Rookie Questions.......

[steelie]

I recieved my first muzzleloader this past christmas and have had a ball learning and getting ready for this falls upcoming hunt. You guys and this site have been a great resource to help a rookie get started and I thank you very much. I have a couple questions though:

1. My gun is a knight DISC - I am planning on hunting with either 245 or 295 hornadys, or maybe the powerbelts (man they are expensive). I have tried all 3, got good groups and like them all, but leaning towards the 295 hornadys. So far I have only shot pyrodex pellets - 100 grains normally - I've shot 150 a few times but the warning on the pyrodex kind of scares me a little. "DO NOT EXCEED 100 GRAINS.....". I just picked up some triple 7 to go play with it, and notice the warning is the same. I have contacted Knight - they say the gun will take 150 - no worries, I have also contacted Hodgdon - they are sticking with the "DO NOT EXCEED 100". What is the deal here? Is this just Hodgdon playing the liability game or is it really unsafe to shoot 150? What do you guys recommend? What do you shoot?

2. I have been running a patch between every shot. I was not doing this at first, but at the time I wasn't paying much attention to accuracy, just trying to get a "feel" for the gun. Now that I am paying attention to my accuracy, If I were to shoot again without running a patch, how far "off" would my next shot be? If I need to make a quick 2nd shot in the field is it still wise to take the time to run a patch?

3. If I have read the past posts correctly, I cannot trust the 1st shot after the gun has been cleaned correct? All sighting in, etc needs to be done on a fouled barrel. So when I hunt this fall, I need to foul the barrel, run a patch, load and leave it like that for 2 weeks? That seems a little odd. But so does cleaning and re-fouling the barrel daily. Maybe a happy median - every few days or so?

Thank you in advance for your responses

Steelie

 

[400bull]

LAST EDITED ON Jul-31-03 AT 04:33PM (MST)[p]Question #1) If Knight says that the gun can handle 150 grains of Hodgdon 777 powder, I would have to believe them. I am sure that they have put more time behind then gun then any one else to know what it's true potential is. Most people have found that accuracy starts to drope off when more the 120 grains of powder are being used.

Question #2 and #3) The only time that my muzzleloader has made any real differance with a fouled barrel compared to a clean one, is after several shots have been fire without running a cleaning patch down the barrel or if I was shoting a 240 gr. Hornday XTP. The first shot with the Hornady bullet would be six inches high and a little to the left. All the you can do here is try it out in your gun and see how it respondes. My guess is it will not make that big of a differance.

Never leave your muzzelloader fouled for more the 24 hours. If you shot it just to foul the barrel, you had better clean it that night or you will not be hitting what you're aiming at the next morning. It does not take long for rust to ruine a good shoting muzzleloader.

400bull

 

[steelie]

Thanks 400Bull, I guess I'll just have to try out several different bullets, each one on a newly cleaned barrel. Find out which one works best, I really don't want to deal with one that is 6" off with a clean barrel!

A couple more questions:

1 - How long can I leave the gun loaded with pellets and bullet
(no primer of course) and still trust the load I have in there?

2 - When I take the gun out to shoot, the first thing I do is fire off a couple of primers with no load. I had some problems awhile back with some breech plug grease getting in the center of the breech plug/nipple or maybe right on the pellets. Not a pretty site when this happens, the bullet isn't going very fast at all when it come out. I would hate to shoot a load like that at an animal. So I started using alot less grease, and running a few more patches before shooting. It has only happened one time since then, but I am still not comfortable. So I just fire off a few primers now, haven't had a problem since. My question is - Is firing off a few primers going to foul the barrel enough that it will rust if not cleaned right away? The gun has never been dirty for more than a few hours so far, but like I said before, I really don't want to break it down everyday during the hunt to clean it. I tend to be kind of anal about things related to fishing/hunting gear and vehicles, so if I am worring over nothing, let me know.

thanks again

 

[RKenSparc]

Backing up to the 100 vs. 150 grains, I'm with the previous post, if the gun mfg says your gun can handle 150 your likely safe. However, I like the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" approach - if you are getting good results with the 100 grains stick with it, you'll save a few $$ to boot.

Shooting with a fouled barrel. Next time you're out fire a shot two out of a fouled barrel and see how it shoots. Some MLs shoot differently with a clean vs. fouled barrel. Most are accurate enough that a second follow up shot can be taken without concern.

Now to the how long will you load last. If you live in a dry climate (like Utah) you can leave your load in the gun indefinitely. Leave you gun outside (in your truck, or other secure place) to help avoid condesation of moisture. If you happen to be hunting during wet weather, I would advise a fresh load everyday. It all comes down to moisture, if you load stays dry, it will be good.

The cap fouling. I fire a couple caps myself before loading. I use no. 11 caps and they claim to be non-corrosive. I doubt this is totally accurate, but I'm sure they are less corrosive than Black Powder and Pyrodex, and so I haven't worried about it during the hunt. I fire the caps load up, and often the gun stays loaded for several days. I'll clean the gun really well after the hunt.

Check out my black powder site at:
www.angelfire.com/home/oldguns

 

[steelie]

Thanks for the info. I tested it this weekend with 100 vs 150 - groups were almost identical. 150 loads were higher that is all. The only notacible difference was the wear and tear on the shoulder/ears with the 150. I think I'll stick with 100 grains. Thanks again everyone.

 

[builtcj5]

here are a couple tips i have found to help prevent missfires. i too use a good amount of greese on the breach plug, i have had them seize a couple of times and that sucks. so before i load up i spray the barrel with a good shot of degreaser, several cleaning companies make them for guns. this will evaporate all or most of the greese out of the barrel. then i fire off a few primers, this clears the nipple and burns off any other greese and moisture. then i load up my gun, and have left it loaded for 4 and 5 days before with no fireing problems. though if it is rainy or a lot of dew sets at night, so that the terrain is wet in the mornings be carefull. the increase in hummidity is enough to cause a missfire. the newest peterson's hunting has a decent article outlineing ways to weather proof smoke poles. you might check that out.