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Pennsylvania Hunter arrived
 The UPS man showed up today with a long box. So of course I was excited that my Thompson Center Pennsylvania Hunter .50 caliber rifle was here. I opened it and checked the rifle over. It was in very good shape. The stock showed marks that rifles get when you use them in the woods, but other then that there was no surface rust. I then cleaned the bore. It was dirty. Like it had been sitting on a shelf for a long time. There was some dark black stuff in the bore which I suspect to be some kind of packing grease. I finally got all of that out. Nasty stuff too. I had to take J-B Bore Paste to get it out of the bore. I then decided to see if the thing would shoot. So with a nice clean barrel I loaded 90 grains of Graf's & Son's 2f black powder. I forgot the moose milk for the patches out at the bench but did have a container of some home made Castor oil lube I had made but never tested. So I figured this was as good a time as any. I lubed up some pillow tick and loaded a Hornady .490 roundball. I was using Dynamite Noble RWS 1075 caps. I was at 50 yards. It was windy. The temperature was about 39 degrees and it was trying to snow or rain. It just could not make up its mind. Looking at the rear sight, I noted it was low on the base so I figured it would shoot low. I took a full bead on the bulls eye and fired shot number one on the clean barrel. It hit high and right. So for shots #2 through #6 I took a six o'clock hold on the bull. It shot to the right but other wise was doing pretty good. So to test the sights, I aimed to the left of the bull expecting it to hit the bull. Well this time it hit right where it was aimed. The blue X's were from some other shooting and were not made by this rifle. For a first time out, I was kind of happy with the rifle. A little load development and this will be a good shooter..  |
RE: Pennsylvania Hunter arrived
Looks good Dave Just needs a little fine tuning
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RE: Pennsylvania Hunter arrived
Nice looking rifle, Dave.
Looks like it'll be a sweet shooter, too. |
RE: Pennsylvania Hunter arrived
Looks like a shooter! Now for some 250 grain REALs.
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RE: Pennsylvania Hunter arrived
This rifle has a 1-66 twist.. I do not think the REALs would shoot all that well. But that would be something to try. I also have a couple boxes of ball-et I am hoping it will shoot well..
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RE: Pennsylvania Hunter arrived
ORIGINAL: cayugad The UPS man showed up today with a long box. So of course I was excited that my Thompson Center Pennsylvania Hunter .50 caliber rifle was here. I opened it and checked the rifle over. It was in very good shape. The stock showed marks that rifles get when you use them in the woods, but other then that there was no surface rust. I then cleaned the bore. It was dirty. Like it had been sitting on a shelf for a long time. There was some dark black stuff in the bore which I suspect to be some kind of packing grease. I finally got all of that out. Nasty stuff too. I had to take J-B Bore Paste to get it out of the bore. I then decided to see if the thing would shoot. So with a nice clean barrel I loaded 90 grains of Graf's & Son's 2f black powder. I forgot the moose milk for the patches out at the bench but did have a container of some home made Castor oil lube I had made but never tested. So I figured this was as good a time as any. I lubed up some pillow tick and loaded a Hornady .490 roundball. I was using Dynamite Noble RWS 1075 caps. I was at 50 yards. It was windy. The temperature was about 39 degrees and it was trying to snow or rain. It just could not make up its mind. Looking at the rear sight, I noted it was low on the base so I figured it would shoot low. I took a full bead on the bulls eye and fired shot number one on the clean barrel. It hit high and right. So for shots #2 through #6 I took a six o'clock hold on the bull. It shot to the right but other wise was doing pretty good. So to test the sights, I aimed to the left of the bull expecting it to hit the bull. Well this time it hit right where it was aimed. The blue X's were from some other shooting and were not made by this rifle. For a first time out, I was kind of happy with the rifle. A little load development and this will be a good shooter.. |
RE: Pennsylvania Hunter arrived
Dave - My buddy had a PA Hunter flinter and had good luck with Hornady's PA Conicals. You might want to give them a try.
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RE: Pennsylvania Hunter arrived
This rifle has a 1-66 twist.. I do not think the REALs would shoot all that well.  |
RE: Pennsylvania Hunter arrived
I think I have a bunch of them casted up somewhere. The rifle is really sweet to shoot. And ignition is excellent.
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RE: Pennsylvania Hunter arrived
Is the barrel round or octagon? Looks a lot like the NewEnglander at a glance.
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RE: Pennsylvania Hunter arrived
It's octagon as far as the stock reaches, then tapers to the round barrel for the rest of the distance...
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RE: Pennsylvania Hunter arrived
Looks like it should be a good rifle for RB loads. The 250 gr REAL might shoot from a 1:66? I was suprised how well they shoot from my 1:28 GM LRH barrel. I thought as short as they are they would be best from a slower twist.They seem to be a very versatile bullet, as they also shoot great from my 1:48 NewEnglander. I'd like to hear how they do if you try them.
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RE: Pennsylvania Hunter arrived
more then glad to give them a try.. what powder charge do you suggest? I am thinking of starting with 70 grains of 3f powder.
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RE: Pennsylvania Hunter arrived
I want to know where this UPS man is getting all these guns at he keeps
bringing to your door..Good shooting there anyway...  |
RE: Pennsylvania Hunter arrived
more then glad to give them a try.. what powder charge do you suggest? I am thinking of starting with 70 grains of 3f powder. |
RE: Pennsylvania Hunter arrived
I usually start out with 75 grains on a .50 cal.since Ikeep a 75 gr measure tied to the shooting pouch. :D
I try to find a bullet that performs well with that charge, then I can adjust up/down and see how it shoots. For a sidelock I just like loads in that range. Usually easy on the shoulder and still enough power for most of the hunting shots I get (my average shot on deer is probably not much over 50 yards and my longest shot to date is still under 100 yards). I sight in dead-on at 50 yards using the top of the front bead as my aiming point. Some times I wonder why I even own an inline! I've spent hours and countless $$$$ getting one to shoot out to 200 yards, then stalk to within 50 or 60 yards before I shoot a deer. [&:] |
RE: Pennsylvania Hunter arrived
good looking gun cayugad. nice shooting too.
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RE: Pennsylvania Hunter arrived
What is the difference between that PA hunter and a Renagade?
:)Al |
RE: Pennsylvania Hunter arrived
The width of the channel and the shape of the barrel. The PA Hunter is half octagon and the rest round.. also it is 15/16th on the flats and the Renegade is one inch.
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RE: Pennsylvania Hunter arrived
Congrats on the really nice rifle.It's a good shooter too.
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RE: Pennsylvania Hunter arrived
Good luck and good shooting!!!
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