Tennessee Mountain Rifle
 

Ok guy's, I'm a Inline guy but recently got back that I purchased for My Father in Law years ago a Tennessee Mountain Rifle. I shot My first MLer Buck with it back in the Mid 80's. I only used it for a couple of Seasons then bough my first inline and today I mostly only use My 1st Generation CVA ACCURA. Anyway's back when I used it I used patch and round ball which was all I could use during our Late MLer Season, with 90gr's of FFFG GOEX, it really liked the FFFG.

I took all the Browning off the Barrel as it was in need of New Browning because of many years of wear and some surface rust had started.,But instead of the Brown Barrel I decided to go Blue, so I re-blued the barrel,. all the parts and re did the stock.got a new Breech Plug and Barrel and Nipple. I also saw on You-Tube the "Mag Spark" System where you can do away with the No11 Cap and replace it with a 209 Primer. I haven't tried it yet but if any of you have I'd appreciate some feedback on it. I may or may not use it, I only got it because back in the day when I hunted in the Rain and Heavy Wet Snow I did have a few Mis Fires and figured maybe the 209 would stop that from happening.. I also did not really like the "Patch Hole" or Grease Hole" on the stock so I cut the Crown off the Antler of the first Buck I got with it and put it in that hole, some may like it and some may not.

Here's My question, as I stated I mostly use My ACCURA and I can shoot out to 175yds with no problem when Hunting, and back when I used the Tennessee Mountain Rifle I only had a few shots on Deer the furthest being 77yds. What kind of Distance can I get out of this MLer where with Practice to where I can Harvest a Deer and know it's not too far? I don't need to shoot out to 200yds or anything but can I expect to shoot to 125 or so and have it not be considered a long shot for Cap and Ball with 90grs of FFFG?

Now I may never need to shoot that far as most of my shots taken at Deer range from 20-100yds, with 50 being the norm. is this Old Girl worthy of long shots or is she just a 75yd shooter and I should keep my shots at that or under? And I am a good shot so I'm looking for advice on the Mler mostly, and I know she's only as good as the shooter but how good can she be in the right hands.

And I'm going to use a .490 Hornady Ball, .015 Lubed Patch, 90grs of FFFG GOEX and Open Iron Sights.

I forgot this

Easier Question....What's this Mler capable of on maximum distance on Whitetails in the right hands?

I personally think you can gain a lot more accuracy and distance by shooting a 350 grain Thompson center Maxi Hunter or 370 grain Maxi Ball conical projectiles instead of shooting a round ball and patch. The round balls work in smooth bore flintlocks . Your barrel has rifling . I tried shooting round balls out of my old TC Renegade with rifling . They weren't terrible. But they were not anywhere near as accurate as the conical bullets.
I have 3 muzzle loaders that are not inlines. I have 2 TC White Mountain Carbines and the TC Renegade. I have never had an issue using #11 caps. I did have an issue with delays on one of the carbines when I tried one of those Uncle Mikes Hot Nipples. I couldn't throw that thing away fast enough and put the original nipple back in. Never had an issue with any or the original parts.

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Never thought of or tried Conical's, they seemed to me to be too Big and Heavy.but I'd try em and see how they fly. What would be a good powder charge for them? I just bought 2lbs of GOEX FFFG as that's what I used in this MLer and it liked it better than the FFG, with the Round Balls, would the FFFG be ok with the Conical's? Is 1/48 Twist Fast enough for Conical's? Thank's

I've killed them out to 125 yards with my .54 and a round ball, with my .45 I limit myself to about 75 yards...So, I'm guessing stay inside 100 and you should be ok...90grs of FFF Goex is a pretty stiff load in a .50, especially with that stock design, a conical will kick the heck out of you and they are not needed for deer...I'd drop down to 75-80 grains on that charge...I used 75 with my .45 for years and use 80 on my .54...With round balls you will find that the faster you start them, the faster they slow down so there isn't really an advantage to trying to push them too fast...The key to accurate round ball shooting is the patch fit and lube...I used to shoot in competition and if you couldn't keep all 3 shots inside 1 1/4 inches at 50 yards then you wouldn't finish in the money...That lead round ball is much deadlier than most know, they come out with all sorts of formulas to prove it wrong, well I've hunted with them since the mid-70s and I can promise you, you don't want me shooting at you at 150 yards with one..... ;)

The Mler weighs in @ 9lbs so it doesn't have much of a kick at all with 90gr of FFFG and a Round Ball, I have never shot or tried a Conical/Mini Ball or Buffalo Bullet" out of it and had no reason to. I'm not going to shoot past 100yds as I said before that most of my shots on Deer are between 20-50yds. I mostly wanted to know what others have found to be their Maximum Limit when using a Patch and Round Ball with whatever load they have behind it. Thank's Again

I killed one deer at just about 100 yards with my flinter one year using 100 gr of Goex FFFg and a 300 gr Shockwave. My friend shot one the same year at 116 yards with the same charge and a 250 gr REAL bullet. If you know your projectile's trajectory I don't think it would be too difficult to take a deer with your sidelock, even with a round ball, out to 100 or 125 yards.
Two years ago in SC I shot a big old doe at 136 yards using 100 gr of Black MZ and 295 gr Barnes.But that was with my scoped Accura V2.

I'll get to know the Mountain Rifle as soon as our Weather breaks and spring gets here, 100yds will be my Max distance as I'm hoping I'll be within that when a Deer comes along, I usually am. I'm only going to take one deer with it in honor of My Father in Law then it's back to My Accura 1st Generation is my go to "My Baby" Mler she's all I use. I've taken several Deer out to 177yds with her using 100gr's of Pyrodox Pellets and a 240gr XTP Mag. That Mler is so accurate and dead on that last season I took 3 Deer with neck shots and all were over 100yds. Why the neck, because I hunt where's there's steep riveins and unwalkable bottoms where the creeks run through so if you get a shot at a deer at the top you better pray it doesn't go over the side. Most of them bed near the top in case danger comes then they run down, so if you don't drop em in their tracks your in for a long long drag up the side if you take a heart or lung shot.