A Guide for the New Muzzleloader Shooter

[03mossy]

Love seeing Dave's old posts still helping folks! That man was a wealth of info!

 

[Key]

Thanks for the incredibly speedy response. I was told this is one of the best forums. It shows. I've been reading different threads and feel like I've been to school. I'll post pics and such after I figure it out.

Safe shooting,
Key

 

[Nivek2554]

Thanks for the cleaning tips.

 

[aknott1994]

Thank you! Very Informative. I have everything on the list but the bullets.

 

[Barn]

Great sticky, thanks for giving us newbies somewhere to start.

 

[BryanH]

Good grief. I wish I would have read this before my first trip to the range. I can’t believe I never thought about any of that.

 

[JerseyRay]

Good grief. I wish I would have read this before my first trip to the range. I can’t believe I never thought about any of that.

I know how you feel,, time to step back and re-examine..

 

[Slingingslugs]

Solid advice

 

[AllPNW]

Ditto, great write up. Looking to get something western legal for big game and something my daughters can handle. Very helpful process to help think through it all.

 

[snapbang]

Ive used a muzzle loader for 35 years. I rarely fail to learn when I read these posts.

 

[ingramjets]

i watched a video of a well known member who hunts on a clean barrel, swabs between every shot with 50/50 solution iso alchohol&hoppes. this is what i plan to do except i will run a patch down and fire off primer before loading. i have read a ton about fouling the bore, but if i follow the above my only issue would be to make sure where the second shot hits in case i need a follow up shot. any thoughts would be appreciated. shooting a knight mountaineer bh209 harvestor whitelightnings green sabot thanks

 

[deermanok]

I always foul my bore with a cap or two before loading. I'm more concerned about the first shot and where that hits coming from a clean barrel. With blackhorn 209, swabbing between shots isn't really necessary in my own limited experience with it.

 

[ingramjets]

Do you think it would beneficial when shooting a tight fitting sabot? I have shot this combo a half dozen times without swaying and loading did seem to get harder

 

[ingramjets]

Swabbing

 

[deermanok]

At the range with multiple shots, swab for sure but shooting at a deer, you shouldn't need more than 2 shots.

 

[ingramjets]

Agreed. Aim small miss small

 

[ThreePoint]

Well done sir!

 

[JeffB1961]

was helpful for me also .
thanks for sharing the info cayuga .

 

[HV-Muzzleloaders]

i watched a video of a well known member who hunts on a clean barrel, swabs between every shot with 50/50 solution iso alchohol&hoppes. this is what i plan to do except i will run a patch down and fire off primer before loading. i have read a ton about fouling the bore, but if i follow the above my only issue would be to make sure where the second shot hits in case i need a follow up shot. any thoughts would be appreciated. shooting a knight mountaineer bh209 harvestor whitelightnings green sabot thanks

Hunting with a clean barrel has several advantages.

One of the keys to accuracy is consistency. Your barrel will always be in the same condition on that first shot through a clean barrel.

Secondly, your barrel is not sitting around with corrosive residue in it for several days. Any rust is not a good thing in a barrel.

Firing a primer before loading makes sure you have a dry flame channel and is a good idea in my opinion.

Also, make sure you clean the flame channel of excess carbon on a regular basis.
(Find a small drill bit that will barely go through the clean flame channel.)

 

[ingramjets]

thanks these were excactly my same thoughts