I went down to my parents place today to try once again to talk my dad into deer hunting with me this year. I' ve always loved hunting with my dad, and its just nice to have somebody to hunt with. But the last couple of years he hasn' t been very motivated to go. He' s lost interest in it it seems. I think he' s decided that he' s getting too old, and his eyes are too poor. He also has a hard time staying awake while sitting for long periods, and has missed several great deer because they startled him awake and he spooked them before he could get to his gun and get a shot off. Anyway, I still thought I' d try to talk him into it, but unfortunately he' s decided to hang it up for good. Since I' m the only one of my siblings to seriously show any interest in hunting, he decided to give me both his beautiful (and old) Remington 870 Wingmaster 20 guage, and his Thompson/Center White Mountain Carbine .50cal muzzleloader as he doesn' t plan to hunt anymore.

Anyway, regarding the T/C White Mtn carbine...It' s been a long time since I' ve shot a #11 sidelock, and I was wondering if this rifle will ignite Triple 7 ok with CCI #11 Magnum caps?

I checked the barrel and it has between a 1-in-28" to 1-in-32" twist, and is only 20.5" long, which makes it very short for a muzzleloader. I would like to use Triple 7 in it to harness it' s greatest potential from the short barrel. But would 3F be a better choice for this gun than 2F?

I think I' m going to teach my wife to hunt deer with this gun as it fits her perfectly. I think I' m going to try lighter load like 70-80 grains T7 with a PR .40cal QT 215 grain sabot so the recoil is more manageable, but would still give the gun good killing power out to 75 yards or so. Recoil is an important consideration, as my wife is pretty recoil sensitive. She thinks that my SKS kicks a lot. She' s a deadly accurate shot with the .22LR, but I don' t want to ruin her marksmanship by making her develope a flinch.

I' m going to take it out to the range tomorrow and see how it shoots. I cleaned it really well and I did find some rust in the bore, so I' m keeping my fingers crossed it' ll shoot OK.

Thanks for your advice,

Mike

DRIFTRIDER Recoil is an important consideration, as my wife is pretty recoil sensitive
Then I would not recommend the triple 777 I myself do not like to shoot a rifle or slug gun that has a sharp recoil @ I find that the triple 777 meets that meal ticket.My t/c thunderhawk in 54 cal. with a 350 grain sabot and 110 grains of pyrodex select I can shoot all day at the range ,but when I tried the triple 777 with the same bullet the max. charge for me is 75 grains and recoil is sharp more like shooting a 12 gauge slug gun.

Driftrider ,
Triple Seven is not reccomended for sidelocks , it also kicks harder than BP or others . Pyrodex RS has always worked well for me , try that .

I have a Lyman Great Plain Hunter (Sidelock with no. 11 caps). I shoot 777 and 3fg powder in it with no ignition problems at all. I use CCI no. 11 Mag caps. I haven' t spend enough time shooting this gun with 777 to tell you how accurate it is.

As for the recoil, find a good light weight sabot (assuming they are legal in your area). Recoil is noticablely lighter when with sabots than conicals, and keep your powder charge to a minimum.

Driftrider,
sorry to hear about your Dad' s ' tude. Geez, its not about shooting deer, its about the experience of spirit of the wild imho .....i think i' d go in a f' n wheelchair w/a respirator to be with my kids afield if need be Thats Great your wife wil hunt though, and that gun will do the trick with just about any load you choose. At this point it becomes political, I like T7, but im sure reg. ole pyrodex or BP FFg will bring the venison home just the same

777 pellets are not recommended for side-hammers.... loose works great in my opinion, even better than Pyrodex. 777 FF has finer granules than Pyrodex FF loose & that' s important when firing #11 caps on a small holed nipple. I recommend the hotter Remington #11 caps & Splitfire/Hotshot nipples on all side-hammer percussion models.

I took it out to the range and worked up a load with 70 grains of 2F T7 and a .40cal 215gr. QT sabot. It shot this load like it was made for it, And it grouped better than my Knight. I was surprized how well the T7 worked in the sidelock, too. I installed a T/C Hotshot nipple before I shot it and the ignition time was not perceptably different than my DISC. I doubted T7 only because my Dad had a terrible experience with Pyrodex RS being slow to ignite and unreliable, and I figured that T7 would also be hard to light. The T7 ignited like real black powder. With 70 grains of T7 the recoil is very light, so it shouldn' t be a problem for my wife to handle it. She probably won' t want to shoot 40 rounds at a sitting like I do, but it won' t bruise her shoulder on the first shot either.

I definately think that the 70gr load will make the gun a 75 yard or less gun. At 100 yards I can distinctly hear the bullet hit the target, so it isn' t moving super fast. At less than 75 yards it should have the hitting power similar to a roundball, and my wife is a good enough shot to put it where it counts so I' m not worried.

Now my only worry is whether I can get her to sit still and quiet for several hours at a time! That will be the best part! [>:]

Mike

Driftrider

With that 1-48" twist side-hammer you have, you made the right choice by going with a light-grained sabot. The PR 40s are a little longer than that twist desires. Those 48s, in many situations, shoot the shorter pistol sabot/bullets better... ie Hornady XTPs. If you ever get an extra $8 in your wallet, pick up a 20-pk of 180 or 200 grainers for that rifle & your wife.

Odds are, that thump you heard at 100 yards is the longer bullet tumbling in that slower twist rifle. You or the wife could turn that rifle into a 100 yard deer killer by going with shorter pistol bullet/sabots or the short light recoil 245 grain conicals called the Buffalo Ballets.

Just a suggestion!

Actually, the bore is 1-in-28" . I measured it myself and had it confirmed by a phone call to Thompson/Center' s service dept. I wanted to get an owners manual for it, anyway, so I asked the the service agent them.

Like I said, my T/C grouped better at 100 yards than my Knight does. My dad always shot the 460 grain Hornady conicals with good accuracy when he hunted with it. I just thing that the sound I hear is the bullet impacting the target, but all the bullet holes are round and even so there isn' t any evidence of instability at that range.

Mike