What do I need?
 

Okay, my buddy and myself have ordered identical Traditions Pursuit XLT's. We need to know what all we need to shoot this. It is an in-line model, but we are clueless on what we need in terms of powder, bullets, cleaning etc..??

Any help would be appreciated. :)

RE: What do I need?
 

WHAT DO I NEED WHEN I AM ABOUT TO SHOOT MY RIFLE[/b]

Black powder rifle supplies

DECIDE ON THE KIND OF POWDER[/b]


Pyrodex
Triple Se7en
Goex
Black Mag3
American Pioneer Powder
- loose or pellet[/ul]


[/b]
TOOLS NEEDED[/b]
[/b]

See through powder measure
Cleaning jag
Bore guide (not essential) but good for the rifle muzzle
Cleaning mop
Patch worm
Bore brush
Short starter
Capper/de-capper
Loading jag for the projectile
Nipple pick
Breech plug removal tool – socket set with long extensions works also (inlines)[/ul]


CLEANING SUPPLIES[/b]

Isopropyl alcohol 91%
Car windshield washer fluid
Bore butter or lube for conical bullets
Gun Oil – Birchwood Casey Sheath, REM OIL, Breakfree CLP
Q-tip safety swabs
Cleaning Patches
Bore Solvents - [/ul]

Birchwood Casey Bore Scrubber
Butch’s Bore Shine
M.A.P. – Murphy’s oil soap, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide[/ol]

[/b]
[/b]
PROJECTILES[/b]
[/b]

Sabots for the caliber of rifle
Bullets to match sabots according to the diameter of the bullet
Conicals
Roundball and patch
Breech plug grease – CVA Slick Breech Plug and Nipple Grease[/ul]

RE: What do I need?
 

Cayugad, great list I printed it off. These rifles are going to be used for deer hunting what type of powder/bullet setup would you suggest?

Another dumb question is the inline better than the traditional? I know I have heard someone mention this but what are the benefits/drawbacks. I really appreciate it.

RE: What do I need?
 

CLEANING THE RIFLE[/b]

QUALITY SOLVENTS TO USE- Butch's Bore Shine, Birchwood Casey Bore Scrubber, Hoppies Black Powder Solvent, Rusty Duck Black Powder Solvent, Simple Green & Water mixed 50/50, Home Made Solvent called M.A.P. made of murphy's oil soap, isopropyl alcohol, and hydrogen peroxide.

CLEANING SUPPLIES- isopropyl alcohol, windex, cleaning jag, brass bore brush, breech plug brush, nipple brush if applies, patches for cleaning many house hold cleaners will do.

OILS- Birchwood Casey Sheath, REM OIL w/teflon, or Breakfree CLP

BREECH PLUG GREASE CVA Slick breech plug and nipple grease, or slick 50 one grease (found in automotive departments)

LOADING TOOLS T-handle short starter made by Thompson Center Arms, straight line capper or dog bone capper, decapper, range quality ramrod 32" long or longer, loading jags for the type of projectile, nipple wrench made for the rifle, breech plug wrench made for the rifle.

POWDERS Triple Se7en, Pyrodex, Black Mag, American Pioneer Powder, or Goex are all good powders. I personally use Goex Black Powder. I also like Pyrodex. Get the FFg grade for the first pound. I suggest getting loose powder instead of pellets. It will save you a lot of money and you can custom tune your rifle better. You will also need a see through plastic powder measure with the cut off funnel top.

PROJECTILES For starters I suggest getting a pack of 295 grain Powerbelts, a box of Thompson Center Mag Express 240 grain XTP's, and a box of Thompson Center 370 grain Maxi Balls.

PRIOR TO DOING ANY SHOOTING OR LOADING - Clean the rifle first. Take some patches and solvent and run that through the barrel until the rifle is good and clean. Then run a couple dry patches through the rifle to make sure there is no moisture in it. This is a good time to run an alcohol patch through the rifle if you suspect some moisture in the barrel.

Now take breech plug grease. Take your breech plug and cover the thread of the breech plug with the grease. Now screw it into the breech of the rifle but not tight. When you get the plug all the way in, turn it back out about 1/4 turn. The plug will tighten on its own when shooting.

At this point I like to pop two 209 primers through the breech plug to clean it out and to fowl the inside of it before any loading.

LOADING THE RIFLEFor starters, lets assume you are using powerbelts and loose powder. Set your measure to 80 grain mark. Fill the measure with the powder of your choice. Now turn the funnel over and it will cut the load. Carefully pour that down the barrel of the rifle.

LOADING A 295 GRAIN POWERBELT - prior to loading remove the plastic button on the end of the lead conical part of the bullet. It just pulls off. You will see a small lead spike there. Put a dab of breech plug grease on that spike (a little goes a long way) and now push the plastic button back onto the lead spike. This will help the bullet shed the plastic button faster after it is fired and give you better accuracy.

Now take a 295 grain Powerbelt. Push that into the muzzle of the rifle. Taking the short T-starter, push the powerbelt down as far as the short starter will reach. Now using the ramrod with the proper loading jag head, set the powerbelt all the way down onto the power, pressing firmly. Never pound the projectile or throw the ramrod down onto the projectile like some people say to do. All it will do is damage the tip.

With the ramrod resting on the tip of the loaded powerbelt, take some masking tape. Wrap that around the ramrod level to the muzzle. This is your loading mark, also called a witness mark. The next time you load, that tape should come to the same place, level to the muzzle.

the rifle is now loaded and ready to be primed

Put a 209 primer into the breech plug- this is now a loaded rifle. I like to sight them in at 25 yards for starting out. Get your same sight picture each time and fire.

