bigbuck15

hey guys im new to the sport of muzzleloading..i own a 45 cal. harrington and richardson huntsman open sight..i know the saying first the powder than the ball or it wont shoot at all..of course you put the powder in first..now lets say im going hunting..about how many grains of powder should i put in??..after the powder than goes the patch and the ball..correct me if im wrong on this?? also how many shots do you wanna have go through your gun before you clean it??..any help would be greatly appreciated..

thanks

cayugad

If your shooting a H&R Huntsman you might not want to shoot patch and ball as the rifle has a 1-28 twist and are more likely to give you better accuracy shooting a sabot. Go to a Wal Mart and get some T/C Mag Express 240 grain XTP's. Take 85 grains of powder and dump down the barrel. Then seat a XTP on top of that and see what kind of accuracy you get. Swab the barrel between shots with a wet patch and then a couple dry ones, then load again. Depending on the powder you shoot the need to swab will vary.

If the 85 grains and an XTP gets good accuracy then push it up to 90 or even 100 grains and see how the groups hold. That would be about the limit of powder I would push down it. I think the rifle is rated to 150 grains of pellets but check you manual.

Roundballs work better out of 1-48 and slower twists. Your rifle will shoot roundball for fun. Put about 50 grains of powder down the barrel and then a patch and ball and see what happens if you want to shoot them...

Sharp Shooter

I just started the sport to. The best thing to do is listed to Cayugad. For a 45 I am not sure.

bigbuck15

thanks a lot i appreciate all the help..i was wondering about the sabots myself..it is an H&R huntsman 45 cal...im going to go to walmart and try them out and see how things go..if theres anything else you think i need to know about my gun or anything a beginner should know let me know..

thanks

bigbuck15

question though do they make a T/C Mag Express 240 Grain XTP for a 45 cal.?? cuz i looked on T/C site and they only show240 Grain50 cal ones..do 50 cal XTP's work in a 45 cal.??

cayugad

Sorry I spaced out the fact it was a .45 caliber. You will have to look for the 180 & 200 grain XTP's also there is a 200 grain SST for the rifle that might shoot good. See what your local stores have in the XTP bullet for that caliber and get one of each. Then like I said, start them at 85 grains and work it up from there. I think you will be pleased with the accuracy your rifle does. If you were shooting roundball then you would have to get a .440 roundball I believe...

bigbuck15

alright thanks a lot..im gonna go buy some sst's tomorrow and some tc super 45 xr sabots and see how things go..

cayugad

Keep us posted as to how your rifle shoots... good luck

bigbuck15

what about the capping though..should i use a #11 CCI cap or a 209 primer??

cayugad

If the rifle is set up for the 209, then yes, by all means shoot the 209 primers. I like the Winchester W209 if I think there will be any ignition problems like when shooting pellets. For loose powder the Remington Kleenbore have been working fine for me. I just am not 100% sure they are worth the extra money since my rifles do not develope a crud ring per say.

When you can use more fire in the breech which the 209 will supply then use that. The #11 caps might not even work on your rifle. They are more often times used on sidelocks and some of the older inline muzzleloaders like my Wolverine.