I know it was hot today. Just how hot surprised me once I got out on the range.
One said 92 and the other was at 91šs. Either way you pick, it was hot. The thermometer was even in the shade and I was not. I was in direct hot sunshine.
The rifle I decided to shoot today was a .54 caliber T/C New Englander. It is one I picked up a while back and really have not shot it much. I could find no mention of it in my rifle journal or photo book. So I treated it like a new one. I decided to see what it could do.
Rifle: T/C .54 caliber 1-48 twist percussion cap lock rifle with composite stock and iron sights.
Powder: Goex 2f
Charge: 70, 80, & 90 grains
Projectile: Hornady .530 roundball pillow tick patch, moose milk lube
Distance: 50 yards
I started with 70 grains of powder. Shots 1, 2, & 3, while not bad were kind of spread out. Stringing as they were. Usually adding powder will stop that.
With 80 grains of Goex 2f I shot 4, 5, & 6 and was very pleased with that group. So much so in fact I started shooting. I lost count of the number of roundball but was swabbing the bore with Rusty Duck Black Off solvent every three shots.
The group was a little to the left, but that's just a matter of sight adjustment. I think I shot a total of eight shots with the 80 grains of powder, but I am not really sure. All I know it as long as I put the white bulls eye and balanced it on top of the front sight and squeezed the trigger, it just kept stacking them in there.
I then upped the charge to 90 grains and decided to pick out one of the smaller bulls eyes to shoot at as the main was was kind of damaged you might say.
The group appears to be opening up a little. This might have been due to shooter fatigue, heat exhaustion, the fact the barrel was so hot you could not touch it to swab, or it just wanted a little less powder. I would have moved down to 85 grains of powder but decided to save it for another day.
This New Englander will really shoot. 80 grains of powder is a very good deer hunting load with that big roundball.
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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, a total wreck, screaming Yahoo, with a big smile on your face."
Did you know that the T/C New Englanders with Rynite stocks have 24" barrels, and the N.E.'s with walnut stocks have 26" barrels. I have .54's with both. I find that as the round barrels used on the N.E.'s heat up accuracy goes down. The octagonal barrels used in Renegades are a little less sensitive to heat. Nice looking ML, and looks like it shoots good too!
I enjoyed the report Cayugad. That's some fine iron sight shooting.
New Englander's are great guns. I can't understand why TC doesn't produce them again. If I ran TC I would offer them in two barrel or three barrel sets:
.54 slow twist & 12 Gauge
.50 fast (sabot) twist & 12 Gauge
.54 slow twist, .50 fast twist, & 12 Gauge
Rifle barrels drilled and tapped for optional scope mount.
I wonder how many three-barrel sets they would sell?
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My wife says I'm totally nuts, but I think I'm Semisane.
Things I've Learned: (1) It's not possible to please everyone, but quite easy to piss everyone off. (2) If you love animals as I do, then you're not a vegetarian. (3) There's no need to act stupid, even if you're very good at it. (4) If you eat right and exercise, don't smoke or drink, you're going to die anyway.
I just looked at my wall. I have a couple with the rynite stocks and one with the wooden stock. Mine look to be the same length, but one is a .50 and the other two are .54 calibers. The last one is a shotgun, so that probably don't count. But I never knew that. I purchased all of mine second hand, so there is no telling what was changed out or over.
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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, a total wreck, screaming Yahoo, with a big smile on your face."
Semisane.. I think they used to offer them as a rifle and with a shotgun barrel to boot. Now my friend shoots a .50 caliber New Englander and all he shoots are maxi ball out of it. He's killed lots of deer and even black bear. And he shoots 70 grains of powder is all.
The New Englander was/is a really good rifle. But I think the real loss was when they changed the Renegade over to the Renegade Hunter.
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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, a total wreck, screaming Yahoo, with a big smile on your face."
I have a TC Greyhawk which I believe is a stainless New Englander. It also will shoot a great group with round ball and 80 gr 2f Goex. going to take it to NM for an Elk hunt this fall, will be using 100gr 2f goex and 430 maxi ball, shoots 2 inch group at 75 yards. about the max range I can shoot decent with open sights, love the gun.
I have to look through my stuff. I might have some .54 caliber maxiball. I would like to try them in that New Englander. Good luck with your hunt.
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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, a total wreck, screaming Yahoo, with a big smile on your face."
That rifle shoots pretty good cayugad. I've got one of those in .50 that i bought nib about 10 years ago and it's still under the bed. Guess I'll have to dig it out and see how it shoots this year. Of course with my eyes I'll have to scope it. That's pretty much why I haven't shot it yet.
.54 caliber T/C New Englander
One said 92 and the other was at 91šs. Either way you pick, it was hot. The thermometer was even in the shade and I was not. I was in direct hot sunshine. 
