Preserve&Protect
Member
Hi all, new to THR, with a question.
I recently got a .50 Cal muzzleloading rifle. It seems to shoot well enough, but it is ridiculously hard to ram. A little hard to start, and very hard to drive, almost all the way down. (Except at about 4-6 inches from the bottom, where it is much easier.)
I've tried loading .490" balls with ~.015" pillow ticking, or with some similar cotton cloth that is about .011". (Patches lubed with bore butter) I've tried loading the Hornady 385 grain great plains conical. I've also tried loading a 45 auto bullet in a plastic sabot.
Not kidding at all, I've been forced to DRIVE them all down using a plastic hammer on the end of the synthetic (plastic?) ramrod. Even that barely gets the job done. And with the sabot, I got it started down about 2", and finally gave up and pulled it back out by screwing a wood screw into it and pulling it back out.
About the only easy way to shoot it is with a .454" ball and 1 or 2 patches, but that doesn't seem ideal.
The bore isn't rusty, but it must be rough or something because it is so hard to load. I've been told that someone took some kind of a brush on a power drill to it, and I think this may be why...
What can I do about this??? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
I recently got a .50 Cal muzzleloading rifle. It seems to shoot well enough, but it is ridiculously hard to ram. A little hard to start, and very hard to drive, almost all the way down. (Except at about 4-6 inches from the bottom, where it is much easier.)
I've tried loading .490" balls with ~.015" pillow ticking, or with some similar cotton cloth that is about .011". (Patches lubed with bore butter) I've tried loading the Hornady 385 grain great plains conical. I've also tried loading a 45 auto bullet in a plastic sabot.
Not kidding at all, I've been forced to DRIVE them all down using a plastic hammer on the end of the synthetic (plastic?) ramrod. Even that barely gets the job done. And with the sabot, I got it started down about 2", and finally gave up and pulled it back out by screwing a wood screw into it and pulling it back out.
About the only easy way to shoot it is with a .454" ball and 1 or 2 patches, but that doesn't seem ideal.
The bore isn't rusty, but it must be rough or something because it is so hard to load. I've been told that someone took some kind of a brush on a power drill to it, and I think this may be why...
What can I do about this??? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!