New Muzzleloader

[Ben]

I am new to muzzleloading and I just bought for 50$ a Thompson Center Grey Hawk. I didnt know if it was a good gun but I know guns pretty well and its in good condition and I know Thompson Center is a good company..But all of that is neither here nor there. What im really interested in is some advice on what to shoot and just what to go buy now. Should I buy a kit? Or go out and individually buy everything? What should I shoot, balls or conicals or some other kind of load? Just think of me as having no knowledge of blackpowder hunting and give me your best advice. Just so yall know im not interested in 1/2 in groups at 100yards(although that would be sweet) I just need a gun that I am comfortable shooting out to about 50-65 yards that will kill deer. Any and all advice is welcome and wanted.

[NitroHunter]

I start out with Powerbelt bullets and two 50gr pyrodex pellets. I cant remember what grain bullets I'm shooting to save my life right now.

[jerryb]

I have a .54 caliber Grey Hawk but have been having trouble getting it to pattern. The first combination I tried was 425 gr. Buffalo Bullets pushed with FFg powder. The best I could get was about 3-4" groups at 50 yards. I am going out next weekend and am trying 435 gr. Thompson Center Maxi-Hunters pushed with Pyrodex RS. The Pyrodex is supposed to be a more accurate powder than FFg and using TC's bullets in their gun "should" be better. We'll see! According to the factory, the gun should shoot best with 90-100 grains of powder. I'm going to shoot 5-shot groups using charges from 70 to 120 grains (in 10 grain increments) and see which one shoots best. I feel comfortable out to 50 yards but sure would like a little tighter pattern.

[kodiakhunter]

I was introduced to blackpowder firearms back in 1977, and have "played around" with quite a few. pistols & long-guns both. What I've found to work out best for me & my decision-making, is the rate of twist of the rifleing. As a general rule of thunb, the faster the twist, the longer & heavier bullets work a little better. I've shot different makes with a 1 in 48" twist, and found that they shoot either round-balls, or bullets, such as the T/C Maxi-Ball, or Maxi-Hunter fairly well. As previously stated, a person needs to work up the powder charge to find the most consistancy shot-to-shot. I've only recently (this past year) started to expiriment with propellants other than black-powder. (I guess i'm too much of a traditionalist!) On the other hand, a slow twist-rate of, say, 1 in 66", to 1 in 58", will work really well with patched round balls. This subject involves other factors, such as what granulation of powder, loose or pellets,(which I feel should be left for in-lines), and even the length of the barrel. I don't EVEN want to getting a person confused, but I guess a person could just expiriment. But PLEASE be careful in the mean-time. I almost put a .44 caliber round-ball through my left leg with my first black-powder pistol! (a Kentucky-style single shot). I hope that this may be of some help in your decisions. Good Luck & Good Shootin'...................Wayne.

[jerryb]

I finally got to the range and got a fairly decent group. The winning group was 2 1/2" at 50 yards. I used 110 grains of Pyrodex Select and the 435 gr. T/C Maxi-Hunters. The best part was that there was no fouling at all. With the old loads using FFg, I had to swab the bore every fifth shot or the bullets wouldn't seat all the way down. With the pyrodex, I shot 40 rounds without swabbing and the 40th shot went down the barrel as easily as the first.