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Giving muzzleloading a try

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idsman75

New Member
I've finally put the slug gun away and have decided on going strictly to muzzleloading. I figure I can use the muzzleloader for the black powder season and also the shotgun season and it seems that a good muzzleloader (in the right hands) can produce groups that are equally accurate to my old Mossberg 835 w/rifled slug barrel.

I've finally settled on a T/C Omega which I have on layaway at the Sioux City Scheel's right now. She's a real beauty with the camo stock and a camo finish on the barrel. Where is the best source of information for a brand new hand at the sport of muzzleloading? I'd like to start off on the right foot.
 
Congratulations on your decission! First step would be to mount a good scope with good mounts that will allow you to take it off and on again easily. Then buy a jug of Pyrodex or 777 powder, don't start with pellets, and 3 or 4 different kinds and styles of bullets. Get a powder measure, primers, a capper, a supper jag, brass brush, cleaning paches, patch worm, Bore butter, and a bullet starter. Talk to some one a Scheels who knows something about muzzle loaders, go home and watch the video that comes with the rifle. Dissasemble the gun, clean it, lube it, and reassemble it, before you go out to shoot it.

Once you get to a range make sure you are comfortable with loading procedures and start shooting. Start with 90 or so grains of powder and work up from there, with different bullets until you get a group you like. Swab the barrel with a wet patch between shots, and work slowly. Shoot from a good rest or a gun vice and try to get the gun to group at 50 yards first then move to 100 yards. Forget about the 150 max loads until you get used to the rifle.

I shoot a Knight disc 50 cal with 200 gr Knight Redhot bullets and 110 grains of pyrodex. Shoots great and has killed everything I have hit with it.

If you have any other questions just put them on here, someone will answer I'm sure.
 
bowmaker--Thank you for all of your advice. I've never heard of a patch worm before but I'm guessing it's like a bore snake. When you say "wet" patch, do you mean to wet it with water or with Bore Butter? I've heard about
Bore Butter before.

Can you recommend any good reading sources? Is there a scope that you would recommend? I'm sure something of fixed power with a good field of view and adequate eye relief is what I'm after. How about a Leupold M-8?
 
You made a good choice as far as what muzzelloader you bought.
I too did the same thing and decided not to take my shotgun out anymore. I just need to get a scope for my muzzelloader so that i can shoot better groups. Right now i could not hit the broad side of a barn if i tried my hardest.
 
I put a nice, reliable Bushnell Trophy 3-9x40 on my Knight MK-85. Probably the best $100 I ever spent. As far as powder and bullets I shoot 100 grains of pyrodex pellats and Remington sabots. I don't know the weight cuz I bought 4 boxes of them at Wally World a few years ago and the grain has worn off the boxes!! 2 shots a year, 1 to make sure it's sighted in, 1 to kill a deer! Another thing to consider is a good fanny pack to carry all the crap associated with muzzleloading. To make clean up easy get some Thompson Center No 13 cleaning solution. It comes in a white bottle with yellow writing. Personally I'd go with a sabot type bullet so you don't have to worry about the bore butter and stuff, lots easier and cleaner, but it's your choice. I think you have enough to go on here.
 
If you put a scope on that Omega you should be able to outshoot your Mossberg, although I had an 835 w/slug bbl and they're a good shooter. Start with Triple 7 powder, it cleans up easier and slightly higher velocities. Wal-Mart in S. Sioux was basically closing out their Triple 7, Not sure if there's any left. Should be easy to clean the gun with scope on the way the Omega is built, no need to take it off. Several companies make "wet" patches pre-soaked with cleaning solution or you can buy dry patches and soak them before running them down the barrel. I like Pyrodex EZ Clean solution in a spray bottle, I bought my last bottle at Shirts&Shooters in LeMars. You don't need to use wet patches between shots, especially with the Triple 7 powder. I always run a patch lubed with bore butter thru after each shot then turn it over and run it down again. Makes it easier to load also. I work over in S.Sioux, let me know if I can be of any add'l help and good luck.
 
