Muzzleloaders

Omegas are great guns. I personally don't own one but one of my hunting buddies does and he loves it. He has a .45 cal with the stainless barrel and it is a shooter.

 

50's are the most popular right now, but 45's are gaining in popularity, both will be lethal on deer sized animal and smaller, whatcha huntin'? I shoot a thompson fire hawk in 50 caliber, took the "10" right out of the bullseye at 100 yards with it (with scope)
I also have a thompson renegade in 50 cal. iron sights. shoots 3" groups at 100, but I've seen people do better!

 

BTW you CANNOT beat Thompson's customer service! Just recently I needed a new bolt handle for my fire hawk and because the part was under $3, they sent it to me free of charge!!;f

 

The 50 cal bullets have a little more energy than than the 45 cal bullets but the 45s have a flatter trajectory. I suppose if you are planning the 100-150 range go with the 45. If under 100 go with the 50. But don't think for a second that a 50 cal will not be able to reach out to 150 yards. I have a 54 cal and I don't shoot over 75 yards simply because if I go past 100 yards it drops like a stone in water. Also don't believe all the hype about using 150 grains of powder. It is not really necessary. One hundred grains will drop a deer and you will not have to deal with that extra recoil. This is all my opinion so if anybody disagrees feel free to put in your two cents. ^c

 

CVA makes some great affordable muzzleloaders so does knight. I still think the 50cal is superior as far as bullets ( conicals or sabot ) and the trajectory is not to be worry about. The 45cal are okay but if you are looking at havin clean killing power, the 50cal is the way to go.If you are like most ( shooting under 100yrds ) get the 50cal. I've shot a deer at 40yrds with 50cal CVA, and it fold up very nicely. the 50cal hands down, offer more and is more felxible in bullet or bullet/sabot combinations. Combine this with a percussion cap or 209 primer and you will have a good muzzleloader.

 

$375 will get you a Thompson/Center Hawken rifle.

*click here*

 

I have heard very good things about the TC Omega and the Savage. I will likely buy one of these two in .50 cal later this year. FWIW www.huntamerica.com has a forum for muzzleloaders with lots of ML shooters over there.

 

I knew it was only a matter of time before Sixgun sniffed out this thread!;f

 

;f ;f ;f Yeah, Sixgun is really a closet "inline" guy!!!;f ;f ;f

MDT

 

I have had the Savage 10MLII muzzleloader for a year now and love it. You have to check if shooting smokeless powder is legal in your state for hunting but that is all I have used. It is a tackdriver out to 200 yds and can be loaded hot enough to get energies near .458 Win Mag. With the Accu-trigger it is truly an awesome gun. I hunt with that instead of a shotgun in NY because of the better range and accuracy.

 

Would ya care to share info on your fav loads??
My brother and I have been hunting with the TC Encores for a couple of years and hittin' that 'X' is still but a goal. In order to group around 3", we both need to clean between shots. Maybe we're just in need of a little more practice?

 

Don't overlook the sidelock guns.

I don't like inlines, I'm a traditionalist.

 

With the renegade I use 100 grains of pyrodex powder and conicals, nothing special, just real comfortable with the gun. I run a copper brush down it after 3 rounds or so.

With the firehawk I use 2 pyrodex pellets (100 grains) and power belt sabots. I have a weaver 3x9 on it with #11 cap ignition (although I will be going to 209 primers before next season) I run a patch through every 3 round out of necesitty, i can't run the sabot down the barrel without "cleaning " it! Here's a pic from this past hunting season. We got back to camp and I wanted to make sure my gun was still on (just wanted to hear a "boom" after an uneventful day! ) it's at 100 yards off a rest. The other "less than perfect" shot was my Father-in-law, also at 100 yards off a rest. (he's shooting an Omega, not the gun's fault, he never sights them in well!);f

 

If that target was a deer, it would be dead. Nice shooing

 

The Savage is a little more than the 350 you mentioned in your first post. The best prices I have seen lately are 400-450 for the black synthetic/blued modelThe nice thing is that you can shop around and order one online without having to worry about the FFL pain in the neck. If you decide to get one, I would be glad to point you in the direction of some good websites for info and share some starting load data with you.