New to ML questions

[Cvcman]

New to ML but not to hunting or firearms
Want to buy a ML to use for 1 week ea season.
I have shoulder issues so I’m looking for as light as I can recoil .
I like the CVA Wolf scope pkg for sale on Muzzleloaders dot com
Here are my questions and thank you for the help.

1) would I be better off with a 45 or 50 cal
2) if 50, would less recoil be with a 45 cal sabotted bullet vs a 50 power band ?
3) i like the ease of pellets , would 2 of 777 be sufficient for deer ?
4) would any 209 primer be good ?
5) what sabboted bullet would be best in the above gun
6) when sighting in scope should I swab with wet patch every shot ?
Thank you again

 

[GM54-120]

Wolf is not offered in a 45cal

You can shoot light weight 45cal bullets in 50cal sabots. Good luck finding them atm.

2 pellets will kill deer

Regular 209s would be best with pellets. ML 209s might work but they are much milder. Should be fine for Pyrodex pellets. They ignite easier but they are much more corrosive too.

Yes you will more than likely need to swab if shooting pellets or any IMR/Hodgdon powder other than BH209.

 

[Cvcman]

Great !
Now I assume regular 209s are labeled as such or the ML 209s are
Now when u say “ good luck” finding them , is this for all bullets or just the 45 sabboted ?

 

[michiganmuzzy]

Wolf is a good gun but a lighter gun so it will have more felt recoil.
And a lighter weight bullet will have less recoil.
A lighter charge whether loose powder or pellets will have less recoil.
But too light of a load and you may have expansion issues with the bullet, depends on the bullet.
T7 or Pyrodex should ignite readily with any 209 type primer. Regular or ML specific.
Lots of bullets are out of stock all over. You may be stuck with whatever is on hand locally.

 

[MrTom]

When you get the gun and powder/primers just pm me and I'll send a few 250grain .452 XTPs for you to try. At the 100 grain powder charge or two pellets recoil should be manageable for you. I'll send a couple different sabots too so you can determine when loads easiest for you. They'll both be harvester sabots but one smooth and one crush rib in design. I'll send 5 of each.

 

[Cvcman]

Is the Hornady XTP sabboted 45 a good choice

 

[Cvcman]

When you get the gun and powder/primers just pm me and I'll send a few 250grain .452 XTPs for you to try. At the 100 grain powder charge or two pellets recoil should be manageable for you. I'll send a couple different sabots too so you can determine when loads easiest for you. They'll both be harvester sabots but one smooth and one crush rib in design. I'll send 5 of each.

Wow ! Thank you !!’

 

[deermanok]

Heavy bullets, over 350 grains will definitely have a lot of recoil.
200 to 300 grains is probably what you would want. Loose powder might be better too because you can customize your load to suit your needs. You'll need a powder measure.

 

[Cvcman]

How do 777 compare to Whitehots ?
Muzzleloader dot com recommends the Whitehots over the 777

 

[deermanok]

I don't think you'll have good ignition with the white hot pellets. They're more suited for inlines, same with the 777 pellets.
Alot of shooters like the 777 loose powder in sidehammer guns.
Real black powder or pyrodex p is imo the better choice.

 

[Cvcman]

I’m confused , isnt this rifle an inline ? Again ML dot com recommended the Whitehots

 

[MrTom]

Cvcman, I'd suggest not using the whitehots in the Wolf even though the literature suggest them, they tend to be under-powered. If you are going to do pellets use the 50 grain T7 pellets or even T7 in RS granular. I think you'll do best with Blackhorn 209 powder but that calls for another plug so keep it simple and use the T7 you originally asked about. I tried the whitehots years ago when they first came out and they were miserable.

Also and on primers, just go pick up some CCI or Federal or Winchester shot shell reloading primers and call that end covered well. If you do get the 209 plug for that powder you won't have to fuss then over primers.

 

[Cvcman]

Thanks ! Weird that ML dot com told me on the phone the WH pellets I would get more FPS than the 777
He said that’s the recommended charge pellet for the wolf
But I’ll get the 777
And see if I can find primers

 

[deermanok]

I’m confused , isnt this rifle an inline ? Again ML dot com recommended the Whitehots

Hey, sorry about that. I was also looking at a post on another site about a pistol. Guess I'm not too good at multitasking, Lol.

 

[GM54-120]

Thanks ! Weird that ML dot com told me on the phone the WH pellets I would get more FPS than the 777

That is wrong. pretty sure even their own test showed T7 pellets as faster.
https://hodgdon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/muzzleloading_manual_2008.pdfhttps://shop.hodgdon.com/sites/www/files/2020-08/2015-imr-white-hots-data.pdf
Compare the 250gr SST....Triple7 pellets were faster

 

[snapbang]

cvcman, trust these folks on this site. They have nothing to gain but the satisfaction of helping a fellow shooter/hunter. Incredible amount of experience here. Having said that, there is often more than one solution to the same question. So depending on you and your gun you may have to explore options to find out what works best for you.

 

[Cvcman]

I’ll go with the 777.

 

[dbowling]

240 gr xtp w/green harvester crush rib saot, my buddy shoots these out of his wolf.. hes using 2 777 pellets very accurate.
sorry actually hes using the green sabot that comes with the xtps in the blister pack.

 

[FredB]

I have a pretty average weight ml, MK85, which I'm guessing at about 7lbs. I've used 260 grain sabots with 90 grains of RS, and 240 grain sabots with, I think, 80 grains RS, by volume. Neither kicked much, and both took deer just fine. I preferred the 260 grain, because the 240 grain kicked so little it was hard to trust it. I only took two deer with that lighter load, but they both went down quick, and stayed down.

 

[user 20307]

I too have shoulder issues. I shoot a Knight Disc Elite 50. 90 grains 777 FFF an a 300 grain Speer Deep Curl or Hornady XTP. This is a very manageable load for the ailing shoulder. I usually get about 15 rounds down range and I'm done. I usually try to keep it less than 10 then wait a day or two. Also helps to get yourself a padded shooting shirt or use something around the house to give you some extra protection.