Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Does anyone use a 58 Caliber Muzzle Loader?

Well? Does anyone? What's it good for. Why isnt it more popular?

I just got a .58cal 1:70" Flint barrel this spring...extremely accurate...sighted it in with 100grns Goex FFg, Oxyoke wonderwad, .018" pillow ticking, and Hornady .570 ball.

Zeroed at 50yds it only dropped 3" at 100...shot a couple bucks with it in November at about 50yds each...complete passthroughs, and probably overkill for Eastern woods whitetails at typical woods distances, when a .45/.50cal will do nicely all day long.

I think the .58 would be better suited where the average shot distances would be 100-125yds where the heavier ball retains it's energy better at distance...and/or...if you were after much larger game than Eastern deer.

PS: The .58cal is very (too) expensive to just plink around with every weekend...balls are twice as expensive as .50cals...sold by the box of 50 instead of 100, for about the same price.

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I like the hole size it provides. Bigger is usually better with muzzleloaders. Mine is very similar to poster Roundball's. I prefer the 409 gr Buffalo Maxi-Ballet HPs in mine using 75 gr 777 FFF. What's real nice is the slip-fit loading. If my index finger was long enough, I wouldn't need a ramrod for loading. The Ballet has a real sticky lube on it.. no chance of the bullet sliding back out the barrel while walking thru the woods with it or leaning the muzzle downward repeatedly.

Buy a cheap T/C Hawkens/Renegade at Gunbroker.com. Let T/C fix for free what's wrong with it.. ie... trigger, lock, nipple.. etc. Then buy an aftermarket Green Mountain slip-right-in barrel for it for $159 at trackofthewolf.com. They come in different calibers... different twists too. Gonna order a nuther one in a week or two. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I have a Navy Arms Buffalo Hunter. It's been good for one bull elk and four mule deer bucks.

I, too, have a .58cal GM percussion barrel on a T/C Renegade stock. As roundball said, it is an exceptionally accurate barrel. I do use mine for punching paper, quite a bit, but I cast my own balls to keep the cost down. I also use it to hunt whitetails here in Central Illinois.

I have used a .58 Robinson Hawken since 1980 .
It will do anything asked of it, including win offhand matches against target rifles.
Well, maybe not now! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> It has had a ton of powder through it and as my father said once,"It has a few furnace tiles loose down in the breech"! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Still more than accurate enough for anything I want to hunt at reasonable ranges.
Catnthehat

What GOOD IS IT??????????????
Ya gotta be kidding me? Right?
In the world of front stuffers bigger is always better for deer and larger game.
I have a .58 custom 1720's flint American Jeager with swamped Colrain barrel.
It will one hole all shots at 50 yards. I CAN"T, but the rifle can.
I get an inch on average at 50.
I have a Zouave .58 and a used to be T/C .56 bored to .58 with 1:48 twist.
The Jeager shoots best.
Birddog6 made the Jeager. He's worked on a .75 and I'm going to try and beat him out of that one somehow.
It isn't as popular as the .50 by a long shot, but plenty of people use a .58.
Store bought balls are more money, but casting evens the field.
I love the .58! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I own 2 my main hunter is a h&r huntsman which is super reliable and i have a zuave also

never used a .58 before I skipped it and went to a .60

I too was going to buy a 58, but bought a 62 instead. Only problem that I ever had with it, was I found a .72 before the 62 was finished. Big Bores Rock!

BS

The .58 cal is a great RB caliber. I have built several & have owned one since the 70's. It has tremendous knockdown power & not terribly expensive to shoot, and quite reasonable when casting your own bullets.

I feel the reason it is not real popular is because most stores stock 45 & 50 cal stuff.... & usually only that & then offer a range of bullets in the 45-50 cals. Also the mass produced rifle companies push those 2 calibers as it means less inventory variaty in accessories by having less calibers out ther being used.

But I can tell you the .58 caliber is one butt kicking whitetail rifle & very accurate also. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Birddog6

Custom Muzzleloaders & Custom Skinning Knives

I shoot a TC big bore converted to flint. it will shoot completly through any deer that is so unlucky to get in my shooting range , 150Yds max for me,Hubert <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I'm in the buying mood for a big bore too. You all like the .58 but what about the .62 or October Countrys .69 or the Pedersoli Kodiak Express Doubel Rifle in Cabelas .72? This would be mostly for deer with the possibility of elk thrown in. The .72 is ~ 10 lbs though. Whew!

George

The 62 is a smoothbore at GM
The 72 Kodiak is too darn heavy
First I've heard of this 69. Is it barrel-only? Is it a smoothie also? Will it fit a T/C?

I do highly recommend the GM 58. Outstanding is the best word to describe it.

The October Country .69 is a custom, rifled, percussion big boy the last I saw. They also make a double rifle in the "bigs" but heavy also. Their website is down right now but promises to be up soon.

I found this add in a local paper this morning:

"Kodiac Express, dble bbl, .58 muzzle loader, new in box, $600"

Is it just me or is this a steal? I'm assuming the barrels are rifled. Can anyone confirm that?

Anybody know if it is flint or percussion?

Caplock...Cabelas used to sell them...I think for around that price of $600-700...not in this year's catalog

I went through a Civil War re-ennacting phase and as an adjunct did my deer hunting for a while with an original '61 Springfield and a Parker-Hale 2-band repro.

Gotta tell you, nothing kills a whitetail as impressively as a .58 Minie ball.

I had a .58, Cabela's Hawken knockoff, made in Spain or Italy, I don't remember. All parts nearly identical to a TC Hawken.
I shot 560 gr. Buffalo Bullets thru it, with 100 gr. of Triple 7. Felt recoil was very heavy, with that curved brass buttplate.
I ended up donating it to a charity raffle, and got my TC Omega in .50 Cal., a decision I have never regretted.

Buying a non-hollow stock Hawkens or filling the hollow one with a couple of long bolts and foam spray - then squaring off the curved, non-padded butt-end - then fitting it with a Sims Limbsaver Pad -- well who knows -- you still might have that ML you donated today.

That's why I buy all Renegades instead of the Hawkens. It's already set-up to accept the Sims Pad and/or bolts and foam spray to diminish recoil alot. I shoot bullets beyond 550gr. and it's felt recoil is no worse than my Omega.