Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Which .54 full bore lead conical

Recently bought a .54 cal knight mk85 for dirt cheap and plan to hopefully use it in Oregon this year which requires full bore lead bullets with no plastic attached. If my encore was Oregon legal then I would just use the 385gr Great Plains and call it a day.

I know nothing about .54 conical except they seem rare. So for those with some experience in this realm what is your preferred .54 conical.

You could buy a couple of moulds and try casting your own. I tried the T/C Maxi-ball and a Minnie ball when I had my .54 flintlocks. Don't recall group sizes but I remember the recoil.

No Excuses offer 485 grain and 525 grain conicals. Reasonably priced and have a great reputation

I shoot the 525 grain No Excuses, and like it alot.

Put a 58 caliber felt under it, and push it hard.

With a peep sight and a globe front sight, the accuracy will surprise you.

Andy3

I ended up shooting what was labeled “Maxi-ball”.
I killed white tail with round ball but I found the maxi-ball to be better in every way.

I use a 485 grain No Excuses, with a 58 caliber felt. Its accurate out of my Pedersoli Hawken Target. Although I want to try weighing my powder instead of measuring by volume, I am curious if I would see improvement. I am new to muzzleloading.

Weigh a volume charge and go with that. You'll likely find it's an unnecessary step...

I used the same rifle, a .54 cal Knight mk85 for this cow elk in Idaho. The No Excuses .54 525 grain bullets shot extremely well in that rifle. This cow was hit in the left shoulder, bullet went through both lungs, broke offside shoulder, and was found under the offside hide. For my area this is a large cow, live weight Im estimating just over 500 pounds. For reference, Im 6-3 and weigh 250 pounds.

Regards,
Manny

I've poured powder into a volumetric measure and then weighed it a couple of times. The actual weight spread is disconcerting to me. It runs 10% for an extreme spread. I don't shoot enough shots to show, statistically, that this spread has a negative effect, but the logical side of my brain says it can't be good.

Here are the conversions I have arrived at:

For BH-209: 100 gr (vol) = 75 gr (wt)
For 777 2Fg: 100 gr (vol) = 80 gr (wt)

Thinking the 525 No excuses, a .58 felt and T7 powder will be the opening attempt.

I don’t need another muzzleloader but for the price I couldn’t not buy it so better try to get it bloody this year.

I shot .54 for the better part of 30 years. I found the best results with a Lee R.E.A.L. mold.

I know of two 54ca REAL molds but have only used one, what weight did you like best? And what twist is you ML?

I got the best use out of the .54 380 grain mold out of a 1 in 28" twist Green Mountain drop-in barrel in my TC Hawken.

Back when I shot a full bore bullet, my go to was a cast bullet was 300 gr. Lee REAL bullet over 105 grs of prydex. It was accurate and killed a pile of deer.