??What am I doing wrong??

[snook24]

I love shooting my 54 cal black powder and have taken 3 deer with it but stopped using it because Im not the most accurate with it and I dont want to take the chance on taking a bad shot. Ive tried to put a scope on it but after the first shot or two it wont even hit the paper. I was using loose powder and thinking its getting to dirty after each shot. Im thinking about ordering some 54 cal pyrodex pellets and some barnes sabots. Do I need to run something down the barrel after each shot? How do yall go about sighting one in? Any input will help Thanks

 

[BIGSteve]

I like to run a bore butter patch down it after each shot!Seems to work good with tight groups out to 200yds.

 

[7Mag Hunter]

Lots of factors come into play as far as accuracy in black powder
guns..

Slow twist barrels shoot best with tight round ball combos....
Conicals typically do not stabilize in slow twist barrels...
Excessive powder charges can result in unburnt powder/crud being
left in your barrel waiting for the next shot.....

Start @ 60gr powder and slowly increase till you get the best
accuracy...
For long target shooting sessions a couple mops and brushes to
clean the barrel are usually sufficient...
Some use spit patches or lube between shots, but if you also use
lube on your ball/ patch, you could run the risk of excessive
lube and more/faster crud build up....
I have shot a 54 cal Hawken for over 20 yrs and hunt with 70 gr
Pyrodex and tight ball/patch combo...It shoots cleanly thru a deer.
I brush and swab (dry) every 3rd shot during target practice..
I do lube patches with Bore Butter.....

Good luck....

 

[Flintrock]

need more info
.
What type of gun. inline or side lock
barrel twist?
What kind of bullet ? round ball,powerbelt or sabot .
Size of bullet ,?weight ?
lube?

 

[snook24]

Ill look at it when I get home. All I remember about it is its an inline 54 cal TC system 1. Ive shot round ball and a conical and havent had much success with either. I used loose smokeless powder I think 90gr with patch and borebutter then the conical to try and sight in...ill get the twist when I get home

 

[hawgrider1200]

Hard to say

I love shooting my 54 cal black powder and have taken 3 deer with it but stopped using it because Im not the most accurate with it and I dont want to take the chance on taking a bad shot. Ive tried to put a scope on it but after the first shot or two it wont even hit the paper. I was using loose powder and thinking its getting to dirty after each shot. Im thinking about ordering some 54 cal pyrodex pellets and some barnes sabots. Do I need to run something down the barrel after each shot? How do yall go about sighting one in? Any input will help Thanks

It's hard to say if ur doing anything wrong. One thing is Pellets won't help. It might help to swab with a windex saturated patch between shots. U might be flinching cuz BP is fairly loud. It's a good idea to swab with a damp patch between shots anyhow. There have been cases where folks will load a charge right behind shooting one and a small ember can ignite the next charge as u r pouring it down the barrel. I've even heard of that ember laying there untill u r ramming the projectile down the tube the rush of air generated fans the ember into life and sets off the charge while u r standing right over the muzzle of the gun. Might ruin ur whole day.

PS, be very sure u r not using too much spit or windex on that patch, Ur next charge may not go off.

 

[snook24]

ill try cleaning it out after each shot...man Id hate to be the guy looking down the barrel if it went of due to an ember! That is a bad day!

 

[tv_racin_fan]

If you have a place we can shoot that thing I can come and try to help you. Pretty sure we can come up with something that works for you.

 

[snook24]

Thanks but I dont anywhere around there..we hunt and shoot mostly in the albany area

 

[tv_racin_fan]

Oh well. There are several things you can try but honestly you need to know what the twist rate is of that barrel. You can measure it yourself or it might be marked on the barrel. Take a piece of maskin tape and run it down the ram rod. Then a tight fitting patch on the jag and run it down the bore. Mark the muzzle and run the rod out until it has made a quarter turn mark it again measure and mutliply by 4 then you have the rate. 1-48+ is round ball twist, 1-30 to 48 is a conical twist, anything under 1-30 is a sabot twist. Now that is not a a set in stone kinda rule some people have had good luck with a conical in a 1-60 twist rifle.

Being a 54 caliber it is a might hard to find projectiles but it can be done.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Ill look at it when I get home. All I remember about it is its an inline 54 cal TC system 1. Ive shot round ball and a conical and havent had much success with either. I used loose smokeless powder I think 90gr with patch and borebutter then the conical to try and sight in...ill get the twist when I get home

You're using smokeless powder? I thought the Savage was the only "muzzleloader" that would shoot smokeless, or is the TC set up for it too?

 

[hawgrider1200]

Yeah? I hope that was a typo.

 

[snook24]

haha nope sorry i dont know what I was thinking there we used pyrodex loose powder

 

[hawgrider1200]

Find a lead sled made by Caldwell to rest that bad boy on. If u can not get decent groups with that, u may have another problem. The way I sight mine in is to use the minimum recommended load and work my way up 10 grains at the time until I find the most accurate load. I do swab between every shot when doing so. It is a good idea to let the barrel cool well between each shot. Takes some time to get the right load. I like to use the maximum load for deer hunting. My TC Renegade is using 110 grains of GOEX ffg with the TC Maxihunters for deer hunting. It gets fairly respectable groups with that load. I found some 350 grain conicals with ballistic tips that I am gonna b working with in my Encore this summer to find if I can get respectable groups with these projectiles. I hope to find a fairly heavy load to use for hunting with the Encore. I like to lay em out flat and not have to blood trail.

 

[BIGSteve]

hawgrider,try 150 pyrodex pellets and shockwave 250gr. in your Encore.That is what I use in mine and it groups very well out to 200yds.!

 

[Flintrock]

Your inline will have a fast twist which does not favor round balls .
.
Even if your rifle is dirty, you should still be able to hit paper so the major problem is not cleaning.Assuming your rifle is in good condition, I believe it is the brand/type of bullet so swap out bullets....If your are currently using powerbelts then switch to shockwaves .
.
I bet this will fix your problem