Bought a Muzzleloader, Now what?

[96trigger]

I bought a muzzleloader, came in today. It looks awesome, pulls up nice, and sights nice. I'm thinking about giving it a try for 3B later in the week.

I have never muzzled before. Any info or advice as to what I need to do. I read the manual that came with the gun. It was kind of helpful. My biggest question is how to unload. The book keeps telling me to shoot into a backstop. Is there a better way to do this? It kind of seemed like they were covering there buts for legal reasons.

Also, is an unprimed muzzleloader considered loaded? Do you remove the pyrodex after every outing etc.. little things like that would be helpful. I don't know if I'll even get out during the season, but it might be fun if I have time.

[Bowfin]

Welcome to the world of smokepoles - I quickly became hooked after I bought mine about 5 years ago.

Glad to hear you read the instruction book - that was step 2. I would suggest you hook up with an experienced muzzleloader person to teach you the ropes more quickly although you can read and get info from this site as well.

Main question is did you get a modern in-line or an old style traditional muzzleloader? Unloading can be done either by firing the gun or manually removing the bullet and charge. This can be as easy as removing the breech plug (if you have a gun you can)and pushing bullet through or as hard as screwing something into the bullet and pulling it out.

Lots to learn - a few things to remember:

- when the primer is in it is considered loaded. You can transport a cased muzzleloader with a charge and bullet in it as long as the primer in not in place.

- when you load, make sure you seat the bullet firmly on the charge (but don't pound on the ramrod). Leaving any gap between the charge and bullet is dangerous.

- there are better powders than pyrodex - triple seven and shockey's gold are cleaner, less corrosive, smell less and more powerful.

-I'll leave my bullet and charge in for 2-3 days while hunting - just removing the primer when not hunting. I never had a problem with misfires.

- keep gun clean

Anyway just my 2 cents - I'm sure others have some advice also.

[Jim916]

I bought a muzzleloader last year and I learned a few things:

-After running a wet patch down the barrel, shoot off a primer or two to dry out the breech plug. I had a few misfires from not doing it.

-After shooting the gun make sure it gets a thorough cleaning. I had the inside of my barrel rust from not doing this. I did get it all cleaned up, but it happens really fast.

I used my muzzleloader last year during the 3a season. I would use it while I was posted in the mornings and night.

Where do people go to shoot their muzzleloaders?

What area do you hunt? I hunt about 5 miles from where you are from.

[96trigger]

I bought a modern inline. Cabelas has a very good sale on some muzzleloaders. I bought the Remington Genesis, almost half price. It feels like a pretty sweet little gun. Thanks for the advice on the powder. The book says that the triple seven is 15% more powerful. So If I want 100 grains of powder, to only use 85% of the triple seven. I'm thinking of trying a 100 grains of triple seven with a hornady SST bullet, any thoughts? I shoot the SST's in my shotgun and have had good luck.

This is the kind of advice I was looking for. I'm not sure if I'll have time to actually muzzle laoder hunt, but I'm thinking that during the 3B season if I might take it out later on in the week, especially if I already have a deer or two in the freezer from opening weekend or from the bow season.

Also, are their any special tools, etc that I will need. It said to use a short starter to start the bullet. The end of my ramrod unscrews into about a 6 inch section, is this the short starter, or do I have to buy one? It also says to season the barrel with 10 rounds, clean, then ten more rounds, clean. Does anybody do this?

I hunt in Wabasha for the shotgun season but bow hunt on some private land bordering Whitewater state park during the bow season. Where do you hunt around here Jim? I teach for PEM and grew up in Wabasha so I know most of the area around here.

[Jim916]

I grew up in Plainview. I deer hunt over by Elgin, and in and around Whitewater, and I turkey hunt near Theilman. Very nice area for hunting.

I have a TC Triumph and the only problem I had with the some sabots is that TC guns seem to have a tighter bore and some sabots went in really hard. I am going to try diferent sabots this year with a smaller dia. to so if it goes in a little easier.

I think also that the SST's and the TC bullets are the same.

[Bowfin]

I shoot 100 grains of triple seven. I am still searching for the right bullet. TC shockwaves are accurate but very hard to load unless you clean the bore after every shot. I shot 245 gr powerbelts the last couple years. Powerbelts are super easy to load but not as accurate. They are a little undersized to load easier but are softer because they have to expand upon ignition to fill the rifling - I have heard this softness can cause the bullets to disinigrate at times resulting in no exit wound. So powerbelts are out for me even though I killed a couple deer with them. Hornady is advertising some easyload sabots I am going to try this year.

