First of all, I want to thank everybody on this forum. I am still fairly new to muzzleloading and although I seldom post anything, I do read most every thread and gain a better understanding from each of them. In order for a forum like this to be such a success, everybody can take but eventually they have to give. I hope I can do my part. I went to the range today to sight in my Remington Genesis with it's new scope and I went ahead and took my Winchester Apex with it's new scope (both Cabelas Pine Ridge scopes) just in case. I didn't think I would sight both of them in but thought "what the heck, I'll take it anyway." I learned several things from this one trip that I want to pass on, hopefully somebody can take something from it that will make their trips to the range more enjoyable. BTW, one of my groups is pictured below.

1. Always take drinking water, it comes in handy if you didn't bring your pre soaked patches for swabbing.

2. Be very careful when stepping over a barbed wire fence, especially if you waist is bigger than your hips and your pants have a tendency to sag.

3. No matter how much you like to shoot, 30 rounds out of a 50 cal muzzleloader with 100 gr of 777 will take it's toll on your shoulder (this leads to the next tip).

4. Take one gun to the range if you only plan on shooting one. If you take two, you will shoot them both. If you take three you will.... you get my point. How could I not compare the two guns, using the same rounds, under the same weather conditions?

5. Shooting a box full of books is fun, and you can recover a lot of your projectiles, but when the box falls apart you have confetti, which takes forever to clean up. (please don't leave it laying there)

6. If you are gonna shoot sitting in a chair or on a stool, make sure you chair is sturdy. (mine broke right after one of my shots, too bad I didn't film it.)

7. A target of Osama Bin Laden or any other humanoid target probably isn't the best choice if you are going for accuracy from 50 yds.

and the most important one, please pay attention to this...

8. make sure you don't set up your shooting bench/bi-pod/or whatever near a bed of red ants. They will become disturbed by the noise and evidently, they like to climb when they are disturbed. If your leg is the closest thing, guess what......that's right up your pant leg, and when they get to the top they bite!!!!

All in all I would say that I had a pretty productive day... notice i didn't say it was a great day.

This is one of my 3 shot groups. 240 gr hornady SWC .430, Harvester CR Sabots, 100 gr 777. I shot a pretty good 5 shot group with my winchester but when I pulled the target off it ripped in half.

I am not extremely pleased with this group but I do not think that it is the gun. I was uncertain on the second two shots the minute I pulled the trigger and felt like I had flinched. With some work I think I can tighten this group up quite a bit with the same load.

Funny stuff man! We live and learn. I know I learn something new every time I go to the range.

Re. No. 3, I know I shoot less than the average guy, but even a guy that shoots now and then should definitely realize the last shots of the day may not be the greatest groups to look at.

One nice thing about shooting 2 guns is that if shots are alternated between the 2, there is more time for barrels to cool between shots.

Great post Muzzlenut. Shooting with red ants crawling up your leg is great training for hunting in amosquito infested spot.

only a swamp rat could identify w/ the red ant and out apositive spin on it..... Semi you never cease to amaze me. MN good post.

Tell you what Semisane, I will box some of them ants up and send them to you as a training tool. Heck, maybe I can start selling them for that, you should probably even get royalties.

It wasnt bad until they reached the testicular region, then I was glad I had ripped my pants on the barbed wire, easy access. About the only thing I didn't encounter was a rattlesnake which I have encountered during hunting season.

You know, all those things weren't all that funny till I got home and started typing my post. It wasn't until the ant bites stopped stinging before I found the real humor in it though.

I believe that the target makes a differance in group size at least some of the time. Sort of aim small shoot tight. { this of course is a personel opinion not an established fact}

The first one is for scope this one is good for iron sights too. Lee

Opps a slip of the click.

I agree with the "aim small, miss small" mentality. I usually use one of two following but I thought the Bin Laden added a little fun. I do like your targets though.