Looking for a good sidelock conical shooter

[hubby11]

Thinking about getting a percussion ML for shooting conicals. I have a limited budget so will likely get used if I can find one in good shape. I am partial to carbines for the area I hunt (heavy woods/brush, not shot over 100yds).

Can anyone let me know if the below rifles age good conical shooters?

T/C Renegade
T/C White Mountain
T/C Penn Hunter
T/C Hawken
Lyman Deerstalker
Cabelas Sporterized Hawken Hunter Carbine

Any others?

One other question while I have your attention.

Barrel twist – I assume I want either 1/24 or 1/48. Which would be better if I am solely shooting conicals?

Thanks in advance.

[mountaineer magic]

the best conical shooter I have that is a production gun is a 54 cal. Lyman Great Plains Hunter with a 1:32 twist. with 90 or 100 gr. 777 and a 425 gr Hornady great Plains bullet it's awesome. I have a 1:24 twist Green Mountain barrel for my 50 cal.Hawken that shoots 460 gr conicals great also. If you can find a Lyman great Plains Hunter I would go with that. They also make a barrel for round ball ( 1:60) that will drop in the stock. It gives you great options and great performance.
I personally would stay away from the 1:48.

[cayugad]

I think the T/C White Mountain Carbine is known as a good conical shooter, but I do not own one. The PA Hunter is more of a roundball rifle. At least mine is. Renegades will shoot conicals real well, as will the deer stalker and Hawkins.

If you want to shoot conicals, look for a 1-32 twist or faster. A 1-28 even a 1-24. The 1-48 will also shoot conicals, but its more a hit and miss. Meaning this one will, that one will not. If you want a short carbine with a 1-32 twist, Traditions and CVA used to make some of them. They were the Tracker series. I have two or three of them but really have not shot them enough to tell you want conicals they like.

[dylan_b]

the 1/20 twist barrel on my white mountain carbine actually shoots conicals fairly well. the 350 maxi hunter being the best shooting. but he lyman deer stalker is more accurate, i think thats due to the better fitting stock and extra weight. investarm in italy used to make them, not sure if they still do.

[hubby11]

Thanks for the input. One last question for this newbie. .50 or .54 for conicals? Deer hunting only.

[cayugad]

Since your shooting at deer, and only conicals.. then a .50 is fine. There are more choices out there for .50 caliber conicals. Also its all that is needed. They will flatten a deer.

[UncleNorby]

For a dedicated conical shooting gun, you do want a twist faster than 1:48. My Renegade shoots conicals really well, but as has been said, some are better than others with this "compromise" twist which was meant to shoot round balls and conicals acceptably.

T/C used to make two or three maxiball weights in 50 and 54 caliber. If you do end up with a 1:48 twist in a used gun, and it won't shoot "heavy" (meaning long) conicals well enough, try going down in bullet weight (shorter). The 1:48 may stabilize a shorter bullet better than a longer one.

Remember, roundballs do a number on deer, so any soft lead conical with a decent charge will take deer with no problem.