Originally Posted by
CalHunter
........................................I have not got into muzzle loading yet but am curious about the range issue. I know if centerfire (and especially in rimfire) rifles, most rifle purists recommend shooting the actual range you plan on shooting. But then there's a guy named Jack O'Connor who always recommended sighting in about 3 inches high at 100 yards so you be dead on at approximately 275-300 yards. Jack shot a lot of animals and he obviously got lots of chances to see where his rifle(s) shot at 300 yards.
My question is this--Is there a similar formula for muzzle loaders using range data like that or are muzzle loaders too inconsistent or load specific to use a general formula like that?
Hope i can get this right.
First off, i don't believe individual muzzle loaders are too inconsistent to form trajectory generalizations. My experience is only with in-lines, so isn't really so very broad. In general, my generalization will be...............the 275-300 yard O'Connor wrote about reverts to
170-190 yard when sighting in 3" high at 100 yard with an average muzzle loader load of 250g or 300g bullet, and 100g powder in a 50 caliber rifle.
sabotloader has posted several ballistic charts of muzzle loader loadings, using the concept of maximum point blank range.
Remember that the 275-300 yard max pbr was for his .270. For the 30-06 it became 265-290 yard if i recall correctly. Eleanor' 7mm Mauser also had less of a pbr than the .270. Today many many rifles can and do shoot to the 275-300 yard pbr identified, and explained by O'Connor--many don't. Some that probably do are the .223, .243, .280, 7mm magnum, 300 Winchester................. Some that probably don't are the .308, 30-06, 7.62 x 39, .358 Winchester, 444 Marlin, .458 Winchester...............
The furthest shot i ever made on a deer was around 230 yard, and i did it using the max pbr method by guestimating hold. That rifle was sighted in 3" high at 100 yard, and the cross hair was held high on the deer.
Nowaday, we have scopes with fancy reticle, and cds dial. A lot of us no longer use the concept of maximum point blank range when sighting in our rifles. For 40 year, i did as Jack O'Connor taught me to do. Every month we eagerly waited for the newest Outdoor Life. We dreamed of hunting like he wrote about. O'Connor taught us to fill a .270 case full to the top with 4831 powder, and that is what we did. No weighing or measuring other than the case itself. We loaded them bullets using the old Lyman tong tool. Eventually we purchased a scale. I guess the load was right at max, about 62g. Today, my rifles are all sighted in exactly at 100 yard. Using moa elevation changes, allows for shooting at virtually any range within reason.
My favorite long range load is out of a 45 caliber rifle. It doesn't follow the 'general' muzzle loader guidelines at all. This rifle is sighted in at 100 yard. Last year by twisting the cds dial to measured ranges i killed deer at 125 yard or so, and 170 yard or so. After hunting season during the doldrums of winter, i did a lot of shooting at 300 yard and beyond.
One day i decided i wanted to try for a 1/4 mile shot. Three shots were taken with a 50 rifle, and all missed.
Using the chart as the guide, i twisted the elevation dial up 19 3/4 moa, on the 45, and somehow the shot was made first try.
http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/blac...-1-4-mile.html
That jug shot was the first and only shot ever taken at 452 yard with that rifle, and it followed script perfectly. My opinion is
muzzle loaders are not too inconsistent to use a general formula.