Carpmaster

Just curious what kind of groups you guys get with your open sighted rigs for hunting no-optic muzzleloader seasons...also tell me what sight set up/gun/load/etc... Thinking about going west and muzzleloading next year....

Thanks guys!

cayugad

I shoot a number of different open sight rifles, and in those rifles a number of different projectiles. With open sights, if I shoot a 3" or better I am tickled. I average more in the 4" area at the 100 yard line with open sights, and have on occasion pushed that to well over 5 inches.

A great target for me is a #2 coffee can. Lay that in it's side and try to keep all the hits in the bottom of the can. That chrome shine bottom is easy to see in the shadows of the trap.

My best shooting open sight rifle is a .58 caliber Green Mountain Barrel shooting 100 grains of Goex 2f and a .570 patched roundball. The next best open sight rifle would be a White Ultra Mag shooting 460 grain conicals, two fiber wads, on top of 70 grains of Triple Se7en 3f.

Pittsburghunter

Tricky question. Most traditional rifles if well made should be MOA at 50yds but even I have a real hard time doing that. Inlines at 50yds a good one should get a sub 2" group with the right shooter. It should be better than that but the real world kicks in.

At 100yds with open sights well you are on your own I can do it with a couple of rifles but Can't give accurate enough knowledge of why or how the combo's work but they do. You need to practice. All rifles and shooters abilities kick in here.

txhunter58

You may want to rethink maxing out 777 (120 grains) with powerbelts. They like lower velocities usually for accuracy and terminal performance. Anything over 80 grains of 777 is plenty for any muley walking the earth. Try it and see what hits the most accurately. And remember, 120 grains of 777 kicks, a LOT!

Also, I have gotten good accuracy out of the new platinum powerbelts. You may want to give the 270 and 338 grain bullets a try.

Good luck

eldeguello

A precision-made and correctly loaded muzzleloader will shoot as well as any hunting weight rifle, ML or breechloader. How well a given rifle performs for YOU depends on how well you can aim it with the sights on it! NO rifle shoots any better than its' sights.

I can shoot 1" groups at 100 yards from a bench with 90 grains of FFg and round balls using my .50 Hawken when I use a Lyman 17A globe front sight and a Lyman target aperture rear sight on it. If I change to an open rear sight and a bead front, this group will triple in size! I just can't SEE a rear sight any more.......

Omegalover

I shoot with a scope so I wont try to answer about groups with iron sights, but I pose the thought that no rifle shoots any better than the person pulling the trigger.

It is mostly about the technique and discipline. Case in point, one of the guys I hunt and shoot with on a semi-regular basis seems to be a natural with a long gun. I think I shoot well, at least better than average,but I have to concentrate to make sure I dontflinch, jerk the trigger, etc.For him it just comes easily like he was born to do it.

I can keep a tighter group than most of my friends but consistently this guy out shoots all of us. With my own gun he can shoot a tighter group than I can, that is embarassing. We have tried it, with both our guns and friends guns, his group will be just a bit tighter than mine70 percent of the time. Our gun, his gun, doesnt matter.

cayugad

Omegalover and eldequello have excellent points. When you're talking open sights....

For a long time I have always said, the distance you can shoot is based on your personal abilities, the amount of perfection in the load you have worked up for the rifle, and last, how well you can see and relate to the sights on the rifle. While many of my friends consider me an above average shot,they know the effort and practice time I spend with my rifles to be able to shoot the way I do. Itwould stun most people the hours I spend on the range. Yet with all this, at 100 yards I seldom shoot extreme tight groups with open sights. Granted I have my good days like everyone else. But the whole point is, because of the kind of sights I choose to use (mostly standard traditional sights for the open sights), I just can not produce any better focus in relation to the sights and the bulls eye. I have often thought about trying the Lyman 57 peep sight or even a Nikon 1x scope on one of my inlines. This might allow me to shoot better groups on a more consistant basis.