About to shoot my inline for the first time.

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donparadowski

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As I mentioned before...I have a TC Strike with a Zeiss Conquest on top. They are in the shop right now being mated together and bore sighted.

As I see it, after being bore sighted I should be able to hit the bulls eye at 13 feet, now comes the hard part...Should I bench fire it the first time just to make sure it is safe...Should I do the old fashioned test and load 4x for the first shot? I will be using 50 grain 50 cal Pyrondex 50/50 pellets.

I do know how to bring a new set of sights on line so we can skip he very basics of zeroing in this weapon.

I solicit your comments.
 
I sight in on a big piece of paper at 25 yards incase the first shot is way off. Then adjust till I'm 1" low at 25. Then move out to 100. The 1" lowith usually gets me pretty close at 109 for final tweeking.
 
Are you saying you want to intentionally over charge the rifle to see if it stands up to the power? If that is what you mean by 4x the gun, there is no need to do that. The rifle is rated at 150 grains of powder. Keep it under that and you should be fine. I read that one person is shooting 120 grains of BlackHorn 209 out of that rifle. That is a max charge.
 
cayuga said:
Are you saying you want to intentionally over charge the rifle to see if it stands up to the power? If that is what you mean by 4x the gun, there is no need to do that. The rifle is rated at 150 grains of powder. Keep it under that and you should be fine. I read that one person is shooting 120 grains of BlackHorn 209 out of that rifle. That is a max charge.
That caught my attention too! No need to load 4x normal charges. That is a good way to blow up a rifle and hurt yourself and others. If you are using Pellets the 2 50grain pellets is a good place to start. You can only go as high as 3 50grain pellets. 2 usually gets the job done just fine.

Just be sure to give the rifle a really good scrubbing to get all the packing grease out so it don't get cooked into the bore and load it up with 2 pellets and your bullet/sabot of choice. I usually start out a 50 yards but that is mostly due to club range restrictions.
 
As mentioned, clean it good first. I do like mossy, start at 25 and dial it in there. Then move to 100.
If you do a search on here, I recall some members posting some excellent groups with the old version of that gun. Might give you some ideas on loads that might shoot well.
 
Took it to the range. Man is it a sweet shooting set-up !

I was delayed going up to the line. I only had time to take three shots on the 25 yard target...Three in a pattern you can cover with a silver dollar and I was using the minimum magnification on my scope. At that point I stopped for the day.

When I cleaned my weapon I used my standard center fire cleaning kit. After MANY patches soaked in Hoppe's #9 it cleaned up shiny. I finished with a thin layer of oil to protect from rust.

I NEED A ML. SPECIFIC CLEANING KIT ! It was clumsy working on my table with the weapon laid on it's side. I was thinking of purchasing one of the "Gunmaster TBX736-1 Wood Toolbox 17 Pc Universal Gun Cleaning Kits" and then fill it with the proper stuff for my 50 cal. I like the idea of the built in bench. I have looked at many ML cleaning kits and I am confused. At this point I am thinking of one of the TC cleaning kits and solvents etc. Any recommendations?

I was suggested to purchase a long cleaning rod. I had difficulties with my very nice set up but oil got on the metal rod and things got slippery very fast. I have seen in action long wood models with a threaded end to accept a jag. The guy had absolutely no problem using it. He had full and precision control of it and I was impressed.

I really could use some input here. I expect to shoot many rounds at the range before firearm season and would like to be able to field clean the weapon easily.

In the TC kits there is a wire brush for the rod and a hand held nylon brush...Is that to clean the chamber area after removing the plug?
 
True black powder is actually best cleaned with water as a solvent. T7 substitute is also best cleaned with water based solvents. I'm not sure about Pyrodex, but I think it is also one of the BP substitutes that should be cleaned with water.

I use T7 in my sidelock, and I do all my cleaning with water, windex and a solvent I bought that was labeled for T7 (handy because it's more of a thin gel than a pure liquid). I use Ballistol as a protectant/lubricant for the gun after cleaning.

I'm sure someone with more experience using Pyrodex can chime in regarding particulars. The point is you probably will need to use some different solvents than you may have previously with centerfire rifles.

I use a shotgun three piece cleaning rod for my ML. It's plenty long and does what I need it to do plus it breaks down for easy transportation.
 
Hoppes #9 is not meant for cleaning Pyrodex. You need a water based cleaner. Even good old soap and water works fine. Finish up with a good synthetic gun oil or even Ballistol.

MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE ITS CLEAN AND DRY BEFORE STORING!!!!

Pyrodex is VERY CORROSIVE!!!!
 
Nothing wrong with using a centerfire cleaning rod. I use one of my Dewey rods and just picked up a Pro-Shot 50 cal jag. I don't think I would use a wood rod. Depending on what they are finished with the finish might come off and the wood soak up what ever is in the bore. I prefer to use a Dewey or a good solid Aluminum rod. Carry some Red shop rags and just wipe off the rod to keep it dry. You can get a BIG back of them cheap at Harbor Freight. You could also use paper towels but I like the rags better.

For a Cheap Cleaning solution for Pyrodex or T7 you can use Windex with Ammonia or Windex with Vinegar. There is not enough ammonia to harm a rifle barrel in it. Cheap and comes in a spray bottle. I use it to clean mine and also to swab between shots. A Bottle lasts a long time.
 
When I shoot Pyrodex, one of my favorite cleaners is dish water. Yep! Make up some normal dishwater and put it in a old dish soap kind of bottle. You can swab with it on the range, do minor cleaning and when done shooting, take the barrel off and saturate a patch and start scrubbing that bore with dish water. Its all you need to clean that fouling out. BUT when I do have the bore clean, I like to dry patch it. Then I like to run an alcohol patch down the bore, a few more dry patches and then oil it up. The alcohol patches act as a drying agent for the water used.
 

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