Finally got myself another traditional muzzleloader
 

After I sold my CVA Hawken to pay for something I kicked myself for doing so. Finally after many months I picked up a Lyman Plains Rifle in .45 through a trade.

I've attached a photo of the rifle. Now its time to figure out what sort of powder and ammo I need for a .45. The CVA I had was a .50 so it was fairly easy to find ammo and such at Gander Mountain. Looks like I might need to order through Track of the Wolf for this gun. Either way I'm excited to be back in the hobby again. I thoroughly enjoyed cleaning the barrel for the first time. oh how I missed it!! Speaking of the barrel, it looks like its in GREAT shape. The guy said he thinks it was never shot.

Now its time to go do some research on this make and model. The barrel says its made in Italy. I also was worried that the .45 might not be good enough for deer hunting but from what I read online, it should do fine. anyways I thought I would just stop in and say hello

I am not familiar with the Plains Rifle. I believe it is a older model. What is the twist rate? If it is a. 45 caliber it might shoot a. 440/445 diameter ball. I have never shot a traditional 45 like yours. So your rifle is very interesting.

Well I did some digging and it looks like it was made in 1973 and according to one forums, Investarms may have made it for Lyman.

I still haven't found the twist rate. There isn't any mention of it on the barrel as far as I can tell. I'll have to do some more digging to figure this out. One forum mentioned a procedure to figure out the twist via a ramrod/cleaning patch and some calculations as you pull it out of the barrel.

I went to Track of the Wolf and ordered some .440 balls and a few other things. I'll pick up some powder locally.

Speaking powder.. I went to Gander Mountain and was looking at Pyrodex RS or Pyrodex P. Somewhere I read that for a .45 cal, FFFg is recommended but I also read that RS is acceptable. I couldn't make up my mind so I figured I would do some more research. Does anyone have a recommendation?

With the exception of a different style patchbox, your rifle looks just like the Cabela's Hawken rifle which is also Investarms. I would be willing to bet that it has a standard 1:48 twist but I may be wrong so do the ramrod twist test. As far as powder, there are a lot to choose from nowadays but it's more about what that particular rifle likes the taste of. Personally, I would go with FFFg Goex black powder or possibly Pyrodex P (which is the equivalent of FFF) being that it's a .45, but you could try Triple 7 FFFg as well.
If you don't want to spend a bunch of money on different powders then I would suggest getting the Goex FFFg unless it's difficult to find in your area and if so, then flip a coin and buy either Pyro P or Triple 7 FFFg as you really have no way of knowing how well either will shoot until you try them.
You have already purchased some .440 RB's so you're good to go with them but you can also try the .445 as Cayugad suggests and you should experiment with different patch thickness and lubes as well. Take your time and start with a light charge of 35-40 gr. or so working your way up to 85-90 gr. in 5 gr. increments to see which charge groups best. You don't need to go beyond 90 grains in a .45 unless you want to waste powder, lead, and time.
You may eventually want to try some conicals. I personally prefer SOLID LEAD conicals made from the purest soft lead I can find in a traditional style muzzleloader but if you would rather use a saboted style projectile, that's your perogative. Remember, we're talking about a .45 here so you'll be limiting your bullet weight which will limit you're bullet's energy on impact. I have taken a half dozen deer with my T/C .45 Hawken and only one fell to a .440 round ball (the first one) and I ended up tracking that deer farther than I liked. The rest were taken with a T/C .45 Maxiball (tapered nose), not the Maxihunter (round nose) style bullet and none of them made it out of my sight before going down. The weight of the .45 Maxiball is nearly bouble that of the .45 roundball.
If you choose to stick with the RB's, then take your time and place your shot well. You don't have a lot of lead there and you will always feel better when you're dragging a deer out than you will when your tracking one. If you do use a solid lead conical, try a bore button or wonder wad between the powder charge and the projectile (directly under the bullet) as in most instances, this will tighten up your groups.
The main thing is to be CONSISTENT in everything you do from measuring your charge to seating the projectile and ultimately squeezing the trigger. Consistency is the main factor leading to being successful with a muzzleloader.
You have a nice looking rifle there, I hope it turns out to be a great shooter for ya!


BPS

Cornfork - if you send me a pm with your name and address I can send you some .45 cal Maxiballs and some 200 gr XTPs with sabots to try.

Thanks for all the info guys! I will definitely try the maxiballs. I'm always glad to hear some advice on what really works out in the field. I would prefer something that knocked them down quicker if possible. I even thought about ordering a lee mold like this one (http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Catego...01/1/LEE-90405) to try my hand at making balls and Lee R.E.A.L bullets. I think I read somewhere that tire places may give you old tire weights to use. I thought I could cut some costs along the way by making my own.

But for now.. I need to figure out what will work best in my gun so its time to test various rounds. bronko22000, I've got a PM headed your way!

I plan on picking up a few more supplies today. Thanks again for all the advice! Once I get everything together, I'll post some pictures after I get out to the range to see how it shoots.

If it is a 1-48 twist like I suspect.. the REAL conicals shoot good from MOST of them. The trick is not to push them too fast. As for the .440 ball that should about do just fine. Good luck with your rifle.

Cornfork,

The LEE REAL is a great bullet and I have used it in several of my rifles with good success. I have the same mold you posted the link to, but have yet to try it in my .45 so I can't offer up an opinion on it.
One thing I will give you my opinion on is your idea of using wheel weight lead for casting your own balls & bullets. THAT IS A BIG NO-NO!!! Wheel weight lead is much too hard for use in muzzleloaders as it generally contains tin or antimony. Bullets made from wheel weight lead are very hard to load and you will have nothing but problems (I'm telling you this from personal experience) so save the wheelweight lead for casting sinkers.
Make sure you use only pure soft lead like the old plumbers or roofers lead. Check your local scrap yards for some or ask a roofing or plumbing contractor you may know if they have any. If you can easily score it with your thumbnail, it's soft enough. Soft lead roundballs actually "obturate" (become slightly oval) when the main charge explodes so even though you would be using a lubed patch, balls cast from wheel weights may not perform like the pure lead roundballs and will probably load much harder as well.

BPS

Thanks BPS,

You just saved me a lot of trouble! I'll will scrap the wheel weight idea and go the roofing and plumbing/scrapyard route.