hunt-m-up -- Whereabouts are you at? I am an Army recruiter in Sioux City. My office is in the same parking lot as "Toys R Us" right across from the mall. My Omega is on layaway at the Sioux City Scheel's. I did a good bit of business with Shirts N Shooters while I lived in Sioux Center (my birth place) prior to joining the Army. I just stopped by there last week Friday for some more shooting supplies and some ammo for the Glock. I thought it was a small world but this great IowaWhitetail website sure has brought things closer to home!
 
idsman

A patch worm is a litttle thing with two prongs on it that you put on your ram rod to get out a patch that you loose in the barrel. If you swab between shots in the field, when you are excited, you can loose a patch off your cleaning jag. The worm will let you get it out with out removing your breach plug. Wet patches can be wetted with saliva from your mouth , or some thing like T/C 13 or Spit patch. Be careful with any kind of solvent because it could break down a small amount of your powder charge.

Cleaning is very important with any muzzel loader. Some powders clean pretty easily, but I'm still a little old fashion. I like to use very hot soapy water and then hot water rince. I think this is important to get out the salts which are created when the powder burns. Cleaning this way also gets the barrel really hot, that heat then dries the barrel. The Bore Butter is used to lube and seal the barrel while it is still hot. Run a patch coated with butter down the bore and the heat will distribute it . This will help prevent a rusty bore and make loading easier as the barrel becomes more and more seasoned. You can then use the same patch to wipe down the out side of the gun to prevent rust there.

As for scopes don't get a $30.00 one but unless you really want to I don't think you need to spend more on a scope than for the gun. I use a Simmons Whitetail, about $100.00, and like it fine. Most of the time it is set on 4x or 5x and has never been upto 9x. Most shots are 30 to 80 yards with 125 yards once a while, so I don't think you need high magnification. The big thing is that it is your rifle so make it work for you.
 
I appreciate all the helpful info. I'm sure there are going to be a million more questions running through my head. I bought a Simmons Whitetail for my first bolt action rifle (.30-06 Remington 700 ADL). It was a lemon (the scope). Now I go with Leupold/Nikon/Burris. I love Nikons because they are so bright and seem brighter than the Leupolds I've owned. I'm leaning towards a Nikon Sport Optics Shotgun/Muzzleloader 1.5-4X scope (Realtree Hardwoods Green finish) with a Maxima one-piece base and quick-release rings. The scope runs at about $269.99 in the Eders catalog and I'm not afraid to spend that much on good optics. The Omega has some very nice sights and I'm sure I'd want them to be an option if anything ever did go wrong with the scope.

I've been wanting to get into muzzleloading for so long. Some have criticized me for not going with a more primitive smoke-pole but I don't feel bad and won't feel bad....unless Iowa opens up a modern rifle season for whitetail. Until then, I'll sleep okay at night
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idsman

I bought a 50 T/C Omega in Sept. and put a Bushnell Trophy 3 -9 x 40. Very reliable. Be sure to check the forward mounting block where the stock screws in to the barrel. Mine loosened up slightly after the first few rounds. T/C has excellent service and stand by their warranty - they fixed the problem. I had the best luck with 150gr of pellets backing a T/C 250gr sabot. 4" group @ 100yd. I'm very interested what powder/bullet combo works for you. Good luck!
 
I just read a review of the Omega in this months issue of Petersen's Hunting magazine which just arrived in the mailbox. The author said that the rifle remained solid after over 100 shots. However, I heard that T/C has been absolutely SCRAMBLING to keep up with demand on this rifle and a couple of quality-control issues came into play trying to get enough of them on the market to satisfy consumers. Those could be rumors because I don't know of anyone personally that has had problems with theirs yet.

hunt-m-up--You'd be more than welcome to stop by if you are ever in the area. I have to warn you though. The recruiting world is HEAVILY micro-managed. I've actually had relatives stop by and was given dirty looks for spending more than a few minutes chatting with them. If you know you are going to be in the area, maybe we can meet for coffee somewhere. Are you familiar with "The Bread Basket" which is located at the Marketplace Shopping Center just down the hall from Scheel's on Hamilton Boulevard? Email me in advance and maybe I can sneak out of the office on an "appointment". Heck, I know for a fact that I put in 65 - 75 hours a week and get the job done well. It's an unspoken understanding that we all take an hour here or an hour there every week for some personal time.

My email address is idsman75@peoplepc.com

Shoot me a line sometime. If you're going to the Iowa Deer Classic I'm sure to be there.
 
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