54 renegade

Modern Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Modern Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Ok that makes sense now, Bullshop Dan is the only person I know offering the Lyman Plains :lewis:

If you are talking about a TC Maxi Ball? Then DEFINATELY remove the Lube from the Top Groove and Shoot a Group with ONLY the Bottom Groove Lubed. This was the ONLY way i was able to get good, repeatable results with the TC Maxi Ball, They are Lube PIGS, When they Exit the Bore the Excess lube trying to “Shed away” from the Bullet can cause an imbalance and KILL accuracy, Sort of like a Tire out of Balance, out of round Etc.

I SWEAR by Bullshop NASA Lube, and always have, But i prefer it thinned down some, It’s a Bit to thick for my liking the way it comes. A simple test you can do is try a Group of Bullets lubed with Crisco and see if you notice an accuracy improvement, Crisco is thin and kind of a Pain to deal with But this is just a Test to see if you can see an accuracy difference with a Thin Bullet lube.

If you do see an improvement with a Thin Lube, I advise you to follow my “Modified” Bullshop NASA Lube Recipe in the Casting section under “Bullet Lube Recipes”
I only lubed the bottom ring on the TC maxi and they shoot great at 50 yds with 60 grains. Dan's bullets come lubed all the way up. I've got some on order from him as well as Swiss powder so stay tuned-I'm expecting good things !!
 
Thompson/Center barrels seem to be finicky when it comes to which of the two projectile types it is going to shoot best. I can recall back in the 70's a lot of men getting frustrated with their T/C rifles because accuracy was so poor, especially with the Maxi-Ball's.

I think a lot of that had to do with the button rifled barrels, and how sharp the edges of the lands were as they came from the barrel manufacturer. When those rifling buttons start to wear, the bore can end up rough, as well as undersized. A slightly undersized bore from a worn button at the end of its use cycle could account for poor accuracy, especially from a patched ball shooter that only had store bought pre-cut patches that in of themselves have had a terrible tendency over the decades of not measuring up to be as thick of material as the label on the packet advertised.

With Idaholewis's discovery/re-discovery of the need to eliminate the lube from the huge top lube groove on the Maxi-Ball, we now know how to get good accuracy from the Maxi-Ball.
 
I only lubed the bottom ring on the TC maxi and they shoot great at 50 yds with 60 grains. Dan's bullets come lubed all the way up. I've got some on order from him as well as Swiss powder so stay tuned-I'm expecting good things !!

With a Lyman Plains type bullet you don’t want to remove the Lube, the Lube grooves are a normal depth, they are nowhere near as Deep as a Maxi ball, the TC Maxi Ball is the “Problem Child” here, and the only bullet I recommend removing the Lube from the Top Groove, and even then I don’t like the idea of that much Bullet length not having Lube, But that is where i have achieved best accuracy time & time again with Maxi Balls.

In short, i am not a fan of Maxi Ball Bullets, and RARELY ever mess with them anymore. As a Bullet Caster, there are LOTS N LOTS of MUCH MUCH better Bullet designs out there.
 
I've had this rifle since my Ct days- 35 years. and after reading your post I realized that all I shot back then was round ball and they were quite accurate. hmmmm

If i were strictly a Deer Hunter I would probably stick with Patched Roundball, they are MUCH MUCH more pleasurable to Shoot than a BIG HEAVY Bullet that Kicks the Daylights out of ya, and for Deer a Roundball would be PLENTY out to the end of Typical open sight hunting (100-125 yards), especially .54 Cal at 230 or so Grains.

I shot .54 Cal PRB out to 325 Yards a few years ago just to see what they would do? The Ball stil had enough power to Blow through 2X4s and Keep going :)

.54 Roundball Entrance in 2X4 at 325 Yards
RPnvq5N.jpg


Exit
CJWGXva.jpg
 
My post above is NOT to recommend shooting a Roundball at Game at 300 Yards, it was simply a test i did to find out for myself the Capabilities of a .54 Roundball. I stil feel the Roundball would be best kept at 100-125 Yards MAX which is about as far as anyone can stay in the Kill Zone, and should be Shooting at Big Game animals with Open sights.
 
I have stated several times in different posts all I used for 30 years was a .50 PRB. Never felt like I was under guned. Had to kill 2 deer a year for 30 years with it. With a couple of new (used) TC Renegade and Hawken in my stable (and a pair of eye glasses) I am leaning toward going back to PRB and the Great Plains Bullet. Have some of Eds bullets also.
 
NOW ya te
If i were strictly a Deer Hunter I would probably stick with Patched Roundball, they are MUCH MUCH more pleasurable to Shoot than a BIG HEAVY Bullet that Kicks the Daylights out of ya, and for Deer a Roundball would be PLENTY out to the end of Typical open sight hunting (100-125 yards), especially .54 Cal at 230 or so Grains.

I shot .54 Cal PRB out to 325 Yards a few years ago just to see what they would do? The Ball stil had enough power to Blow through 2X4s and Keep going :)

.54 Roundball Entrance in 2X4 at 325 Yards
RPnvq5N.jpg


Exit
CJWGXva.jpg
NOW ya tell me !?😂
 
I think that a round ball is way underrated. If you get a chance to read some of the traditional muzzleloader forums, especially flintlock. Those guys pretty much only use a round ball and kill a lot of deer with them.
 
I think that a round ball is way underrated. If you get a chance to read some of the traditional muzzleloader forums, especially flintlock. Those guys pretty much only use a round ball and kill a lot of deer with them.

And black bear, feral hogs, antelope, elk, & moose.

As well as bison, musk ox, & caribou up in Alaska.
 
I think that a round ball is way underrated. If you get a chance to read some of the traditional muzzleloader forums, especially flintlock. Those guys pretty much only use a round ball and kill a lot of deer with them.
Ive said it many times here. All I used was a PRB for 30 years. Killed at least 2 deer a year. No complains.
 
first and third pic are 70 gr ffg second and fourth are 50 gr,all at 50 yds. tC's didnt like 70 as much as 50. so what's the consenses on a sufficient powder charge for deer out to 100 yds. ? glass bedding did the trick, solid and stable now :lewis:
I’m going to buck the trend here and say that 50 grains might be sufficient for deer with that bullet. I know guys who use that bullet over 80 grains of powder and kill elk every year, or nearly so. I’d chronograph it if possible and see what you really have. That’s a big bullet, not likely to expand much at lower velocities but it’s starting out at .54” and it weighs more than 400 grains. It would probably be lethal on deer at 500 feet per second... find out what 50 grains gives you in real time...
 
I’m going to buck the trend here and say that 50 grains might be sufficient for deer with that bullet. I know guys who use that bullet over 80 grains of powder and kill elk every year, or nearly so. I’d chronograph it if possible and see what you really have. That’s a big bullet, not likely to expand much at lower velocities but it’s starting out at .54” and it weighs more than 400 grains. It would probably be lethal on deer at 500 feet per second... find out what 50 grains gives you in real time...
Might be however @100 yds entirely possible it would plow enough dirt to plant corn just sayin/ ;)
 
I just sold off my T/C Renegade 54 cal, but it shot great at 50 yards with Hornady .530 PRB. I used 90g of Goex FF. I need a scope for hunting nowadays.
 
Back
Top