Muzzleloader has me stumped
 

I've muzzleloader hunted for several years but never changed any loads/powders. Now that I've purchased a new muzzleloader (TC Triumph) I'm struggling to get it right. Previously I've used 100 grain of Pyrodex Pellets with TC shockwave 250grain sabots. While the gun shoots good, it doesnt seem to burn all the powder. Even after only 1 shot, I cannot get the sabot seated unless (probably not correct way) I use a hammer and a block. I've cleaned the barrel very well and the first load is easy. The 2nd load is a struggle. 100 grain isn't much powder, but could it also be the sabots? What do you think I should change?

How old are your pellets? They have a poor shelf life.
Swab between shots and see if that helps.

Shockwaves come with semi large OD sabot unless you get the Super Glide version. You could swap out just the sabot for Harvester Black Crushribs and use the Shockwave bullet in them. That sabot should load quite a bit easier but not be too loose. Cabelas stocks that sabot if you dont want to order them online.
https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/harv...abots---per-50

some bores have a might tighter tolerance , and as such, some don't like certian sabot/bullet combo's
and this is also why many muzzleloader company's make what they call EASY slide sabots and even bullets to help loading in very tight bores!
this is also why many modern inline users also have gone to cleaner burning powders, like blackhorn 209 and such

they also sell cleaner firing primers too
all the little things can help make life easier
you'd be surprised how dirty a fired primer can make a bore pending brand of primer

so, my suggestion is maybe to try some different sabots/bullet combo's
many love them powerbelt for how easy they load?
in very tight bores they tend to shoot pretty well too , or in my experience they have!
although I never really hunted with them, found other combo's my guns liked better, but they have grouped well in many inlines I have shot!

and I am not pushing any brand here either, just giving you options to maybe make loading easier for you

What I suspect is that you have a tight bore which is not uncommon. What makes your follow up loads difficult is the fouling buildup in the bore. This could be due to old pellets as GM-54 said or having some surface oil in the bore making the fouling adhere to it.
First thing I would do is to stop using the pellets and get some loose Pyrodex RS. If you were using 100 grain charge (2 pellets) start with 80 gr of loose. Next, make sure the bore is clean of all oils prior to the first shot. After the first shot swab the bore with a damp patch of black powder solvent (or even a spit patch) followed by a dry one. If your second loading or subsequent loadings are still to hard get yourself some Harvester Crush Rib sabots. For the Shockwaves you will need the black ones which are 50 cal for 45 cal bullets.
Honestly I think if I were you I would just go and get the Harvester sabots anyway and save yourself the headaches.
My Knight Disc Extreme has a super tight bore and I must use the crush ribs too.

I have a T/C triumph, I also used pyrodex pellets and had the same happen to me. I switched to Blackhorn 209 AND switch sabots. The sabots I switched to are the T/C Mag express sabots .451-.452(t/c # 8281). I shoot 95 grains of blackhorn 209 ( measured not weighed) the Mag express sabots and Barnes tez bullets. I think if you switch you will be happy with the gun. I asked the same questions on here and these guys gave me great advice! If you want go look at the threads I started and read all the great information these guys gave me. Hope this helps

lube the sabots with bore butter!

bore butter might make things easier or worse
as if shooting dirty power/primers, bore butter just collects more residue, which can make following reloading harder and harder!
or that's been my experience with using in
I gave up using it, for just using cleaner burning powder(blackhorn 209 gets my vote here, if not for burning cleaner, for NOT having that big cloud of smoke to see animals run off at times, or the non corrosion side of it alone makes it worth using IMO)
I also found that in lines rare like any other rifle, they all LIKE different powders/bullets and sabots, there is NO one combo that works best in any inline
so playing about will always find you the best combo, or load your looking for, accuracy or the fastest, flattest, easiest to load and so on!
we all have different goals when we use things

but with so many options out there, that can make life easier, its worth experimenting to find what the gun likes!
also gets you some extra shooting time which is normally a good thing to help you get better at things too!

Have used it in every muzzleloader I ever owned, and always, everytime a lubed sabot, patched ball, or conical loaded easier than a dry one. the secret is to season the bore properly! also if the thing appears to be not burning powder consistantly at a 100 gr charge, are the pellets loaded right, they have a front and back ya know!

RR I used bore butter for years too until I saw the light. Seasoning the bore a myth. Its not a cast iron fry pan! All bore Butter will do is set in the bore and allow the fouling to adhere to it making follow up loadings difficult. It is true that BB will keep the fouling soft but its still there. Simply swap the bore after each shot and use a sabot that makes the bullet/sabot combo "loadable" without getting a hernia. And pellets deteriorate much quicker than loose powder and are far less versatile.

