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Muzzleloader Accuracy Issues

cornfedkiller

cornfedkiller

Member
Went to sight my muzzleloader in today and I was all over the place. I couldnt get two bullets to hit close to the same spot. Some were 6-8" high, some were 3-6" low, some were 3-6" to the right, some were within 1-2" of the bullseye. Didnt move my scope at all because I couldnt get a consistent spot. Wondering if you guys can give me some tips/suggestions/diagnosis to my problem.

More info.. I was shooting 100 yards off a Lead Sled, .50cal Thompson Center Impact, Bushnell Trophy XLT Scope, Hornady XTP bullets, started out using 85 units of Blackhorn 209 (then moved to 100 to see if that would increase my accuracy at all), CCI 209M primers.

I checked my scope several times to make sure it wasnt loose or anything, and it was tight. Some shots I swabbed the barrel between, some shots I didnt..didnt seem to make a difference.

Had my dad try shooting as well to make sure it wasnt just me and he had the same results.

Would the wind today be affecting it THAT much??

Do you swab your barrels between each shot, or just keep shooting?

Anyone have experience with the XTP bullets? Im thinking of trying their SST instead.

Should I start at 50 yards and see if I can get a consistent group before moving to 100?
 
I shoot sst with my Blackhorn.. Also I played around with different slugs and different volumes of powder to finally figure my gun out. I usually clean every other shot but it never gets super dirty with Blackhorn any way
 
I know you said you checked the scope but it sounds like a scope issue... either loose rings or bases or bad scope to begin with. It takes VERY little movement in the rings or bases to make a huge difference downrange. The only other thing I could think of is if the bullet wasnt fully seated every shot.
But in all honesty Ive never had or heard of a muzzy that had that bad of accuracy. That almost sounds more like smoothbore slug gun accuracy.
 
With blackhorn, no need to swab in between shots. I go all season without cleaning my barrel then give it a good cleaning at the end of the season.

The painful thing about finding the right loads for muzzleloaders, is not only the grains of powder but the weight of the bullet and the right sabot. Once you have the right weight of bullet and right sabot, you will know, as you'll start to be able to group instead of shooting all over the place. Then, you fine tune the charge to start stacking them on top of each other.

My advice would be to get on harvester muzzleloading's site and get a few different weights of the scorpion pt gold bullets and then get a few of the different sabots. Go to the range and be prepared to spend a few hours. You don't want the sabot/bullet to load too easy or you will get flying groups. You want some resistance when you're pushing the sabot down the barrel.
 
Several years ago I had the same problem and the scope turned out to be broken. I switched to a extra scope I had around just to see if the gun would group and it did. Bought a new scope and worked ever since.
 
I would pull the scope off and check the base screws and use locktite on them and reinstall the screws, I had a problem like that and 1 of the screws had broken. Check the flash channel on the breech plug and make sure it is clean of the carbon build up and check the fire tip by the powder that it is clear. With BH 209 as was said, you do not need to swab with it, you said 85 units, that was volume right. Usually with the Hornady xtp bullets they are very accurate, as was said I would try to get some different sabots to try. Did the gun shoot ok last year or is it a new muzzy? If you live close to Sioux city PM me.
 
Either the base, scope mounts or rings are loose. If you don't have loc tite on them, pull it off and put the gun tite stuff on. Try again, if no go, your scope is bad.

Every time I have seen this it was usually the base that mounts to gun. You most likely would not feel any movement when pulling on it.

I did have one leupold scope take a dump on me and had to send it back for a new one.

I doubt it is a bullet load issue. Way too erratic and have not come across a muzzleloader that won't shoot xtps well.

I hate xtps though as they don't expand worth a darn and leave poor blood trails but that is another story. ;)
 
I agree that's it sounds like a scope issue. If the gun has iron sights, take the scope off and shoot a handful of shots using the iron sights. If it groups, there's your answer.
 
I agree with with scope issue but that being said I always start at 50 then move out. Just what I've always done.

Sent from my iPhone using IW
 
I always start at 50 yards too. Actually with a brand new set up I always start at 25 just to get it close.

They claim BH209 is non-corrosive but I don't believe it. Pitted the crap out of my knight stainless 45. I left it dirty for a month though, it was my own fault.
 
Sounds like scope issues....

No need to swab that much with blackhorn. Try to be as consistent as possible when loading.
 
Yep, I agree with the previous comments, way too erratic for winds or load issues. A warm barrel will also shoot slightly different than a cold barrel but I have never seen it affect it that much. If you've had better groups in the past with the same load and bullets then it would have to be a scope issue. I also wouldn't wait a season between cleaning your gun. Every time you shoot it you should clean it in my opinion.
 
Are you sure that the lead sled isnt moving? I tried to sight mine in this summer, and was having the exact same problems. The surface was a little slick, and it was moving all over, I was getting mad needless to say... I switched what it was sitting on, and ended up being perfect
 
Bought my muzzy as a package deal several years ago, and had the same sort of issues new out of the box. Turned out the reticle in scope was floating around. New scope and it ckeared right up.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. I will start over by making sure the scope mounts are tight, and then go from there.

How many units of the BH209 do you guys use? 85? 100?
 
In my Accura V 2, and the MR, I use 110 grains by Volume or 77 gr by weight.
when you say units are you weighing it or measuring it?
 
I use 90 for my brothers girlfriend and I shoot 100 by volume. Both get touching groups with Barnes Expander Spitfire TMZ. My brothers Accura shoots 250 grain bullets and I shoot 290 grain same bullet.
 
I didnt get a chance to get out today and try shooting again, but I took the scope off and made sure the mount and everything was tight, and there were a couple screws in the mount and the scope rings that werent tight. I wouldnt say they were loose, but they werent tight tight. I put some loc-tite on them and tightened them all down good. Hopefully that solves my problem, but I wont know for sure until probably next weekend.

I also have a new jug of BH209 (jug that I was shooting yesterday was 2 years old), so maybe that will help as well..
 
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