Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Some help with my new rifle

Hi. I am from so oregon on the coast. Experienced conventional rifle shooter/loader. Never shot bp before. I drew a late season deer bp tag so I went to a bp shop and they set me up with a traditions 50 cal nw magum with williams peep and 375gr hornady bullets and hodgdon triple 7 ffg powder at 75 grain volume recommended.. Along with some cleaning gear and loading paraphernalia. Seems like a good starter setup.

I dont like the the plastic containers they gave me for a charge and to hold the bullet. Not air tight and I will be in rain wet conditions.So I guess I can keep them in a little ziploc baggie. The primer caps dont fit in them so I guess I will keep them in an earplug box. Chances are I probably wont shoot more then once a day anyhow. I plan on cutting a piece of balloon and taping it onto the end of the bbl.

questions: in oregon we have to have exposed primers so how susceptible are they to rain or damp wet over the day? what to do if they are?

I plan on zeroing in a day or two.

I have a magntospeed so I can determine my avg velocities and plug into my ballsitics calc to figure out trajectory. However I am not sure how to ensure consistency with my powder loads? I have one of those copper dispensers..do I just pour in or pour in and flick it with my fingernail x times to make the powder settle consistently or?? Have a little screw top container of powder and a lee dipper and 22 cal powder funnel so you dont get spills? Not doing flintlock and buckskins so looking for efficiency rather than tradition..

and lastly.. I have a break open with removable breech plug so easy to swab out and clean the bore. I assume I need to do this after every shot and also wipe clean the screw in breech plug and fire a cap thru it to clean the flash hole. How much precision will one expect to lose on a second shot without swabbing? ( just incase I need to do a fast reload )

I dont have much time between now and season to dial in this rifle and test out sone of things asked so just looking for tips. I know how to shoot once I know the ballistics, And I can already feel I am going to enjoy bp shooting.

Thx. Chris

Don't know all the Oregon muzzleloader rules so some (or all) of what I say may be useless. And all of it is opinion. First, I'll take glass over peeps even when most shots are close. Having said that all 3 bucks I've shot with a front loader could probably been shot using a shotgun bead. Don't over concern yourself about primers. I wouldn't store them under water but the Winchester 209s I use pop after going thru the wash in a pocket. Was 3 or 4 I forget which.

If you are using loose powder there is no reason on earth to not use Blackhorn 209. If you wish to dry swab the residue comes out gooey black and good to go after one pass. I can't tell any difference swabbing after each shot or 10. Cleaning is the same process and materials as centerfire smokeless though the residue is thicker. Less smoke, much less. I weigh my charges then store in snap top plastic containers short fat or long skinny. I load thru a funnel then carefully and scientifically bump the buttstock a couple of times on whatever hard surface I'm in contact with. Then start the saboted bullet with a short starter before finishing with a ramrod marked with tape at the full charge and seated point on the rod. Bullets....I mentioned sabots If legal. It doesn't take 375 grains to kill a deer. 250 is plenty and this year I'm trying .429 Barnes XPB in 200gr with Harvester ribbed sabots. They can be started with your thumb.

Blowing a primer thru the breech plug before loading ain't a bad idea but cleans nothing. Conversely the 209 does more clogging than cleaning. As an alternative I use a nipple pick, which is not as painful as it may sound. Thin wire that assures passage of flame to powder as a final check. If sighting or fun shooting follow with a full cleaning of the breech plug and flash path. You'll be surprised at the amount of crust left behind just by the primer. BH 209 website gives pretty good instruction on this. Personally I don't fresh load before each hunt if I'm able to keep the load dry. Have had a load 10 months old to go boom but was stored in a dry environment. Your mileage may definitely vary.

Ballistics. Do your best to find a spot where you can actually shoot your chosen load at the maximum distance you'll try. Lastly, the components and equipment you have will keeeeeullllllll. Good luck.

I

Except for that a Traditions NW Magnum is a musket cap and not a 209.

And that's where Oregon law knowledge comes in. If 209s are legal I'd get another rifle. If not use what's legal.

Oregon is no sabots, no jacketed bullets (might have changed for 2019 )and requires open ignition to be legal. Full bore lead and solid copper conicals are legal as long as they have no plastic parts. Open ignition is a little vague. Some of the proposed changes to the regs are far more clear.

Appears center fire primers of any type are not legal in Oregon. They seem to want actual primitive weapons used in primitive weapons seasons.

I thought Traditions and CVA had a 209 system that met the requirements.

http://www.eregulations.com/oregon/big-game-hunting/definitions/

“Muzzleloader” is any single barreled (shotguns may be double barreled) long gun meant to be fired from the shoulder and loaded from the muzzle with an open ignition system and open or peep sights. This includes: open ignition in-line percussion; sidelock, under-hammer, top-hammer and mule ear percussion; sidelock flintlock and wheelock ignition systems. Matchlock ignition systems are not allowed.

“Open Ignition” is an ignition system where the percussion cap, frizzen, or flint is visible and exposed to the weather at all times and is not capable of being closed or covered by any piece of the weapon.

Exactly why I don’t venture into the timber the first week!