I also agree that bore butter will help in the loading, but at some point it will be worse
as , stated, bore butter will just attract and hold un burned powder,
making the bore tighter to load the last few inches to seat things properly
things might go easier down MOST the barrel/bore, but once things build up more and more f it just gets harder to push the last few inches to seat things properly!
all the more so again, on a bore that maybe is very tight to begin with
and or sabot/bullet combos that are extra snug to start with in a specific bore!
add in older power or just very dirty powder
and bore butter isn;'t a great solution,
it might work fine to reload a few times
but there again are just better options these days! that offer more long term solutions without the added step of using bore butter!

What a bunch of total BS. You will NEVER season a ML barrel. Its not a cast iron skillet in a 400F oven for extended periods of time.

I have never had to lube sabots...EVER and i have thousands of them. Literally over 3k sabots sitting in my supplies right now. The right way is choose the sabot that fits your bore correctly. Use good quality mineral based oil or synthetic bore oil and make sure to swab them out well before firing your first shot. Bore Bummer is garbage compared to a quality synthetic or even Ballistol. I have inlines costing from $250ish to worth a couple grand and i would not use that junk in any of them. My conicals come lubed already from BullShop with Dan's NASA lube and for some i use a modified version of the recipe Idaho Lewis came up with.

If you want to load over and over without the high cost of Blackhorn 209, try BlackMZ.....Now its sold by Shooters World. Alliant dropped it and SW picked it up from American Pioneer Powder. Far less corrosive than Pyro, just as easy to ignite and cleans up easy. It just sucks in the FPS department but so does Pyro.
https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog...roductId/83678
https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog...roductId/83680

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.c...shooters-world

Anything else besides BH209 and SW Black will need some swabbing between shots. Its just the way it is with inlines and 209 ignition.

You folks who think lubricants do not penetrate the surface of steel, that shows what you know about it, to prove the point, wipe a blued rifle down with gum cutter 2+2 and let dry, then hit it with an oilcloth and you can visually see how much oil the steel absorbs. I'm done posting in this forum, like trying to explain things to democrats!

RR you are knowledgeable about centerfire firearms but apparently you may need a bit more education on modern muzzleloaders. I did not see anyone saying that oil is not absorbed into the steel. Actually I myself don't think it does, at least not very deep. Rather it bonds to the surface of the metal creating a protective barrier much like paint. Seasoning of a bore with bore butter just does not happen. Just no way a bore can get that hot for that long for bore butter to accomplish such a task.
Did you ever try to season a new fry pan or reseason one that someone scrubbed with steel wool ? It takes hours in a super hot oven (400*+) to even start the process.
As I said before I thought the same until I saw the light. And I've been shooting muzzleloaders and using BB way back in the early 70s. So please just accept the fact that you were incorrect. No reason to take your ball and run home.

Did you do the simple test I suggested? if not you don't know, like I said its like reasoning with democrats!

I never said metal doesn't absorb oils(if your referring to me that I did)

I was just saying that oils and like lubricants can attract and hold dirt and un burned powder, which in return
narrows the diameter of the inside of the bore, which will lead to harder ,loadings!
and I never meant any offence to you RR< and am sorry if you took it that I did, wasn't my view or point! at all !

was just saying there are better bullet sabot powder combo's that can be used that don't require any Bore butter to make loading easier!

Geez RR I never saw you getting so pissy. Talk about being thin skinned. Bore butter is OK but there are so many more and better lubricants out there today. To apply BB to a sabot is not a fix and could make matters worse. Get the right sabot/bullet combo and avoid the hassles. It would be much better if muzzleloader manufacturers had tighter tolerances on their bore diameters like centerfire rifles.
Exactly what I said. BB will only make things worse with successive shots. Fouling will adhere to the BB on the walls of the bore. Yes it will be softer but will still be there. This will make the next loading tighter and adding more BB to the sabot will continue to add more gunk for the fouling to cling to. Its best to use a sabot/bullet combo that is tight but not overly so and swab between shots. Swabbing with a damp patch of 1:1 Windex and alcohol does this nicely. I carry mine in a small spray bottle when shooting at the range. Swabbing will get your bore fairly clean so it will make the bore more closely resemble a clean bore which would be your first shot during a hunt. With the right bullet/sabot combo you should have no problem loading a second shot which should suffice during most hunting situations.