[Sisco]

Went to Cabelas in Kansas City today, my 17 year old son found a 54 cal. Hunter Carbine rifle back in the Bargan Cave. He just had to have it for some reason, promised to pay me back even!
Problem is that since it was a return there was no owners manual, and I've never owned anything like it before.
How much powder? What kind of bullet works best for general plinking, and any other advice would be real helpful.
Here is a pic of the gun from the Cabelas website. I will give them a call tomorrow and see if I can get a manual.
http://a1460.g.akamai.net/f/1460/1339/6h/www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/content/Item/21/00/11/i210011hz01.jpg

[mec]

Your kid is a gun nut. And he has good tastes. The manual will be good but the best thing to do is to go out and find one of the lyman blackpowder manuals. They are pretty comprehensive and will give you the loading procedure and a bunch of loads for the TC.

[Cap n Ball]

What Mec said. Get the Lyman's manual. That's a nice rifle your son picked out although my idea of 'plinking' goes more towards smaller calibers it'll do a heck of a job on a tin can.

[Sisco]

Yeah, he's a gun nut.
Checked eBay for a lymans since I doubt one will be available locally, found a few including one that was "buy it now" for $6. Seller wanted $15 shipping & handling! :scrutiny:
This thing has two triggers, back one doesn't seem to do much of anything. I need a manual for sure.

[mec]

the one in back kind of goes "click" when you pull it. What it does is set up the front trigger for a real light pull -probably adjustible on your rifle.

Its called a double set trigger or "hair trigger."

[Sisco]

he one in back kind of goes "click" when you pull it. What it does is set up the front trigger for a real light pull -probably adjustible on your rifle.
Figured that's what it was, it works but it's really stiff.

[Cap n Ball]

Yes, it called a 'set trigger'. I have always had someone else do the trigger work. There is a reason that most sane people recommend pulls of AT LEAST 3 pounds. Any less and the chance of an accidental discharge becomes a very likely possibility. "Set" trigger systems are triggers that require two stages to pull. The first stage sets the trigger. Then the trigger can be set to a very low pull. Target shooters have been known to set theirs in ounces, not pounds. Of course, you would not set the trigger until you are certain that you are ready to fire. Many factory rifles now come with pulls set around 7 pounds. It is almost impossible to shoot accurately with the pull set that high. The pressure you must exert on the trigger to fire the rifle is so great that it moves the muzzle too much. I recommend that you have your trigger set by an expert. I do not mean the guy down the street whose main work includes recoil pads, cold bluing, and cleaning. Find someone who does a lot of this so your trigger and safety will be safe for you to handle.

[Shanghai McCoy]

Sisco,that rifle is made by Investarms,the same company that makes the Lyman greatplains rifle.It will be a good hunting rifle,m/l season starts Sept 11,and he should enjoy shooting it.Likely it's 1/48 twist which will shoot patched roundball and the mine' balls.Get some .530 balls,pre-cut lubed patches(.015)a short starter,powder measure,cleaning jags,brushes etc.
And by all means GET A BOOK that will get him started on shooting traditional muzzleloaders properly.He'll need caps and powder too but get that after he reads the book.

[Sisco]

Found the Lymans book at the library, are powder charges judged by barrel length? This one has a 21" barrel, no data in the book for such a short barrel.
What is the minimum number of 'accessories' he'll need, bullet starter, powder measure etc. ?
Without a manual I'm guessing here, 12ga primers for ignition? Called Cabelas this morning, they'll be sending me a manual.

[mec]

Naw.That just happens to be the length fadala had when he clocked the loads. Velocity from your gun would probably be different but so would the same load from an identical rifle.

[Shanghai McCoy]

Not shotgun primers Sisco,#11 percussion caps are what you use for ignition,CCI is a popular brand to use and pretty easy to find.Remember to only use blackpowder,pyrodex or 777 in the rifle.There are some blackpowder shooting" how to"that you might be able to get from the library too,just can't remember any titles at the moment.The lyman book should be good tho.

[mec]

All of the black powder how-too books seem to have been written by one person including the lyman handbooks. Just about any of them will tell you what you need to know.

[TerryBob]

A buddy of mine lost a chance at a deer when he set the trigger on his rifle. The deer heard the click and off the deer went.

The trigger does not need to be set to be fired. It just makes it better but setting the back trigger is not neccessary.

TerryBob