Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Your Recommendation for a Whitetail Muzzleloader

Funny story from the range today. Old couple sets up next to me, mid 70s probably. Old fella hauls out one of those SS scoped inline things, loads it up and lets rip. The Missus is spottin' for him. 2 shots and he is dead on. Puts his away then pulls a really nice caplock out , .54 cal.. Same drill, 2 shots and it's zeroed. With iron sights.

He smiled and said "this is my wife's new gun. First time we've shot it."

Behind me I hear one of the range staff telling' the ol' gal that They're a lot of work! Do you hunt?"

She weighs about 85 # if she just got out of the rain and looks up. At him and replied "I shot a Ruger 77 in .270 for a long time. It's a great rifle but I don't need to shoot that far and I only shoot once. "

Had to smile a little. No, actually I smiled a lot. Bless her. Iron sights and almost 80 before she takes up muzzleloading...

Give me a hammer style gun any time and show me just what the difference is in the hammer to inlines . Just try a green mountain barrel LRH hawkens TC an my inlines or yours You use a 209 I use a 209 big deal

Pick one that: fits you, shoots "good enough", has good quality accesories, cleans easily, and always goes "bang" when you pull the trigger. Use a quality bullet, a good powder, and the correct primer/cap combination and go to work. The rest is internet arguement material.
I like T.C.'s because they and the company have done very well for me. I have owned and shot them for thiry years and several different models and have never had cause to look elsewhere. I hunt in several States where I can hunt with a muzzleloader more than any other firearm type so put in some pretty long hours shooting/hunting with them. I still have my T.C. Hawken .50 that I was given for Christmas as a kit at 13. It has taken more game than everything but my shotguns and .22's and still is shooting just as well now as it did when I got it. My T.C. Omega has been a very reliable accurate hunting rifle. It has never failed me. This is why I like T.C.'s.
Others like Knights, Savages, CVA's, Remingtons, Traditions etc. pick the one that you like and learn to use it properly and have at it. Let others tell you they suck all they want.....Just keep smiling over the deer, hog, bear or small game you keep taking with it. The rest really does not matter.

Thanks guys. I am looking because the Omega is moving down the road literally and my Dad is going to shoot it.

Has anyone used the Savage Smokeless muzzleloaders or have any opinions?


ddj

Smokeless MLs are not legal for hunting in all states. They don't smell right when you shoot either.

There's some real good info about the Savage 10ML-II at http://dougsmessageboards.proboards.com/index.cgi

Thanks for the link to Doug's message board. I have read varying opinions on the saftey of the Savage. But I guess any gun becomes unsafe with to much pressure and experimentation.


ddj

KP-1 rolling block knight.Green mountain barrels are super accurate!!I use triple seven powder with hornady xtp's.Dropped a nice buck last year late season.Knight has always been known for being a great accurate guns.

Omega is hard to beat for a BP sub rig. Savage is a beast for smokeless.

Yap.

They have Omegas at Walmart for $277.00.

the new knights are pretty nice.i use a cva,t/c bone collector, a knight ,a t/c renegade i like them all but the easiest to load shoot clean is my cva optima elite.

is there a consolidated list of what states allow usage of different option in ML hunting i.e. Smokeless vs BP, inline vs Traditional, cabot versus ball, scope versus open sight? Some sort of spreadsheet would be very cool.

I have a triumph for sale in the classifieds, with a Nikon 3-9x40 BDC scope...tackdriver!

Savage. There is no other gun that compares in cost and effiency. 45grs of smokeless powder gets you 180+ loads out of a pound of powder and NO MESS to clean. Compare that to a smokey load.

Thats what I have decided!! I am shooting a friends for a couple weeks and have my own Stainless Laminate on the way.


ddj

Hey guys...I think EvilTwin wins the prize for the one that best represents the tradition and spirit of the primitive weapons portion of the season.

Many years ago I spent about 3 summers fooling around with muzzle loaders. I bought a Great Plains 50, and a guy at the range sold me a Traditions Mountain Rifle kit in 54 with a beautiful birds-eye maple stock...turned out pretty nice and shot very well. I went to many memorable small shoots in the area and always had a great time.

This year I was lucky to draw a managed deer hunt permit here in Missouri for the "primitive" portion. So, thanks, ET, for bringing me back to the old ways...and I'll be out there with my side lock.

Actually it will get you 155 loads, same as my .45 flint lock. I don't buy primers and round balls are an awful lot cheaper than sabots and sub-caliber bullets. Half dozen patches do the clean up...so what's messy about that?

For heaven's sake don't buy a Pro Hunter!!! I can throw stones and get a better group than this POS !!! We're still at it mixin/matchin components will keep ya updated

Your 45caliber flintlock isn't pushing a 250gr bullet at over 2100fps and giving 200yd groups like this.



I also don't have to clean my gun until I want to. It can sit all year if I want it to without becoming a rusty tent stake.