Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Third range visit with Deerstalker .54, and a question

Well, had the third range session with my Deerstalker .54 percussion, left hand. This time I got to shoot on the 50 yard range, which is where I want to spend a lot of time.

I worked up to the max loads specified by Lyman for this gun today, 100gr of Pyrodex RS (still haven't been able to find real powder ... going to have to take a trip about 65 miles south to some stores in Tacoma I know of to get it) under a .530 ball and .015 patch. According to the Lyman manual, I should be getting about 1621 fps velocity, for 1342 fpe at the muzzle.

This load is shooting to around 2 inches for me at 50 yards, which is fine for my purposes. However, the question I mentioned in the subject is this: I have the Lyman 57 peep sight, and I have this sight set at its lowest position, but the gun still shoots about 4 inches high at 50 yards. Others have said that the stock front sight on the Deerstalker works fine with the peep, but apparently not for me. I guess I can look into a taller front sight ... but time is getting short, as elk season opens October 7th!

Any advice?? Do things such as over-powder wads, and patch thickness, affect how high a load might shoot? I wonder if trying .535 balls might make a difference??

Next time, I'll try the stock rear sight as well.

Thanks for any advice!

Liam

I wonder ... I have a little tripod forend rest that I'm using at the range, and I'm resting the forend directly on the hard foam rubber cradle of the rest. Could the recoil be sort of bouncing the rifle up a bit before the ball exits the bore, making the shots go high??? Or is that just ridiculous?

Just some late night ramblings, sorry if they're insane!!

Respectfully,
Liam

Yes, the recoil could be bouncing it upward.

Try a sandbag out front next time and see what happens.

Likewise, if that doesn't work, use a 6 o'clock hold UNDER for this season. I.e. put the chest of said elk/deer ON TOP of the front post and squeeze.

Lyman 17AEU is a globe front sight that is offered by them for use with the 57GPR rear peep.
http://www.lymanproducts.com/lymanproducts/index.htm
Look under black powder

taller front sight.

4 inches high at 50 will equate to about dead on at 100 with roundball. If you are shooting elk, 4" high at 50 wouldn't be a problem unless you were trying to hit the spine. A center chest hold for the lungs would be a chip-shot with that load and accuracy. Hold-over and hold-under is one of the joys of shooting primitive. You learn your vehicle and you drive it. Heck, I'm betting an elk's heart is greater than 4" in diameter - having never dressed one.

Dan

I've found over the years, that when "sighting in", a rifle that is "only bagged" in the front on the bench will not POA the same when fielding field positions...same goes for relying on bi-pods.

For that reason I support the rifle with a front bag (and rear bag of course) but set the height of my chair low, and take a "normal" grip on the stock to duplicate how I naturally hold the rifle in the off hand position...the only difference is the rifle is less the wobble being supported by the bags and me being supported by the chair. Sometimes I have to remove the front swivel stud to get uninhibited support by the front bag due to my hand being in the way with a normal grip.