could hit her with the open peep sights.
That triggered a major re think about how I could make muzzleloader hunting practical for my hunting applications and I'm now close to where I want to be.

I'm now sorting out my 'field gear' and an 'in camp service kit' with a few extras like a spare stock key, nipple and CO2 ball remover etc.
Cast another 200x 395s yesterday.
And have two fly South Westland guiding trips ( for koha ) coming up in the next few months and intend taking the muzzleloader on both of those.