ORIGINAL: Moebedda
Anyone try it with a Nikon Omega scope? I was thinking of putting that scope on there.
I have shot all of my deer(21 bucks and 30+ does) within 80 yards. I have never shot over 80. Most of my deer are archery kills so I really would like to shoot a couple over 200 yards and finally have the opportunity to do it, but I'm not trying to break my wallet either.
I saw an add on that scope. It looked pretty cool. He was showing how he set it up with his Omega. And was shooting a 150 yard spinner target with ease. But with your archery skills, there will be no reason for the long shots. You know how to get close it sounds like.
As for the wallet.. you get into the inline part of this sport. Your wallet is going to hurt. There are lots of powders, primers, projectiles and what nots.. cleaning supplies, etc to test to find the best loads for some rifles. The rifle and scope is just the begining. Sorry if this is not what you wanted to hear, but the cost of the rifle is your least worry. That will last you for many years. It is the other stuff that really starts to add up. I placed a bullet order last week, and it came to over one hundered dollars in bullets. Since this is my hobby, I do not get too excited. But some people freak when I spend that kind of money on bullets.
I was looking at buying a new muzzleloader this year. I aquired some new hunting property and my old flinter won't cut it. I have the ability to take some very long shots that I have never had before. It's rolling farm fields mixed up with some good wood lots, fence lines, a swamp, overgrown orchard, etc. It's a hunter's heaven, and I have a full square mile to hunt and all only 10 minutes from my house. In Michigan, that's pretty hard to do.
That does sound like an excellent spot.
At any rate I am looking for a muzzleoader that will reach out, and have been doing a lot of reading and looking. I was kind of set on the Omega, but I didn't want a synthetic stock. I like my stuff to look good, and to me, synthetic looks cheap. I didn't care for the grey laminated thumbhole stock either. I liked the limited edition rose/black/tan stock they had, but can't find one anywhere.
While the synthetic stocks might look cheap, or the thumbhole stock is not your style, you are wanting to shoot EXTREME distances. Sometimes the rifle design with the synthetic stocks will help you in accomplishing that. Wood stocks might be pretty, but they are not alway the best choice in the field. Believe me, the synthetic stocks grow on you. A favorite of mine is a stainless steel barrel with a good black or graylaminate stock. It is sharp looking and very functional.
I found the Lyman on accident while browsing Cabelas. It's a beautiful looking gun. The price seems very good, Lyman has been around for a while. I wanted to know if this was a shooter or not? I liked the fact that it seemed a little heavier than the rest as well.
Cabelas has it weighing 8 3/4 pounds but on Lymans website it shows 7.5 pounds. Can anyone confirm one of those numbers?
Is it capable of good groups @ 250 yards?
I could not tell you the true weight of the rifle. Then add to that a scope. I never get to concerned about rifle weight. Most my shooting is done from stands where I am seated and have a good rest to shoot from. That makes the rifle weight not as an important matter.
Will the Lyman shoot 250 in good groups? All rifles will shoot that far, but the good group part depends on how good a load it works up and how good a shot you are. I think you might be expecting too much from these rifles. Granted they can do it ... BUT what if the rifle's pet load is 85 grains of powder and a sabot combination. Lets say at 100 yards it shoots a 2" group with that. While at 200 it might open that to 6" or more, you might run into other factors like penetration.. etc.
If I were going to be in a spot where I had to shoot 200 yards, I would be looking at a Savage ML10-II (if legal), a Thompson Center Pro Hunter, a Knight Long Range Hunter, a T/C Omega, or a Knight Disc Extreme. From all the posts I have read by shooters on these forums.. these seem to be the rifles able to shoot the extreme distances with consistancy. Put a good quality scope on them and I think you really have a nice system. Some of the Knight Rifles have out of the box accuracy guarantees that are really impressive... These are just my opinions. I mean no slam on any of the other rifles out there.
I own a Black Diamond XR and a Knight Disc which I feel if I practiced A LOT I might be able to do that kind of shooting you are talking. 200 yards is extreme. 250 to me is a pipe dream with a muzzleloader although I know it has been done. 150 would be the max distance with a good scoped muzzleloader I would ever attempt. But again, those are limits I set for myself.