New to ML, what do I need to know?
10-24-2006, 09:37 PM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Winnipeg Manitoba Canada
Posts: 6
New to ML, what do I need to know?
I just started muzzle loading this year. I was out shooting tonight for the first time and it was a lot of fun. I am shooting a T/C Thunderhawk with 90grn fffg777 and 300 grn Keith noze hollow point Precision muzzle loading bullets. I sighted it in 1.5" high at 100 yds, where would I be at 150? 200?
I shot about 30 shots tonight, using a spit patch between shots, and cleaned it a couple times using bore cleaning solvent. When I was done I cleaned it out till the patchs came out clean...is there anything else I should do? Should I shoot a "fouling" shot before I go hunting with it?
The rut is starting to kick in, so it is gonna be fun to be in the woods..thanks for your advise.
I shot about 30 shots tonight, using a spit patch between shots, and cleaned it a couple times using bore cleaning solvent. When I was done I cleaned it out till the patchs came out clean...is there anything else I should do? Should I shoot a "fouling" shot before I go hunting with it?
The rut is starting to kick in, so it is gonna be fun to be in the woods..thanks for your advise.
10-25-2006, 05:27 AM
#3
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 21,193
RE: New to ML, what do I need to know?
ORIGINAL: Xs24-7
I just started muzzle loading this year. I was out shooting tonight for the first time and it was a lot of fun. I am shooting a T/C Thunderhawk with 90grn fffg777 and 300 grn Keith noze hollow point Precision muzzle loading bullets. I sighted it in 1.5" high at 100 yds, where would I be at 150? 200?
I shot about 30 shots tonight, using a spit patch between shots, and cleaned it a couple times using bore cleaning solvent. When I was done I cleaned it out till the patchs came out clean...is there anything else I should do? Should I shoot a "fouling" shot before I go hunting with it?
The rut is starting to kick in, so it is gonna be fun to be in the woods..thanks for your advise.
[hr]
Where you will hit out to 150 and 200 yards could only be guessed at. I think instead you should in all fairness, if you're considering such shots, get to a range and find out for yourself where they hit at those distances.
Other then that, if the first shot hits off a clean barrel where all the others hit, there is no need to fowl the bore before hunting. And it sounds like you're doing everything else right.
Good luck hunting...
I just started muzzle loading this year. I was out shooting tonight for the first time and it was a lot of fun. I am shooting a T/C Thunderhawk with 90grn fffg777 and 300 grn Keith noze hollow point Precision muzzle loading bullets. I sighted it in 1.5" high at 100 yds, where would I be at 150? 200?
I shot about 30 shots tonight, using a spit patch between shots, and cleaned it a couple times using bore cleaning solvent. When I was done I cleaned it out till the patchs came out clean...is there anything else I should do? Should I shoot a "fouling" shot before I go hunting with it?
The rut is starting to kick in, so it is gonna be fun to be in the woods..thanks for your advise.
[hr]
Where you will hit out to 150 and 200 yards could only be guessed at. I think instead you should in all fairness, if you're considering such shots, get to a range and find out for yourself where they hit at those distances.
Other then that, if the first shot hits off a clean barrel where all the others hit, there is no need to fowl the bore before hunting. And it sounds like you're doing everything else right.
Good luck hunting...
10-27-2006, 01:57 AM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Penns Woods
Posts: 1,628
RE: New to ML, what do I need to know?
Xs24-7....Welcome to the fun sport of hunting with a muzzleloader. I have been into ML shooting/hunting since 1972. I own sidelock Percussion, Flintlock, In-line (both scoped and open sighted) and a few ML handguns. I have taken deer with most all of my rifles but Ienjoy the flintlock the most. I'm not dissing the others but the flintlock is the back to basics firearm that I enjoy. It's kinda like when you have taken a # of deer with a compound bow and then go back to a recurve or longbow. Something primal about it. I'm sure you will enjoy taking your 1st deer with your new ML rifle...but if you really enjoy hunting with a muzzleloader...eventually you are going to want more of a challenge. Go hunting.. have fun...but be open minded. Hunting with a muzzleloading rifle is what you want to make it. And remember...keep your powder dry!!!! ( that's a old time good luck statement )...........BPS
10-27-2006, 09:51 AM
#6
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 28
RE: New to ML, what do I need to know?
Welcome!!
My advice? Avoid the 150/200 yard shots if at all possible in the field. Sure, my Encore shoots pretty good groups at 200 yards with sand bags and a bench, but that is awful hard to replicate in the field. Shooting a ML 200 yards reminds me of an old football quote concerning a forward pass. Only 3 things can happen when you pass a football and 2 of them are bad. Well the same is true for sniping deer at long ranges with a ML
1. You get your deer (good)
2.You missed your deer and most likely educated that deer in a way
thatyou won't see him again this season (bad)
3. You woundthe deer (lives or dies ???) (very bad)
Now I am not saying that 200 yard shots are impossible, they just should not really be in the relm of a realisticML Hunter's mind. Just my 2 cents
.
My advice? Avoid the 150/200 yard shots if at all possible in the field. Sure, my Encore shoots pretty good groups at 200 yards with sand bags and a bench, but that is awful hard to replicate in the field. Shooting a ML 200 yards reminds me of an old football quote concerning a forward pass. Only 3 things can happen when you pass a football and 2 of them are bad. Well the same is true for sniping deer at long ranges with a ML
1. You get your deer (good)
2.You missed your deer and most likely educated that deer in a way
thatyou won't see him again this season (bad)
3. You woundthe deer (lives or dies ???) (very bad)
Now I am not saying that 200 yard shots are impossible, they just should not really be in the relm of a realisticML Hunter's mind. Just my 2 cents
.
10-27-2006, 02:33 PM
#7
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Western OK
Posts: 856
RE: New to ML, what do I need to know?
Welcome to the forum.
Most experienced M/L hungers shy away from long shots. To me any shot at a deer at over 125 yards away is very iffy. My Encore is capable of shooting very small groups, even at 200 yards. Shooting small groups at 200 yards from a bench does not relate to conditions in the field. Too many things can go wrong: A short hangfire, an intervening branch, an imperfect sight picture, etc.
Monday evening of this week I deliberately shot a doe in the neck at about 80-90 yards with my Thompson Center Encore. She had bled out by the time I had climbed from my tree-stand and walked over to her. That is the way I like to do it, no tracking a blood trail at night.
Most experienced M/L hungers shy away from long shots. To me any shot at a deer at over 125 yards away is very iffy. My Encore is capable of shooting very small groups, even at 200 yards. Shooting small groups at 200 yards from a bench does not relate to conditions in the field. Too many things can go wrong: A short hangfire, an intervening branch, an imperfect sight picture, etc.
Monday evening of this week I deliberately shot a doe in the neck at about 80-90 yards with my Thompson Center Encore. She had bled out by the time I had climbed from my tree-stand and walked over to her. That is the way I like to do it, no tracking a blood trail at night.
