New Muzzleloader ... now what?

[Dahitman44]

I won a Bone Collector last year but filled my tag and did not shoot it. This year I get to go Muzzle loading for the first time in a few years.

What should I do with a Muzzleloader right out of the box? Does anyone use this rifle? I have read great things about it, but how does it shoot in the field.

How accurate has it been out of the box?

I will be shooting Powerbelt bullets ... I think. I have had good luck with them in the past.

Any and all info would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Hit

[HooknHorns]

Better first decide want kind of propelent to use. 777, Pyrodex, pellets,or loose. If you're using for strictly muzzleloader season you probally only need 100grns of powder. If your asking about breaking in a new barrel, i think I used some lead balls, patches and some bore butter, then went to the sabots. Powerbelts might be different. Others might be more experienced at this than me. Sounds like a nice gun though and should shoot good.

[fr0sty]

Be sure to get out to the range and start target shooting. There is good general ml info on the tc arms HSOforum (in their video section).

[flipper]

Best get shooting that thang.

[setterdude]

I purhcased a new Bone Collector last year. I shot it during the rifle season this year and it performed great in the field.

You shouldn't have to do anything special right out of the box other than to fire a couple of primers through the gun to clear out any oil in the barrel.

Once I dialed it in the gun has been very accurate. Powerbelts will work fine but you'll have to experiment a little to see what bullet/powder combination that will shoot best through the gun. I'm sure they are all a little different. I use loose 777 powder with either the powerbelts or TC shockwave bullets. My gun seems to like a 110 gns. of 777 powder along with a 300 gn. T/C shockwave bullet so that is what I've settled on. I topped it with a scope for the rifle season and it really shoots nice.

Best thing is to get out and shoot it some and see what works best. I think you'll really like the new gun.

[Dahitman44]

I didn't think we could put on a scope? Did that change?

[DRH1175]

He used it for Rifle season scopes are legal than. Nothing changed no scopes allowed for ML season.

[mnbuckhunter]

I topped it with a scope for the rifle season.....

You can have a scope on it during rifle season.

[Dahitman44]

Interesting ... never knew that.

[Red_Dog]

I've been shooting one since the inline craze started about 10 years ago now.

Most important things I've learned are.... loose powder is always more accurate than pellets. Powerbelts are junk with a lot of marketing hype, sabots with powder is the most consistent and accurate you can get, and there are different sizes of the grain of powder FFG,FFFG. Most important thing is TIME and ROUND's thru. A guy can make a tack driver out of the $100 wal-mart guns if he spends enough time getting to know exactly what it likes.

That said there are better quality guns the more you spend, T.C is the gold standard but one of mine is similar to yours and I can consistently hit a saucer size paper plate at 50 yards with open sights. Over all I feel they are more a hobby thing for guys that like to spend hours at the range than for actually harvesting lots of meat.