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- Apr 3, 2013
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I'm getting ready for a New Mexico elk hunt in mid October. Dad and I are going, and right now it looks like we have 3 rifles ready to go, and I'll probably yet set up a 4th. We always take spare rife/scope combinations on any hunt, because you never know when you'll have a fall or problem with the equipment and need the backup. Dad has fallen on two previous hunts and needed the spare, so...
In setting them up, I'm wondering at what point a muzzleloader load is considered "good enough." I do a lot of centerfire shooting and have moderately high standards for those rifles. Currently I can get under 1 1/2 inches at 100 yards with the 3 muzzleloaders, and one of them gets just under an inch (0.909) with one combination. I've tried several different bullets/sabots/BH209 charges to arrive at this. All BH209 is weighed, not measured.
In my experience the "in the field, under pressure" shooting tends to double the size of one's groups, if not more. As a result should I try to do everything I can to get each rifle under an inch, or is under 1 1/2 inch acceptable? To date the 3 elk we've taken with centerfires were at 147, 31 and 450 yards so 2 of those would have been within muzzleloader range given our current accuracy.
I see comments about consistently getting under an inch with modern muzzleloaders so I wonder if there are any other tricks, or if it's like centerfires where you get the occasional one that shoots under 0.5 MOA and that's the one you talk about the most.
Any suggestions are welcomed.
In setting them up, I'm wondering at what point a muzzleloader load is considered "good enough." I do a lot of centerfire shooting and have moderately high standards for those rifles. Currently I can get under 1 1/2 inches at 100 yards with the 3 muzzleloaders, and one of them gets just under an inch (0.909) with one combination. I've tried several different bullets/sabots/BH209 charges to arrive at this. All BH209 is weighed, not measured.
In my experience the "in the field, under pressure" shooting tends to double the size of one's groups, if not more. As a result should I try to do everything I can to get each rifle under an inch, or is under 1 1/2 inch acceptable? To date the 3 elk we've taken with centerfires were at 147, 31 and 450 yards so 2 of those would have been within muzzleloader range given our current accuracy.
I see comments about consistently getting under an inch with modern muzzleloaders so I wonder if there are any other tricks, or if it's like centerfires where you get the occasional one that shoots under 0.5 MOA and that's the one you talk about the most.
Any suggestions are welcomed.