Aloha from Honolulu

[Keone]

I am in my 70s and new into Muzzleloaders. I own & shot Ruger Old Army and Colt 1978 Dragoon and 1851 years ago. I have a Thompson .50 Renagade and Encore Pro Hunter XT. Need some advice on loads and bullets. Only Goex powder is available here. Can XT use round balls accurately? Thanks.

 

[moose23]

Welcome from Beaver County PA. I’ve never shot round balls out of an inline, but I’m sure it would be fine.

 

[michiganmuzzy]

Welcome. I think there another Hawaiian member her recently.
Yes it'll shoot round balls ok. But itll be on really light loads. Like less than 50 grains.

 

[Keone]

Welcome. I think there another Hawaiian member her recently.
Yes it'll shoot round balls ok. But itll be on really light loads. Like less than 50 grains.

Thanks! Being on a fixed income and slugs and sabots running over a dollar each i will shoot both, but something cheap fun is good!

 

[deermanok]

Welcome from Oklahoma.
You might be surprised how a round ball would shoot out of your rifles.

 

[AfricaDouble]

Lee R.EA.L Bullet,250 gr may be a better choice. I just sold my Encore, Yet I was going to give that a go. I do plan to try that in my Electra. Suprized you have Goex, Guy I know In HI said it squeezes thru on a ship every now and then. I sold him a Savage Ml for that reason.

 

[Jitterbug]

Aloha! Welcome to the board!

Regarding round balls in a fast twist barrel: I was taught the following phrase, “Load ‘em light, and patch ‘em tight!” I take that to mean light powder charges, and a tight fit in the bore. YMMV.

If you try the Lee R.E.A.L. bullets, a few basics seem to hold true for most shooters. Get you off to a good start, anyway…
-cast from pure lead, for ease in starting the bullet down the bore
-light powder charges- don’t push them too fast, or you can strip out the driving bands
-many report a felt wad over the powder/under the bullet improves accuracy

Round balls are probably as widely available as anything, and it’s easy to experiment with different patch thicknesses. For budget plinking, round balls are probably the place to start.

Welcome (back) to the addiction!

 

[gman57]

Aloha Keone , welcome from NC, I was stationed at Barbers Pt back in the 60's, my grandson is stationed at Schoefield Barracks now. Enjoy the forum and that beautiful island.

 

[Keone]

Aloha! Welcome to the board!

Regarding round balls in a fast twist barrel: I was taught the following phrase, “Load ‘em light, and patch ‘em tight!” I take that to mean light powder charges, and a tight fit in the bore. YMMV.

If you try the Lee R.E.A.L. bullets, a few basics seem to hold true for most shooters. Get you off to a good start, anyway…
-cast from pure lead, for ease in starting the bullet down the bore
-light powder charges- don’t push them too fast, or you can strip out the driving bands
-many report a felt wad over the powder/under the bullet improves accuracy

Round balls are probably as widely available as anything, and it’s easy to experiment with different patch thicknesses. For budget plinking, round balls are probably the place to start.

Welcome (back) to the addiction!

Thanks for the advice. Not sure if I am going to start casting again I got some health issues and will ask my doctor and may say no. Its been thirty years, let’s see if I could get the lead. I would like to! It‘s almost like reliving my youth 50+ years ago.

 

[Keone]

Aloha Keone , welcome from NC, I was stationed at Barbers Pt back in the 60's, my grandson is stationed at Schoefield Barracks now. Enjoy the forum and that beautiful island.

 

[Boone]

Welcome to the forums.

 

[Keone]

Oahu is still a great place with nice weather. We have too many high rises, higher prices for everything and more homeless coming in. Overall the people are still warm, fun loving and have a great attitude. Aloha! and Mahalo (thanks!)

 

[4stringdude]

Welcome aboard! I agree with light loads for PRB in the inline. Honestly, you won't know until you try.

 

[brad502a]

See if you can find some TC Cheap Shots. They are sabots and lead bullet and reasonably priced or buy sabots and some pistol bullets.

 

[Caniborrowsomeammo]

Thanks! Being on a fixed income and slugs and sabots running over a dollar each i will shoot both, but something cheap fun is good!

At half a buck apiece try the T/C Cheapshots in your inline. Snapbang turned me on to them. They shoot quite well in my Optima inline. He also turned me on to GT cast Bullets, but there is a 6 week backorder on those. So if you buy the GT's and some sabots you could be shooting for around 30 cents per bullet.

 

[Keone]

At half a buck apiece try the T/C Cheapshots in your inline. Snapbang turned me on to them. They shoot quite well in my Optima inline. He also turned me on to GT cast Bullets, but there is a 6 week backorder on those. So if you buy the GT's and some sabots you could be shooting for around 30 cents per bullet.

Thanks for the tip! I am an old rookie and mainly a center fire and rimfire rifle shooter. My 1873 trapdoor Springfield got me started in shooting black. So, any info or tips is very helpful since I am starting from scratch.

 

[Caniborrowsomeammo]

Also, consider yourself lucky if you still have Goex available to you. It's pretty much sold out here in the mainland and since Hogden sold the plant after the explosion, Estes is supposedly going to rebuild the plant and get us some black manufactured here again. But that will take some time.

 

[Keone]

Also, consider yourself lucky if you still have Goex available to you. It's pretty much sold out here in the mainland and since Hogden sold the plant after the explosion, Estes is supposedly going to rebuild the plant and get us some black manufactured here again. But that will take some time.

I have a little less than a pound and all other alternatives are not available here on the islands. My babies need food and need beg for more. I quit using black on my trapdoor Springfield because I could use smokeless and need the powder for my muzzleloaders.

 

[Caniborrowsomeammo]

A pound? That's one hundred 70 grain weighted shots with no spillage.

 

[Keone]

A pound? That's one hundred 70 grain weighted shots with no spillage.

After my pound is gone, they are none at the stores on the islands. They haven’t seen any for a long while…years. I had used at least 30 shots on my trapdoor.