[96trigger]

Picked up trople se7en and sst 250 grain loads. I'll try them soon.

[Rotwieler]

let me know how they work I just order the same gun from cabela's and this will be my first year hunting with a muzzle loader.

its really wierd you posted this i was about to do the same and then i saw your post. cool. good luck! seems like its a good gun from the reviews

[96trigger]

I'd say its weird too, but the price was great. Even if I don't use it now, I might in the future. I agree with you, all the product reviews came back very good on this gun. I'm not sure if Remington is discontinuing it or what the deal is, but it seemed like a no brainer if you could afford it and could use one. I know that its still on the Remington HSOforum.

I plan on shooting it soon. I'm thinking 100 grains of triple seven powder with the 250 grain hornady SST sabots. Should be solid to 200 yards. I might put a scope on it with quick detach so I can use it during the 3B and the ML season if I am able to. Today I picked up some speed loader tubes, a muzzleloader cleaning kit from TC, a short starter, and a cleaning cloth retriever. I should be ready to shoot when I get a chance. I reload shotshells so I have many 209 primers.

[92python]

I few things I have learned.

Powder: I'd stick with loose powder of some sort. It is cheaper, more uniform, and isn't much more difficult. 777 FF or FFF would be a good choice. I have a bottle of Pinnacle FFF that seems to work well but I have heard that the Pinnacle, JSG, or APP FF is too grainy. Pyrodex is good but you need to clean your gun a bit more carefully as it is corrosive.

Measure any of the loose powders by volume and not by weight to make it easier on yourself. When they say 777 is more powerful sometimes they mean by weight, not volume.

Bullets: I get pistol bullets in bulk and they are much cheaper that the pre packaged muzzleloader bullet-sabot combos. I am trying 250 grain Hornady XTP .452s this year. 100 bullets for about $20. I have heard that the Speer Gold Dots are the best for the money but I haven't tried them.

Sabots: My Omega has a tight bore. They make sabots in different thicknesses. I could not shoot the standard black sabots so I went with the Harvester Crushed Rib sabots and now I can load my gun without standing on the ram rod. For the .452 caliber you need the Black sabots. For the .430 caliber you want the Green sabots. You do want a some what tight fit.

Powerbelts: Dont like them as they are a not the best bullet out there are are fairly pricey. If you do shoots them make sure you use 70-80 grains of powder at max or they have a tendency to fragment at close range.

One of my friends shoots his Thompson with a scope in shotgun zones during the firearms season and I can see why after shooting 2 inch 4 shot groups at 100 yards with his gun.

[WaveWacker]

My opinion is just the opposite on the powder. Go with pellets. Your right on the money with 100 grains (two 50gr. pellets). I use 250gr. TC shockwaves and they are awesome in my opinion and load just fine in my Omega (even if I need to get in a quick second shot).

Biggest thing in sighting in. After you shoot, MAKE SURE to clean out with a wet patch (I use pre-soaked) and then run a dry patch down to get rid of any moisture. After your done sighting (and assuming your going to shoot again before the season) you can run some bore butter down the barrel. Just clean out with two/three wet patches and dry out after. Fire just a primer, load and your ready to go.

[Rotwieler]

do you always have to run a wet patch before you reload? is it common for ambers to stay in the barrel? I'm new to muzzle loading.

[Bowfin]

do you always have to run a wet patch before you reload? is it common for ambers to stay in the barrel?

You should run a patch after every shot when you are sighting-in to duplicate barrel conditions each time you shoot - results in a better sight-in. When you hunt you don't have to clean the barrel after every shot unless you are shooting some tough loading sabots and can't seat the bullet properly. I've never had any problems with embers remaining in the barrel.

[HuskerBen]

Another option for unloading is a CO2 cartridge "bore blower." It is basically a valve that attaches to a CO2 cartridge (like you use for BB pistols), and fits over the nipple. There's a trigger that you squeeze, and it pushes the round and powder out of the barrel with a burst of gas. Most places that sell muzzleloaders should have them. They are relatively quiet, and they don't foul the bore. It's also a helpful little accessory if you forget to put a powder charge in before the bullet. Don't ask how I know that...