I need some advice on buying a bp rifle.
 

Hey guys i want to go pick up a T/C Omega and i wanted to know ur thoughts on the rifle. This will be my first muzzleloader, and its going to run me about $300. Its not stainless steel and its in black and blue. You think its worth buying the more expensive one thats stainless steel? Is this rifle accurate?

RE: I need some advice on buying a bp rifle.
 

its accurate if you use sabots. I dont know what FL laws are but if you cant use a sabot, look for another gun. And yes, the Stainless steel is always worth the few extra bucks. I find that they clean out easier.

Jon

RE: I need some advice on buying a bp rifle.
 

If you want the Stainless steel, go ahead and get it. I love my T/C Omega. I have the blued barrel. When using 150 grains of Triple 7 and a Powerbelt bullet, I have found that these are very accurate. I dont like the sabot rounds because they are so hard to get down the barrel.

RE: I need some advice on buying a bp rifle.
 

isnt 150 grains Triple 7 an over load? loose or sticks?

RE: I need some advice on buying a bp rifle.
 

Nope.. As long as the 150 grains is in pellet form. Triple Se7en pellets are reduced in size so their overall power potential is the same as the Pyrodex pellets. With powerbelts, I have never found that large a load as the most accuracte, but each rifle is different.

The Omega is a great rifle. While Stainless is nice, the blue barrel will serve you just fine. Is the stainless worth the extra money, well I personally do not think so. My White is Stainless but that is the way it came and for the price we got them for, it was more then a good deal.

RE: I need some advice on buying a bp rifle.
 

I have $400 to spend just on the gun, what do u guys think is a good buy with that much money?

RE: I need some advice on buying a bp rifle.
 

1)YES
2)YES

Psssstttt.... get the laminated stock SS.

The stainless barrel keeps things a tad cooler inside that bore.The laminated wood, although a bit slippery with non-rubber backed gloves,gives itpretty decent balance - it tames recoil & no hollow clanging of tree branches that I often hearwhen greeting thesynthetic stocks on a romp thru the woods. Better resale value too.

[size=2]
Keep Your Powder Dry Folks
. . . . . . . Joe [/i]

RE: I need some advice on buying a bp rifle.
 

Some Omegas are accurate with conicals, some are not. My brother and I bought identical stainless 50 caliber Omegas. His shoots powerbelts and other conicals great with 777. Mine is another story. It shoots sabots great, but I had to go back to pyrodex to get it to shoot conicals decent. It would not shoot any conicals very well with 777, APP, and Black Mag3.

Bottom line is if you are mainly going to be shooting conicals, most recommend a 1 in 48 inch twist rather than the Omega's 1 in 28.

RE: I need some advice on buying a bp rifle.
 

No mention of shooting conicals in the thread-starter's posts. It's no secret those Omegas are much better-suited for sabots. So is just about any 1-28" fast twist inline these days.


Keep Your Powder Dry Folks
. . . . . . . Joe [/i]

RE: I need some advice on buying a bp rifle.
 

1 in 48 is not a great twist for any one thing... I have two .50 cal conical shooters that are 1 in 24, a 1 in 20 .45 cal conical shooter, a .50 cal sabot shooter that is 1 in 24 as well. Just because it is fast twist doesn't mean it can only shoot sabots. What makes an Omega (or any current TC product) a suspect conical shooter is the QLA. All the Knights I have had shot conicals well... they were 1 in 28. The TC QLA have been known to be off just a touch. UC cut off the QLA on one of his Encores and only then did it start to group conicals better.

RE: I need some advice on buying a bp rifle.
 

Not many folks want to shoot 460-500 gr conicals Robbie! That's what that Omega throws out nicely. Also...Removing that QLA removes your barrel's full lifetime, owner-transferable warranty.

Want a conical shooter??? -- buy a conical shooter!

My 1-48" twists shoot 270-385gr conicals very well. But the best conical may be a 295 Powerbelt with 80 gr777 at 100yards. Bullseye everytime!

RE: I need some advice on buying a bp rifle.
 

That's great! You were able to find a load that worked... point still remains, just because it's a fast twist doesn't mean it can't shoot conicals. Current TC products just seem to have a problem (more often than not) with conicals...

RE: I need some advice on buying a bp rifle.
 

What does that have to do with what I was addressing? I only meant to answer that fast twists do shoot conicals... and rather well I might add. My daughter might be shooting 400gn conicals this fall... big deal! That had nothing to do with what I was addressing.

So the Omega throws out conicals nicely?

Thanks for the advice but I did that already... 3 times. They all shoot sabots as well. I also bought a dedicated sabot shooter... Savage 10MLII. Don't know if it will shoot conicals well... don't care. It will shoot sabots.

RE: I need some advice on buying a bp rifle.
 

Was there any mention of shooting sabots? I don't think so.

And as long as we are on fast twist inlines, the White has a1-24" twist and was DESIGNED to be a conical shooter.

RE: I need some advice on buying a bp rifle.
 

Again, here you are talking about folks. I wonder who they are.

Why do you say folks don't "want" to shoot big conicals? Is it recoil or what?

If it's recoil, personally, my son and Ishoot a 460 gr conical. I load with 105 gr of Triple 7 ffg and my son with 80 gr of the same. He is 14 and weighs about 135 lbs and has no problem with it. In my readingon the internet, there are a lot of "folks" that shoot 460-500 gr conicals. If I am not mistaken, Cayugad was leaning toward using the 500 gr Bullshop this deer season.

Also, where does it say that TC has a "barrel's full lifetime, owner-transferable warranty?

The following is copied directly from the TC websites.

"3: Does Thompson/Center Arms really have a lifetime warranty?
Yes, our limited lifetime warranty covers the product through the lifetime of the original purchaser, except in the case of obvious abuse or neglect.

Maybe I missed something.

RE: I need some advice on buying a bp rifle.
 

I have read the same warranty you posted about Thompson Center, but have purchased many rifles used and have yet to be turned down for any repair or modification by Thompson Center. In fact they fix them no questions asked so far.

As for the big conicals, I think people shy away from them because they are looking for something fast and quick that expands a great deal. What I am starting to realize is while the large conicals might have a rainbow trajectory, they still have a lot of energy, and as for expansion, they start at .504 diameter and only grow from there.. Overa half inch hole pounding through the critter.

RE: I need some advice on buying a bp rifle.
 

Cayugad, I have heard numerous stories about TC standing behind their product. Even if something has been abused. Even something purchased off of ebay that was broken, sent in and replaced, no questions asked. That is great customer support and I would definitely buy something from them if I were in the market.

But, it does not mean there is a "full lifetime, owner-transferable warranty" as Triple 7 states. If TC made a business decision tomorrow, that they were going to change the way they do business they could. They could say that people have to have their guns registered with them as the original owner, or no more free service/replacements.