Give me some basic muzzle loader advice

While I have never shot one of the inline models I have a 50cal Hawken I built many years ago from a kit that I have been very happy with. Myself I prefer the sidelocks also for the more traditional look. The kit was a Thompson Center sold by Sears at the time, easy to assemble with all major inletting done it needed only minor final fitting. I did try some of the sabot loads but got the best accuracy from a patched ball. As far as powder Pyrodex gave the best accuracy and was easier to clean than traditional black powder, a few squirts with Formula 409 immerse the nipple end of the barrel in bucket hot water then a few patches to clean and apply the bore.

You might try thse folks just to see some of the more traditional models.

Dixie Gun Works muzzleloading, blackpowder and rare antique gun supplies.

For deer hunting it would be hard to beat a .54 cal Lyman Great Plains Rifle. Get the precussion lock. This rifle has a slow twist(1 turn in 66" I think) barrel so you will want to shoot patched round balls for best accuracy. This is just a beautifly traditional half stock hunting gun.

I think the real joy in black powder hunting is learning to use a truly primative rifle. A patched round ball and black powder with fixed open sights, now that is deer hunting.

Dixie Gun Works is a great place to start, Excellent customer service

I have owned inlines and sidelocks and while the inlines are some what easier to maintain. I just prefer the tradition. You don't really need anything more that a .50 or .54 cal round ball to kill a whitetail.

Currently I have a .45 cal full stock precusion sidelock that I really enjoy. I use traditional pillow ticking patch and 90 gains of FFg.

Remington 700.
You're already familiar with that platform, they make an excellent ML rifle.
If it wasnt for the cleaning rod underneath the barrel, you'd think it was a regular rifle.

That would be the one that I got. I've thought about it, just havent done it yet.

I have killed many deer and bear with my TC Renegade. There is just something about it that I dearly love. With all the competetion from the inlines, you can find either a Renegade or a Hawkin pretty cheap. They are accurate, hit hard and they are pretty guns.

The inlines are mostly shooting pellets with saboted pistol bullets for flatter shooting. Although they are flatter shooting than what I use, they give up in the penetration. The newer heavier rifle bullets are great though.

I still hunt with the old traditional stuff. I use 92 grains of black powder with a 370 grain T/C Maxiball and it blows right on through. I have yet to recover a Maxiball on deer or bear. The last bear I shot was at 110 yards quartering away. I hit it in the right hip and it traveled completley through, exiting the chest after clipping the top of the heart. Thats a lot of meat to plow through, yet it did it.

HotGuns said:

Remington 700.
You're already familiar with that platform, they make an excellent ML rifle.
If it wasnt for the cleaning rod underneath the barrel, you'd think it was a regular rifle.

Click to expand...

Agreed, but maybe because I have one. I am a big fan of Remington, especially the Model 7 and 700, so I got a 700ML. Same overall feel, trigger and bolt setup as any standard remington Model 700. Mine has a camo composite stock and I put a Bushnell 1.5-4.5x32mm camo shotgun scope on it with see through mounts just in case. Lightwieght, can't even see a scratch in the camo patten should it get one. I have mine zeroed in at a hundred yards.

That said, the traditional rifles are great too, but a little harder to clean IMO. AS far as range and power, an inline may get the nod, but for the distances most shots are made in Southern OH, or Central/NE KY, (assuming that will be your hunting ground) especially with a muzzleloader, either one should be fine.

You can find Remington 700MLs on GunBroker for about $200 or so if you may be interested in one.