After the fruitless hunt this morning I had time to hit the hunting club rifle range and shoot the new Green Mountain .54 barrel with a1-in-70 twist thatI recently got for myRenegade.

I put a target out at 50 yards and figured I would start with the favorite load of my Great Plains .54, which is95 grains GOEX FFFg under a .535ball and .016 patcheslubed with my home made mixture of bees wax / Crisco / olive oil. Sights were left as set by the factory, and I used a 6 o`clock hold on the bull.

Here are the first five shots from the virgin barrel.





HEY MAN! I think this thing is going to shoot.

But I have to say the sight configuration on this barrel is about the worst combination I could have for my eyes. They are the standard TC adjustable sights with a U-notch rear and front blade topped by a bead. They are probably fine for quick point and shoot at a 50 yard deer, but sure are terrible for any kind of fine work - at least for me.

Anyway, I went looking for patches and found all five. Here they are. A little cutting but not too bad. I don't know if the cuts were made at the muzzle upon loading, or by the rifling when shot. The crown and lands are really sharp on this barrel, with deep grooves. I think I'm going to just let the edgeswear with shooting rather than hit them with steel wool, or some other abrasive.





Well heck, it's not a virgin any more. Let's try another five shots. Here's the results.





DARN IT. That group would have been under two inches if I hadn't screwed up that one shot.

Still fighting those sights though. OK, try again, but this time use a dead-on hold with the front bead covering the target dot. Here's the target.






Well, that ain't no good! Heck, shots 4 & 5 weren't even on the paper. No way can I shoot with that sight picture.

Also, for this 5-shot string I started off with a fouled bore and didn't swab between shots. The fifth ball was reallytight getting down the last six inches.

OK, I've only got three balls left in this box. Just for grins, let's put a target out at 100 yards and see what happens. Used a 6 o'clock hold. Man,that three-inch target dot is mighty small at 100 yards. Here's the target.




The third shot was 1 & 1/2 inchs below the bottom edge of the target paper and almost directly under shot #1. That's a four-inch three-shot group, and itsurprised the hell out of me. I really would have liked to make it a 5-shot group but had to get home and didn't have time to walk back to the truch and dig out another box of balls.

Yep! I'm a happy camper. Now I just have to decide whether I'm going to go with a rear peep sight and Partridge front sight, or put a scope on this sucker as I did with the .45 LRH barrel,and keep it a Sinful Renegade. What would you do?

That's a good start for sure.

I'd go with a peep, and I like a bead rather than a post style front sight.

My GP has that thick Lyman post on front and I really like it. But you may be right. Maybe I should just put a peep on the rear and see how it works out with the bead before I change the front.

I have a peep for a Renegade. They do make you more accurate, but I stopped using it. I went to a 1x scope. For me it is a better aiming device.

Nice shooting for a new barrel.. But with that slow of a twist, I'd of kicked that powder charge up to 100 or even 110 and really let fly.

I like a fairly small bead, and for the close-range shootingI do with it, I put the bead where I want the hole made and hit the trigger. I don't use a six o'clock hold. I cover the intended POI and shoot.

I actually filed the front sight that came on my 54 cal Renegade to make the bead smaller. Took a while, but came out OK. Put a little bluing on it when done.

Yeah, I'm pretty happy considering I've only tried one load. Got lots of experimenting to do, .530 balls / different patch thicknesses / different powder charges / Pyrodex etc. But I figure there's no sense in starting a load work up until I have sights that are useful to me. I'm seriously considering a scope if I can find another scope base. Maybe another 4x32Pro Diamond? Natchez Shooters Supply still has them for $40.

Does anyone know where you can get a base for a Renegade these days?