This will be my first time hunting with a muzzleloader. I guess my first question is this. I want to sight in the muzzleloader at around fifty yards, but am not sure at what grain level I need to be starting at. To be totally honest I am not sure how much to even start at that is safe because I have never even shot a muzzleloader before. I was given a pyrodex pack which has the grains volume tube for measuring, but am not sure of how much grain volume to start off with. I also would like to hear some tips from fellow hunters and what are the most common mistakes a beginner makes. Thanks.

We'll need more info to give you a through answer such as:

What type of gun is it (make model and caliber)?

What type and weight of projectile do you intend to use?

What type of Pyrodex do you have (RS, P, Select, pellets)?

Assuming that you are shooting a modern muzzleloader (made in the last 20 years) in .45 or .50 caliber you can safely start with 70 grains of Pyrodex RS (by volume) and work your way up to 100 grains and still have wide safety margin no matter what bullet you choose. MOST muzzleloaders will handle 120 grains safely and the current "Magnum" in-lines will handle 150 grains (3 pellets).

Black powder and it's substitutes are much less sensitive to grain and pressure changes than smokeless (shoot 5 grains over max in a muzzleloader and it's usually no big deal but not recommended, shoot 5 grains over max in most centerfire rifles with smokeless and you'll be looking for a new rifle if you're lucky, and a reconstructive sergeon if you're not). The MOST IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER with black powder, and especially it's substitutes, is that the charges be measured BY VOLUME and NOT by weight. If you measure Pyrodex by weight you'll end up something like 20% over what you wanted.

Give us some more info and we'll give you a more specific answer.

Welcome to muzzleloading, i think you'll enjoy it.

Good luck,

Mike


Gun control means putting the second bullet through the same hole as the first- Ted Nugent
NRA Member
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -Ben Franklin

Thanks driftrider for the reply. Heres what I know about the muzzleloader. I bought it used from someone who let me hunt with him last year "which was my first year hunting."

Both of these are stamped onto the side of the chamber;

MML INC. Model T-5

"Black Powder Only" 50 Caliber
Made in Italy

The person who I bought this from has been using the pyrodex rs with hornady high velocity sabots with xtp bullets "according to the box" and the weight is 385 grains for the bullet weight. Hope this helps.

cahillnnc is this an in-line? Also what is the twist in the barrel? Do you want to shoot conicals, sabots, round balls, etc. Do you know what were the loads they used to shoot out of it? That is always a good indication of where to start. If the twist is 1-48 or less, then you can shoot round ball or conicals. If it is even down as low as 1-28 then you can consider the sabots, and conicals. This might not be a BP rifle able to handled the 150 range charges, so keep it at a 100 grains or less until you are sure. Loose powder will help you find your perfect load much faster then the pellets, and is a lot cheaper to shoot. I shoot Pyrodex RS. My .50 caliber Hawkins shoots only round balls because it has a 1-66 twist. I load it with 65-70 grains of powder, a .015 patch and a round ball. My .54 caliber T/C Renegade will shoot round ball or conicals because of the 1-48 twist. Round balls get 80 grains of RS and the conicals get 90 grains of RS. Hope this helps.. good luck hunting this year

Newbie No.1 rule powder before bullet. Sounds stupid but I have done it.