I got to the range with the .54 caliber Traditions Deerhunter muzzle loader yesterday and I was a little disappointed. The whole idea was to have a rifle that would shoot a larger caliber projectile than the rifles I already own. That has not panned out as of yet. I didn't have any pillow ticking so I was improvising with what I had on hand for the patches. I just couldn't get the round balls to group.
I had brought along some Thompson Center .54 caliber sabots for .45 caliber bullets and some .45 caliber XTP's just to give them a try to see how they might shoot out of this barrel.
This rifle was killing my shoulder from not having any recoil pad on it. And since I had the third shot on target 10 get away from me I decided to quit after the second shot on target 11. That's all I need is another rifle to shoot .45 caliber slugs out of. I allready have enough .50 caliber rifles to do that with. I really don't need a .54 caliber rifle that shoots them too. Although I think This .54 caliber shoots them better than all my .50 caliber rifles do.
What did your patches look like? Did you look???? You can tell a lot by looking at your patches. You can tell a lot by how it loads did you need a short stsrter to get them started?
Try some "new" pillow tick and use a good lube. I bet it will make all the difference in the world. Also since the rifle is new, it would not hurt to treat the barrel to a JB Bore paste treatment. It will smooth out all the ruff spots.
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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."
My last Lyman had a very sharp edged rifling (2003 Trade Rifle) and cut patches for the first 50 rounds or so. I was told I could have saved some time if I had put some valve polishing past on a patches and gotten the sharp edges and burrs out, but I was afraid to take that short cut.
Now mine shoots one hole groups at 50 yards, using .535 ball, .018 ticking, moose milk dried and spit, and 110 grains of GOEX FF.
As others have said, get a correct load with good materials, but be prepared to work at it for a while.
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It will get there with round balls Pluckit. I suspect when you find the right combination of powder, patch and lube it will become one of your favorite shooters.
Even without a recoil pad, 80 grain loads with round balls or 240 grain bullets in sabots wouldn't seem to have a whole lot of recoil. Your position at the bench may be contributing to the sore shoulder. It's best to be sitting as straight up as possible and pulling the gun firmly into your shoulder with your trigger hand.
Your targets show FFg and FFFg powder. Were you shooting GOEX or T-7?
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I never saw any of the patches yesterday. I was shooting Goex. Thompson Center Bore Butter for lube. The balls all needed to be slapped in with a short starter and then went down fairly easily. My posture is poor due to how low the rifle sits on the bench on top of the rest I have. I am bent over quite a bit. I explained the problem I was having to my wife and told her I thought it was the patches. She stopped at a fabric store and picked up some Pillow Ticking for me. A yard of the red and a yard of the blue striped. She said there were no notifications as to what the thickness was of either the red or the blue. Does anyone know the thickness of the two colors.
By the way, I was telling a person at the range that I had put the rifle together from a kit and he asked me if I was a gun smith. I thought that was a very nice compliment.
The Butt Ugly Red Headed Step Child Range Report
