I own
this rifle. I hunted deer with it in Upstate New York for years before centerfire rifles were finally written into law, as well as shooting it in Turkey Shoots very successfully. This is a genuine shooter's rifle.
This is the rifle I lusted after.
Patched ball is very accurate out to about 75yd, then tends to veer by as much as 8" to a foot at 100yd. With
Powerbelt bullets, they can hit and bring down a whitetail at 125-150yd very effectively.
Long range with a traditional Muzzle loader is an oxymoron.
Modern muzzle loaders are basically larger bore centerfire rifles shooting caseless ammunition, loaded with Smokeless BP Substitute that's really mostly like granulated solid rocket fuel, triggered by a shotgun primer, and running at nearly twice the velocity of the traditionals. I've shot them too. They are genuinely amazing, but they ain't traditional by a.. by a long shot. One was even marketed for use with regular smokeless powder, and I got myself elbow deep in that too. Years ago that was a really popular topic here; but there were problems, too.
BP's big issue, the bores foul very quickly, and ten shots without a cleaning is iffy. That is the main reason why BP substitutes were developed. Must clean the bore within 24 hours of firing or corrosion/pitting can get intense.
Goex the big name in true BP. If Percussion caps are OK, go with them. Always use
patches with
balls, never use patches with bullets.
Bore Butter is a must.
Seasoning a new bore is a BP tradition.
And yes, even though I haven't fired it in a couple of years; I did bring the Shenandoah Rifle on down with me on the trek to AZ.
Greg
