First Muzzle Loader Questions - CVA Accura LRX 50. Caliber

[newmexicomuledeerhunter]

I do NOT do a thorough cleaning between shots. But I do run a wet patch (both sides) and a dry patch (both sides) between each shot.

Do NOT use brushes or bore butter between shots. Windex followed by a dry patch is all you need.

There will be a crud ring down where the bullet sits and it you run the cleaning rod down all the way the first stroke, it may get stuck. I run it down till I meet resistance and then do a series of short strokes until I get the patch bottomed out. After that first patch clears, you can do the second patch without resistance.

Ok, good to know. Just to be clear, are you running your rod starting at the barrel tip pushing down towards the breech plug? I have been removing the breech plug between shots, and cleaning by pushing the rod from the breech end towards the tip of the barrel.

In my limited experience, the crud ring was only removed by brushing back and forth with a nylon brush. Do you completely remove the crud ring between shots or only every few shots?

Thanks!!!

 

[newmexicomuledeerhunter]

One quick reply on 777:

Yes on loose powder. Cheaper and easier to tweak a load. I only use volume to measure. Out to 200 yards you wont see any difference.

Another thing is that loose is more powerful than pellets. 100 gr by volume of loose ffg 777 is 15% stronger than 100 gr pellets. They make the pellets weaker

To say it another way: loose 777 is equivalent to around 115 gr compared to 100 gr of pellets

Thanks!!! I am going to try loose this weekend if I can find a powder measure.

How many grain loose would you say is sufficient for a mule deer with the furthest potential shot being 200 but likely closer to 150.

Thank you

 

[txhunter58]

Ok, good to know. Just to be clear, are you running your rod starting at the barrel tip pushing down towards the breech plug? I have been removing the breech plug between shots, and cleaning by pushing the rod from the breech end towards the tip of the barrel.

In my limited experience, the crud ring was only removed by brushing back and forth with a nylon brush. Do you completely remove the crud ring between shots or only every few shots?

Thanks!!!

I never remove my breech plug except to clean at the end of a shooting session. You are making this way too hard. Between each shot I do a wet and dry patch from the muzzle end, then reload.

If you do tiny little strokes once you feel resistance, the wet patch will loosen up the crud ring enough to bottom out your jag/patch. If you just shove it down, it will get stuck. Use more elbow grease instead of brute force when your jag/patch’s gets to the crud ring.

No, you don’t want to fully clean out where the powder and bullet sits until you are finished shooting. As long as the jag/patch bottoms out and the dry patch goes down fairly easy, you are ready to load another bullet

 

[txhunter58]

Thanks!!! I am going to try loose this weekend if I can find a powder measure.

How many grain loose would you say is sufficient for a mule deer with the furthest potential shot being 200 but likely closer to 150.

Thank you

I would start at 25 yards with 95 gr , shoot 3 times, then 100 gr and shoot three times. gr and shoot three times. 105, 110……..

The groups will be in different places. That doesn’t matter. What you are looking for is how close each group is to each other. Once you find that most accurate load, move the sights until the POI is right at the top of the bullseye. You can then move back to longer ranges

You are also looking at what is your max load that you can shoot without flinching. For me that is about 95 gr of either BH 209 or 777. Remember, loose 777 is stronger than pellets. So 100 gr of loose is equivalent to 115 gr of real black powder or 777 pellets.

My elk load is 95 gr of 777 and a 350 gr lead alloy bullet. I am good out to 150 on an elk and 200 on a deer. Copper bullets take more velocity/energy to open up properly.

 

[txhunter58]

According to the guys that know more than me about the bullet you are using, you prob need more than 100 gr blackpowder equivalent. That is because copper is not as easy to open up as lead. I suspect 95-100 gr of loose powder may be enough. But if you can stand the recoil, going higher may be advantageous.

The reason I can use 95 gr on an elk is that I am using a lead alloy bullet which opens up at lower velocity. And I am using a bigger bullet, which still Kills effectively at lower velocities.

 

[Travis299]

FYI, I have had excellent results with the Barnes 250 gr T-EZ bullet in front of 2 pellets of T7, (100 gr). This combo has worked great on whitetail out to about 110 yards which is as far as I have shot so far. This is a recovered bullet that took a nice buck. Accura V2 and PLEASE put witness marks on your ramrod to indicate loaded/unloaded for your rifle.

Note the blue tape witness marks on my ramrod in this pic.

 

[txhunter58]

Here is some interesting info

https://www.barnesbullets.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Muzzleloader-Data.pdf

 

[txhunter58]

Notice the difference between muzzle velocity of 100 gr 777 pellets and loose ffg powder. Almost 200 fps. I haven’t run the numbers but suspect 95-100 gr of loose powder woild be enough out to 200 yds. 95 gr should be right at 2000 fps muzzle velocity and 1463 at 200 yards

 

[txhunter58]

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