I got back into big game hunting 3 years ago after a 10 year break to hunt waterfowl, what got me going was a fall fishing trip during muzzy season where I hardly saw anyone hunting. In Utah the general deer and elk rifle season tends to be a sea or orange. So 3 years ago I decided I wanted to get back into muzzy hunting but since my .54 TC New Englander has such nice wood I decided to pick up a used Knight 54 cal off the local classified. I already had a few pounds of Pyrodex so I'm just shooting 100 grains of Pyrodex RS under a 300 grain stick on wheel weight .45 cal slug in a sabot lite off by a 209 primer. First couple deer I shot with a Hornady .45 XTP and was not impressed with the exit wound so I switched bullets and was impressed with the damage done to a cow elk this season.
I have been looking at getting a new Muzzy as the old knight has some barrel pitting and well I just want one. Doing some research on muzzys I have come across some info about the new to me powders like Blackhorn and Triple 7 that indicates these powders push the bullet faster, true? What are you guys finding with these powders? I would prefer to stay with loose powder and not the pellets.
It seems that the old .54 is going the way of the .58 and I understand why but I would sure like to find a good .54 inline muzzy that's easy to cap just because I have stuff for .54 caliber. I do want to get something that will shoot flat, far and fast so if a .50 fits the bill better then I will go that route. Before guys get worked up I'm not looking for a 200 yard muzzy and I try to stay under 100 yards but sometimes in the open country it would be nice to push 150 + yards. This years cow was a 120 yard off hand shot with a 1x scope and I put it where it needed to be but I also knew I needed to hold a little higher on the body which I didn't forget in the heat of the moment.
I have been looking at getting a new Muzzy as the old knight has some barrel pitting and well I just want one. Doing some research on muzzys I have come across some info about the new to me powders like Blackhorn and Triple 7 that indicates these powders push the bullet faster, true? What are you guys finding with these powders? I would prefer to stay with loose powder and not the pellets.
It seems that the old .54 is going the way of the .58 and I understand why but I would sure like to find a good .54 inline muzzy that's easy to cap just because I have stuff for .54 caliber. I do want to get something that will shoot flat, far and fast so if a .50 fits the bill better then I will go that route. Before guys get worked up I'm not looking for a 200 yard muzzy and I try to stay under 100 yards but sometimes in the open country it would be nice to push 150 + yards. This years cow was a 120 yard off hand shot with a 1x scope and I put it where it needed to be but I also knew I needed to hold a little higher on the body which I didn't forget in the heat of the moment.