Woodman arms Patriot initial impressions

[Mnt monkey]

Just received my Woodman arms Patriot 45 cal 18 twist,I threw a 22 long rifle scope on it just to do a few tests I plan on switching to open sites later, in my quest for an ultralight muzzleloader the Woodman arms deserved to be considered, I have to admit like others I've read on here , The initial visual aesthetics of the stock didn't seem like what I thought was the ideal stock design, woodland arms as made an adjustment on the shape of that stock on the butt stock, I decided to give the rifle a try, was I ever wrong, when I shoulder the stock it feels wonderful and having shot 15 to 20 rounds through the rifle I'm very comfortable shooting it on the bags even for such a lightweight rifle, as far as the mechanics of the rifle and how it's put together it is excellent to me, I'm impressed with the gun from front to back, again it is very different from a CVA of course the action function alone is very different, my favorite rifle the last couple of years has been a CVA Acura mountain rifle I think it just got replaced,,I will try to give some updates as I shoot some different loads of black horn and different bullets in the gun but it likes fury 40 cal open tip 240 grain bullets and also they're 225 grain star tip.. twice the price of a CvA Acura, yes ,I think if more of us got a chance to shoot this rifle we would agree that it's well worth it. I like it so much I ordered another one

 

[deermanok]

Cool looking rifle. Kinda reminds me of the H&R handi rifle.

 

[Mnt monkey]

It's going to be a great walking rifle I'hunt a lot in a couple of Creek bottoms around me when deer season gets here sometimes all day long and for me to have a rifle this light and handy that's very accurate it's going to be very nice, The rifles very well built with the nitride coating I think it's going to do very well in harsh conditions,I think when I start sizing some 452 bullets it's going to really come to life but I'm very pleased with the 40 cals and sabots around 5/8 of an inch, I love the best of tradition but I like to see new things too, I think this action has a lot of potential, I have a paramount and honestly think this is a more practical rifle for many of us.

 

[BuckDoeHunter]

Nice muzzleloader! Looking forward to your future reports

 

[Mnt monkey]

Thanks I should mention also it's been a pleasure to work with Mark and Tim at Woodman arms they've been very helpful, for my 5 ft 8,150 lb frame the rifle fits me perfectly, Will be shooting it a lot the next few weeks I'll let all of you know

 

[ported45]

Are they smokeless capable yet?

 

[Mnt monkey]

Yes, they have a different breach plug for that,it is a small diameter action,so loads have to be light,I have plug for smokeless loads also, but for now I'm staying with blackhorn,

 

[Matthew323]

What weight bullets are you going to size down to shoot first?

Did you purchase the McGowan, 1:18" twist, 24" long barrel, or the more expensive, cut rifled, 28" long,1:18" twist barrel?

Have you slugged the barrel to measure its groove-to-groove width?

 

[Mnt monkey]

First bullets I'm going to size are most likely going to be the 250 star tip fury, also fury has a 265 grain .253 bullet that I'm going to try, I got the shorter McGowan 18 twist barrel, I also ordered the cut rifle 28 inch 20 twist, will be shooting it before long also, I think this rifle with the 28-in brux barrel is going to be a real shooter,Bruce the 18 twist barrel should shoot 300 grain and even 325 grain bullets very well, I will work my way up and shoot Furys, Pittman's and maybe some parkers,and of course I have some over-the-counter bullets too it's just not very many of them size well, when I hunt with the rifles I plan to shoot a Sabot load.

 

[Mnt monkey]

Excuse me for not proof reading that fury bullet that weighs 265 grains is a .453 not a .253, fury makes it really nice 300 grain lead tip I know a few others on here have tried it that he just came out with a few months back, That's going to be a good bullet also,I can tell as good as the rifle is shooting a Sabot and a 40 cal bullet it's going to shoot a hole and probably with multiple bullets that are sized to bore

 

[Matthew323]

This rifle in .45 caliber with several small modifications is what I think I will save my money for.

All up with a 21" barrel, lamimated stock, 12.75" LOP, Kick-eez Magnum recoil pad, Grovtec flush sling swivel bases, 1" push button sling swivels, Galco 1" RifleMann sling, ghost ring rear sight, green fiber optic front sight, steel Picatinny scope base, Talley 30mm low Q-D lever rings, and a Leupold VX6-HD 1-6×24mm rifle scope w/ FireDot Duplex reticle; the weight should be close to 7.5 pounds.

 

[Mnt monkey]

For my hunting rifle that's just about what I'm looking for also, I like your setup

 

[Matthew323]

The green fiber optic front sight and the illuminated FireDot Duplex reticle in the scope, should allow for pretty decent low light hunting.

I am really thinking about saving up first for a closeout, Schmidt & Bender, Zenith, 1.5-6×42mm rifle scope. It's not that much more than the VX6-HD, about $400.00.

However, it weighs 9 oz. more than the VX6-HD. On the other hand, its light gathering abilities at dawn & dusk blow the Leupold out of the water

 

[Mnt monkey]

It's nice to have clear glass, Leopold's got two or three scopes that are very very lightweight That's been my approach is to stay as light as I can even though the scope I have on the gun right now is not lightweight,but I could see giving up a few ounces for that clear glass

 

[rangerod]

Curious as to what powder you're shooting? These are smokeless rated?

 

[Mnt monkey]

I'm not sure today that I'm going to shoot any smokeless powder in this rifle I really bought it for black horn I have other guns that I shoot smokeless in. This model can shoot a light smokeless load,I purchsed the breach plug, he has a different one for shooting smokeless, I'm just going to save that for a rainy day, if I do decide to shoot smokeless it would probably be between 52 and 54 grains of h-4198 and a 250 grain bullet I would think some of the loads that those who own the converted hankins rifles are shooting would be applicable to this rifle also, I'm referring to the scout and the hunter in 45 cal that he converts, I don't want to speak for Woodman arms that information I guess you could get more from the owner,but I'm sure going to speak up for Woodman arms I like the rifle

 

[Mnt monkey]

I got some bullet sized I'm going to shoot the 250 fury black tip, the 265 fury .453 and the 300 grain lead tip this weekend if it shows promise I'll let everyone know I think it's going to I'll be shooting between 70 and 84 grains by weight of black horn

 

[rangerod]

5'8" and 150 lbs? I would weigh that it I had no legs or arms.

 

[Mnt monkey]

I've been trying to lose my belly range rod

 

[sbuff]

Mark is a member on here. I have been thinking of buying one myself .