New to Black Powder Hunting

[locnload]

I am not at all new to shooting or hunting, but have never had much to do with muzzle loaders. This year I applied for muzzle loader tags for deer, elk, and pronghorn in my home state of Colorado. If I am sucessful in the draw I plan to pick up an in line 50 cal and start practicing. Colorado only allows open sights so I need a rifle with good sights for my aging eyes. Any advice from expirienced black powder folks regarding a good choice for an in line rifle and any thing else that can save a "new guy" some embarasment and expense would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ROAshooter]

the search feature is full of advice

 

[Patocazador]

Open sights are difficult to use for oldsters like me. The best solution I've found is a rear peep sight because it acts as a collimator and allows sharper focus on the front sight.
The size of the peep's opening (hole) depends on available light so that there's a large enough hole to allow light yet a small enough hole to colimate and focus.

 

[redneck]

I took a quick glance at the colorado hunting regs and it looks like you are limited to using loose powder and full bore projectiles (no sabots) during the muzzle loader seasons.

I hunt with a .54 great plains rifle using a patch and ball, so I can't offer much advice on using an inline, other than you should leave yourself plenty of time to work up a load. There is a lot of variation in powders and projectiles. I would also do some research on twist rates before I bought a rifle because I think sabots will shoot a lot different than a full bore conical, and most inlines are geared towards use with sabots.

 

[CraigC]

Get yourself a Great Plains Rifle, .50 or .54 and top it with a receiver sight. It's already drilled & tapped for it.

 

[rodwha]

There's a fellow (IdahoRon) who uses a .50 cal Lyman Great Plains Hunter topped with a peep sight using the Lee .50 cal 440 grn pistol bullet paper patched for his hunting. He shoots elk well beyond 100 yds but is accurate out beyond 300 yds I believe. This rifle has a 1:32" twist for longer projectiles.

This is a sidelock rifle and not an inline.

I have the 320 grn .50 cal Lee REAL conical for my Lyman Deerstalker with a 1:48" twist. I've not shot them enough, but these did extremely well for me when I used a felt wad under it to help seal the bore. Some have used these for elk as well.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I have a Lyman Deerstalker carbine -- I chose the carbine because it has a 1 in 28 twist, allowing me to shoot Minnie balls. Lyman has a peep sight adapter for all of it's blackpowder guns, including the Hawkin.

 

[dringge]

I shoot a 50 cal Hatfield percussion. Round ball. Nothing fancy. I have always hunted late season when there are a lot fewer hunters but the deer have been chased around quite a bit.

 

[sage5907]

Black powder shooting is more complicated than other kinds of rifle hunting because you have to establish a system of cleaning, loading and shooting the rifle that works for you. I would recommend a 50 caliber rifle with a recoil pad that has either a 1:25 or 1:28 twist so it will handle large conical bullets. I would recommend using FF black powder because it always fires in cold weather and the accuracy is more consistent. Most beginners break more than one ramrod before they find out that you must swab the bore with a patch after each shot before lodeing the rifle again. I swab the barrel with a patch saturated with WonderLube by running in the patch about 8 or 10 inches, then pulling it back out, flip it over and run it all the way down. Most of the fouling is at the front of the barrel. Heavy conical bullets like the Buffalo Bullet and the Great Plains bullet work well for shots out to about 120 yards. The rifles are very accurate but you must follow through with the shot by holding the rifle still when it fires until the ball exits the barrel. It's a lot of fun so enjoy the experience.

 

[sage5907]

locnload, go on Google and type in No Excuse Muzzleloading Bullets. Look and the 460 grain bullet which is a .503 diameter 50 caliber bullet. This is the style of bullet I have used in my rifle since 1995 to take several animals. I weigh all of my powder charges on a scale and I use 105 grains of FF blackpowder. If you find Olde Eynsford powder that would be a good choice because it burns cleaner than the regular Goex blackpowder.