SWABBING THE BORE- Before you load the next shot, take a patch and put some of the alcohol on it. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH ALCOHOL OR WHAT EVER SOLVENT YOU ARE USING, ON THE PATCH BEORE SWABBING OR IT WILL GET STUCK IN THE BARREL. Also make sure the patch is not too large. Now swab the barrel from the muzzle to the breech plug in short strokes, working it through the barrel. Now a couple dry patches need to be sent down the bore in the same manner. You are now ready to load for the next shot... just follow like you did before and make sure the tape is in the same place.

When you load a sabot.. it is the same as the powerbelt. Use the short starter. Then the ramrod and note where the ramrod mark is.... When loading a maxi ball conical, be sure the conical is smeared with bore butter before loading. Load it as you would the powerbelt.

Cleaning the rifle - Take the rifle apart according to the manual. Now push patches with solvent through the barrel. This will push the main fowling out the barrel. After three or four solvent patches the rifle should look pretty clean. Now put the bore brush on and dip that in solvent. Work that through the bore for about 10 strokes. Now a couple more solvent patches. Clean the breech area very careful until there is no more powder or crud in that area.... After your sure all the fowling is cleaned out of the rifle and the bore is clean, then run a patch with gun oil through the barrel coating it.....

Clean the breech plug and all the other parts clean of fowling. Using the breech plug grease, re-apply to the threads of the plug and put it back in the rifle. Clean all the other parts, oil them and re-assemble the rifle... The rifle is now ready to store away.

Before you shoot the next time, just take an alcohol patch. And swab the bore of the rifle. This will take the grease and oil out of the bore. Now a couple dry patches. And pop two 209 primers through the unloaded rifle.... you are now ready to load the rifle...

RE: What do I need?
 

Because it is a Traditon's Pursuit I would try some 245 or 295 grain powerbelts. Another projectile I would try is the 240 grain Hornady XTP's or the Thompson Center Mag Express 240 grain XTP. They are the same bullet. Load them with 80 grains of loose powder for starters and work the powder charge up from there. For deer this is all the load you would need, but if your rifle shoots better with 100 grains of powder then shoot that load.

If the rifles are not scoped, IMO there is really no advantage to either rifle. Both of them are only as good as you can see to shoot. For me that makes them a 100 yard rifle. The traditional or the in line will shoot that distance and harvest deer. Since inline rifles are more "scope" friendly they would be the better choice for the scope. Although some traditonal rifles with scopes do a real good job as well.

The benifits of an inline.. some people will tell you more sure ignition, but I have never had a problem making a tradtional rifle go off, so I would argue that. Also the inline is claimed as "faster" ignition and again, I would argue that point. My traditional rifles are plenty fast. With the faster twist found in inline rifles they are more prone to shoot the better ballistic rated projectiles like the sabots. But then many traditional rifles will shoot conicals and round ball and both of them have been harvesting deer for hundreds of years.

A draw back of the inline rifle.. I personally find them harder to tune to a load. I can take a traditional rifle and have that shooting well in a days time. I have inlines that have gave me fits to get a projectile to shoot well out of it. Then others, I have loaded a projectile and they shot just fine.

Inlines are also claimed to be easier to clean they claim, and I would tell you this.. I can clean a traditional rifle with a bucket of water a lot faster then I can break down a inline and all the parts and scub that clean and put it back together.

I do not think any of them have a real advantage. It is all how they are being used and what accessories you have on them to make your shooting more accurate. The all load from the muzzle and you are limited to one shot most all the time. So make it good.

RE: What do I need?
 

wow i love the xlt's. they are excellent handling rifles and have a solid feel to them. Make sure you try some conicals and report on how they do. Make sure you read your owners manual and know what kind of charges it can handle. I think they can handle 130grains loose triple 7 but you'll need to read and see if it can.

RE: What do I need?
 

Wow, I really do appreciate all the help. I wasn't aware of how much stuff I would need LOL!!! I will try a couple of different loads starting with 80 grain and maybe a few 100's to see what happens. However, I will check the manual to see what the rifle can handle.

I'm also going to go with the powder over the pellets. My dad recently bought a traditional black powder rifle and hasn't shot it yet, so I was wondering how the two rifles would differ. We hunt in an area that has lots of thick woods and the longest shot any of us will take will be in the 50 yard range. That means we will not be scoping any of these rifles. I would have never of thought to clean the rifle prior to shooting, but that sounds like a good idea.

I reprinted all of this stuff off and I'm going to study it tonight. Thanks again for taking the time to help a newbie. :)

RE: What do I need?
 

If all your shots are 50 yards and under, that tradtional rifle will shoot as good as any inline rifle all day long. Also one advantage of shooting a traditional rifle I forget to mention is.. you can use patch and ball. Ball is a very effective deer load. You can cast your own projectile with a $15.00 mold and a supply of lead. Although I prefer the larger caibers with the ball like the .54 caliber or bigger. Also you can shoot a patch and ball rifle all day long, at leastmany times without having to swab the barrel.

For short range hunting I like a traditional rifle. They are quick to point, and just as deadly.

RE: What do I need?
 

Cleaning:
http://www.chuckhawks.com/clean_muzzleloader.htm

Bullet Selection, Powders, etc:

http://www.chuckhawks.com/index2h.muzzleloader.htm

see the bullets/sabot section. It is a big new world out there.
Chap Gleason

RE: What do I need?
 

This is an awesome thread for anyone new to muzzleloading. I'm relatively new, and this is a big help. Thanks a bunch!:D