Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders The smokeless rabbit hole

“have never heard as load a whack in my life.”
This is as true of statement as Ive heard. These things hit like a tank. Especially on a good calm evening right before dark. They generally just fall in the scope.

First deer I shot with mine was on a still evening and I’d never heard a gun hit so hard. She just wilted.

Entrance hole/No exit
275gr fury with 75gr of H4198 under it.

I bought gun at auction for for $30 missing the bolt I didn't have high expectations for the rifle when I got it buy my brother in law wanted one and I had a spare bolt laying in my safe. I was minute of pie pan at 50 yards with 458 300gr HPs. But at 100 it was a 12/14in group. Dont know the history of the gun but for $30 the action is worth that.

No wonder. That's like touching off a .375 Weatherby! LOL!

Can you tell us a little about the gun in the pic?

Have any of you guys had Jeff Fisk do an omega conversion? My Omega has been a safe queen since I got an Acura, and I have been thinking of converting it to smokeless. Contemplating going down the hole myself at the moment.

The gun in the picture started it’s life as a basic mid 90s model ADL in a 308. I bought the gun from a local shop for like $350 just to use as a donor. I had found a used stock on gunbroker off of a m700 ultimate muzzleloader for cheap. But I’ll just list the parts pile in a list.
Model 700 short action .473 bolt face base screws took to 8/40 screws/40x trigger
B&C m700 ultimate muzzleloader stock
Brux #6 1:20 .458/.450 barrel blank with 5” of shank finished at 24”
Hankins LRMP ignition system using modules
Hankins radial brake
Hankins barrel band
Hankins base/Burris xtr rings
Vortex viper HS 2.5-10x44
T/C swing power rod I robbed from my encore

Little better picture

I started out with an old Thompson 50 cal black powder gun back in the early 70's. my next one was a Knight in line. Then around 2005 I bought a Savage ML II smokeless powder gun. It shot good and I killed my share of deer and pigs with it. The last 2 seasons I hunted with a TC Pro Hunter. I bought a 45-70 barrel from Match Grade Machine and sent it to Jeff Hankins to do one of his conversions. I shoot 60grs imr 4198 with a 275 gr Parker bullet and large magnum rifle primer. It doesn't get much easier. No sabots to mess with and it shoots clover leaves at 100 yds. The TC break action is light, accurate and a great woods gun. I have only killed deer out to 120yds with it but would capable to 300.

Good looking gun. I’m afraid I’m about to go in that direction but I’m undecided. Mine is a touch heavy and I’m contemplating either knocking some weight off mine with a mesa stock and machining the brake flush or getting an encore barrel and converting it.

My Arrowhead Encore barrel was the easy button

Killed my target buck with it in the first few days of our muzzleloader season. Thru both shoulders at 110 yards - biggest exit I’ve ever seen on a whitetail. Using whatever the bullets are that arrowhead sells. 275 grain. The buck did make it about 25 yards into the brush but the blood trail looked like a crime scene

I first went down the smokeless rabbit hole about 10 years ago. I was muzzleloading since about 1992 [with 50cal Hawken percussion rifle] and have been trying to push the envelope on performance ever since. If I recall, the first SML I procured was Savage smokeless that got dropped in a McMillan. Soon after came a custom barreled Encore 45, then H&R SS Ultra Hunter 45-70 conversion followed by a long string of conversions and heavy barreled customs on Rem 700 actions. For a few years I was running a pair of Hankin’s Scout conversions and while running 275gr Pittman bullets around 2,600 is a mean combo [even out to 300-350y] I knew I eventually wanted to add a heavy 45cal again. This Fall I picked up a Hankins custom 45 Rem 700 in a Manners stock, Brux barrel etc. Quickly found a load of the 303gr Aeromax going 2,750fps. Like most all the SML’s I have owned sub MOA [usually 1/2 - 3/4 MOA] was easily attained. While I didn’t get to use the heavy rig on a buck this year, I did take one with the lighter CVA conversion. If these guns are legal where you hunt, I can’t see not getting into them; whether just for the lack of cleaning and ease of accuracy or if distances are over 150y - they are the way to go.
Here is a few I have pics of over the years. [sorry they are so big]

Been in the smokeless game many years, primarily a bow hunter until I started.
without a doubt the meanest guns I've ever witnessed on an animal, would almost be cruel if they didn't kill so fast.
Have taken shots from 20 yards to 896 yards and they all died quickly but when you push a bullet that big, that fast, one would expect some carnage, just goes with the territory.
As accurate as any gun I've ever pulled the trigger on, .5 MOA or better in most cases.

Great buck

The Savage is a great rifle. A proven deer killer and you don't have to clean it.

Never had any such inclination.