Help me with a load choice
 

It's way too hot here in KS to shoot but the tread about the 24" 54 in a 1/48 got me thinking. I've never been pleased thus far with the results of my 54 Renegade with the factory barrel. Granted, I haven't tried many combos, so, I thought I'd give you a chance to help me pick the next load. I'll post the results once I can get to the range.

The Gun:

Scoped 54 TC Rene

Powder:

I have T7, Pyrodex RS & BH 209

Projectiles:

.530 Ball with about any patch you can want
300 gn REALS
425 gn Great Plains
300 gn Harvester Flat nosed lead with Red Sabot

I will be using Remington Caps and shooting at a range of 25yds to start and moving out from there. I would like to get a good 75yd group.

What would you load for accuracy?

85-90 grains of Pyrodex RS and a .530 patched .018 round ball. That will get it all done.

+1

Cayugad nailed it. That combo is likely to have the best chance of shooting very very well.

If you want long range accuracy try .535 ball with an 18 thousands patch of ticking greased with bore butter, over 110 gr of RS.
If you are just going to plink or only have close shots a .530 with 80 gr will do.

I would also agree with that combo. And Josmund, I have some Hornady PA conicals that I no longer use that I can send you. I may also have some 250 gr REALs laying around.
You can try them to see how they shoot.

90 grains of RS and 430 gr Maxi-Ball (not Maxi-hunter). Kills on both ends.

When I tried .535 ball in my renegade I had to pound them down the bore with the ramrod against a tree. It was so bad, I used the rest of the ball I had cast for sling shot ammo (worked real good too) and ended up selling the mold to a forum member. That was why I went from the .530 ball with a .010, (too loose), .015 (not to bad and would work in a pinch), .018 (pillow tick.. worked just right), .020 (was hard loading again). And I stayed with .018 pillow tick. Your rifle might be different, but I would not buy a box of .535 with out a sample of a few first.

All 3 of mine take the 535 nicely its tight but it shoots much more accurate than the 530. There is a large tolorence on all muzzleloading bore so much so that I believe that they are hurting the sport. Also I always polish my bores for maximum accuracy.

I shoot real black, but my load in the renegade I have is 90 grains 2F .530 ball and .015 patch

Thanks for the replies.

I'll keep working on the PRB combos. I know a guy that sells the. .535s at the gun show. Perhaps he'll sell me a few.