Revisiting a .54 Renegade

[Confederate rifleman]

Had her on consignment at Dixon's, and she didn't sell.
I needed something to work on, so I took her home.
She's in very nice shape, showing minor finish wear, and an excellent bore.
Not really sure what role she'll fill. My Hawken has the percussion sidlock duties well in hand.
But a .54 does make an impression. She was ok with ball. Nothing spectacular though. I have a R.E.A.L. mold and some Power Belts. Maybe try some .50/.54 sabots too.
Renegades are my favorite sidelocks. I have two .50 flintlocks and now this .54 caplock.
So. I might do an oil finish on the stock and possibly brown the metal.
I'll be needing an aperture sight at some point as well.
I do love a good aperture...
It's kinda funny really. I'm an unrepentant inliner, but I have 3 percussion sidelocks and 4 flintlocks.
Go figure...

 

[deermanok]

I picked up a CVA 54 caliber a while back.
That gun didn't shoot the Powerbelts very well and I haven't tried any conicals but it will put round balls in nearly the same hole at 50 yards.

 

[Confederate rifleman]

Irrc, she shot 2-3 inch groups at 50 with ball.
I did get Dutch Schultz's book, so ball is now a clean slate. They've been the bane of my existence for years...
Never shot a Power Belt before. They certainly have a place. But I'm not sure what it is for me. They're expensive though...
Sabots for .50 calibers is also an option.
I appreciate versatility in my rifles. Never know what will be available in the future.

 

[Clifford]

Try this load - 100 grains black powder or pyrodex, Harvester 54/45 sabot, hornady 250 grain XTP (regular, not magnum version.)
I have a 54 renegade and it likes this load. It shoots more accurately than round balls, with more powder behind it.

 

[Confederate rifleman]

The 250 grain .45 XTP is my all time favorite bullet. I shoot them in my Firehawk, Hawken and flintlock Renegade. I use 70 grains of 3 Swiss. The Firehawk gets 1575 fps, the Hawken 1610 and I haven't chrono'd the Renegade yet, but expect it to split the difference.
I'd like to try something a bit different in this .54. I think a .50 cal designed for the .50 A.E. would be neat.
There's fun to be had!

 

[Elkstalker]

I love my Renegade! I am the lookout for a 54. That’s what I was looking for when this kit fell into my lap from the 70’s. Completely untouched. I couldn’t shoot a group smaller than 12” at 50 yards with PRB or conical. The crown had a half moon dent across the face. I took it in and had it recrowned. The crown turned out well and she shoots now. Sadly the gunsmill added a lot of damage to an I scratched rifle and I have still not cooled off. I tried .015” pillow ticking with .490 balls and groups were t so great. Then I went to a .018” pillow ticking patch and .490 ball. It is extremely tight, but manageable with a short starter. My rifle is finicky. I learned that I can only use a small amount of Mink oil on one side of the patch, rough side loaded against the ball, spit patch and a dry patch between shots. If I use a cleaner on the patch the groups open up. Here is a 4 shot group at 50yds. 1st shot was a flyer because I cleaned it with TC’s T-17 cleaner and didn’t foul the barrel first. I am still working an an elk load with heavy conical. I need to get some felt OP wads but haven’t found any locally. Also, I hope this provides some incentive to brown your hardware. I used Birchwood Casey’s plum brown in my oven and BC’s Walnut stain with a dulled true oil finish.

 

[Renegadehunter]

My Renegade likes very similar to what Elkstalker posted, except mine is a .54.
85 grains of 2f or 80 grains of 3f.
.018" pillow ticking patch over a .530 RB, lubed very lightly on one side with TOTW's mink oil. Just enough to coat to edges of the patch, I apply by hand and rub in with my thumbs. Takes a very firm smack on short starter to get started, requires choking up on the ram rod about 8" at a time to push down.
One damp patch and one dry every shot. Can get away with two shots before groups start to open a bit.
I can get almost as good of a group with a .535" RB with a .015" cotton patch lubed the same way.

They do not make them anymore in .54, but mine really shoots well with a 100 grains of 2f with a 425gr Hornady GPB, just seated straight on top of the powder. I still have 4 or 5 containers of them I'm hoarding for when I want to really smack something harder than with a 230gr RB.

50 yards, 4 shot PRB group. I suspect I was the cause of the one round (my 3rd shot) to the left of where the other 3 shots went. They are shooters but pretty finicky finding what they like.