cayugad

A friend, Art came over today with his new rifle. He had a Tradition's Pursuit. Needless to say when he wanted to shoot, I was more then willing since I figured I'd get to shoot his new rifle.

He had a 3x9 Bushnell Banner Dusk to Dawn Scope on the rifle. Excellent clearity in the scope. He also had some 300 grain Nosler Soft Point bullets and black high pressure sabots.

He wanted to sight the rifle in at 50 yards which was fine with me. He suggested I grab a rifle, so I took my Knight Wolverine II with open sights. I also grabbed some 460 grain NO EXCUSE CONICALS and Goex 3f powder.

The first thing I noticed were his pellets. He then explained that this was a magnum rifle. He load 3 Pyrodex Pellets and a 300 grain Nosler. I suggested he use only 2 of the pellets but Art was positive that this magnum rifle would handle the stress. I then watched him get knocked around by the rifle terrible. He fired seven rounds and was not very happy with his rifle.

I fired six rounds of 460 No Excuse Conicals over 85 grains of Goex 3f out of the Wolverine, and was more then pleased for the open sights. My hits are marked with the letter D and of course Art is letter A.

We then changed targets. I finally insisted he lower the rifle to 100 grains of pellets which he did. The rifle then began to behave much better. He shot a very respectable group finally hitting about two inches above the bull. He was so pleased he even kept his target.

I told him next time to bring loose powder and some 300 grain XTP's or some Shockwaves and we would back up to 100 yards. I personally think the heat was a factor, and the recoil was bothering him a great deal as I watched him flinch numerous times.

I did fire his rifle three times using Goex and some 240 grain Cheap Shots I had in the field bag and the rifle actually shot very good. Also, the Tradition's Pursuit has a nice trigger pull. They must have fixed the problem if there was one. Art felt that he wanted a bigger bullet then the 240 grain Cheap Shot. I did suggest he shoot one of the No Excuse Conicals out of his rifle, but he refused. He seemed to think the big chunk of lead would kick. As if my laughing, watching him getting knocked around by 150 grains of pellets did not kick. Needless to say, he has a nice rifle.... A little work and I am sure it will be a great shooter.

dog1

cayudad,

You mentioned the trigger on the pursuit, and you probably don't remember my post on the Pursuit LT being terrible. Which I worked on and made it better. However, I wouldn't spend the money on another, will go to a TC or Knight. I've got a question posted, just a few minutes ago, it's 3:50 p.m. , Aug 6th. It's titled, What's the Difference?" If you can help, please.

dog1

cayugad

Today I decided to play with my .54 caliber Lyman Trade Rifle Flintlock. The rifle shoots 100 grains of Goex 2f and a moosemilk patched .530 roundball. I use the traditional iron buckhorn sights on the rifle. I had set my bench at 50 yards yesterday and was too lazy to move it, so I taped up the same box, threw a 3"x5" index card on it and had at it.

I knew the rifle was shooting to the right a little bit, and it took me four shots to check where it was hitting. After that the rest was kind of easy. I would set the sight on the 8 o'clock position and touch it off. The rifle behaved perfect other then it fowled out a couple times. The flint actually never failed to fire the pan. I just forgot to pick the vent hole a few times, and it needed swabbing. I could tell by the patches I recovered and the condition they were in.

After punching holes in the cards long enough I went in the house and got some oranges and put them on a soda can. The trick was to shoot the orange and not hit the can. What a great time.... A good way to spend the afternoon.

Ark City Larry

I just got a Tradations Pursuit LT as a back up to my Encore and Omega.....it has a very good trigger!

cayugad

I was also impressed with the balance of the rifle. It was the first time I really got to handle one. And I don't mean pull it to your shoulder like in a store. The balance was nice, the trigger was fine, and the recoil was not bad with my load.

Over all, I think once he gets a good load worked up, it will be a nice shooting rifle. I was real impressed with the scope. It was only a Dusk to Dawn Bushnell Banner but the clarity was exceptional and the focus was real good. It also had the extended eye relief which I think he was lucky to have....

snowman69

I purchased a new pursuit LT couldn't pass it up for the price this being my first muzzleloader and was told to make sure to get an 05 model which I did and the trigger has being fixed because it is a very nice trigger and I found the gun very well balanced and with open sights at 50yrds I have it zoned into 1.5" to 2" groups with a few fliers as I am still working on my shooting a swabing technic to get the best consistancy.

cayugad

snowman69..

what is your load and projectile. My friend was having a heck of a time at first. I think he had a bad flinch towards the end when he was shooting, but he is always looking for something that will shoot good. I will pass the information on to him and there's a good chance I even have the projectile in stock at my house...

snowman69

Cayugad..

I am very new at this so I haven't experimented with any projectiles yet just charges and I found that my rifle shot very well with 100grns of pyrodex RS FFgpowder the bullets Iam using are Hornady sabots 44-240 hp/xtp and they seemed to fly really nice as I mentioned I left the range at 2" groups at 50yrdsopen sights which I thing for Hunting is acceptable had a few fliers but it was my first time so I had to get into a grove of shooting and swabing every few shoots. As I get more time in I will eventually try different projectiles. One question I have for you is should I shoot a heavier bullet for elk or is 240grn enough? Also if your buddy finds a projectile that shoots good out of his pursuit let me know I eventually would like to try different things.

cayugad

I think you might have a great deer hunting load there. And it would do fine on thin skinned animals. Still,if it were me and I had to hunt elk, I would look for something heavier or at least not a hollow point. Elk need some real penetration. A hollow point like the XTP might open too early and not penetrate and do enough damage. If I wanted to shoot a hollow point for the damage/expansion concerns, I would look at some 250 grain Barnes Expanders. I might even look into the 300 grain Barnes Expanders just for the extra weight. Plus Barnes seem to be able to be pushed hard and they still fly true. And they have a controlled expansion so they tend to penetrate just fine. I shoot the 250 grain Barnes Expanders in my Knight and it is all I will hunt with when using that rifle. The accuracy is exceptional.

Another bullet that is often mentioned by the elk hunters is the 300 grain Nosler Partition. These are used by many people because of their deep penetration and controlled expansion. I am sure there are people out there that shoot the Nosler that can give you some possible load information on them. The Noslers Art was shooting I think would be accurate. If he had more of them and would leave his rifle with me.. I'd be more then glad to test that theory for him. I think after he was kicked around like he was, he got gun shy.

I once suggested to a person to use the 375 grain Buffalo Bullet SSB which they did. They used 110 grain of Triple Se7en and harvested a nice cow elk. I have "heard but not verified" that Buffalo changed the bullet and sabot making them harder to load. So until I learn more from Buffalo I will not recommend them for the time being.

You also have the option of large conicals. The 460 grain No Excuses, the maxi ball, Hornady Great Plains... all of them might shoot well out of your rifle. You would have to try them. Large conicals punch large holes and penetrate good.

I was real impressed with the rifle. I hope I get a chance to shoot it a lot more. If I hear of any good loads for it, I will let you know... Good luck elk hunting..

Tahquamenon

I also think the 28" Pursuit Pro (not the LT - too light for me) has excellent balance.

I can see one in my near future. Just trying to figure out a way to sneak it into one of the gun safe's without detection of my director of budget and finance.