The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The North Corral > Black Powder and Cowboy Action Shooting

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old October 8, 2004, 06:13 PM   #1
FirstFreedom
Junior member
 
Join Date: May 31, 2004
Location: The Toll Road State, U.S.A.
Posts: 12,451
What zero for muzzloader rifle?

I'm new to muzzle-loading - I just bought my first muzzle-loader, an NEF .50 cal. I've been told a load of 2 pyrodex pellets (100 grains) under 240 grains (saboted .451 bullet) oughtta do it - my question is, what kind of velocities will I be getting at the muzzle, approx., from my 26" bbl, and what should I set my zero for, approx. - 75, 100, 125 yards; what do you do? Do you use 240 grainers for whitetails or something lighter? (these are rather small whitetails in my area). Do you use .429 bullets or .451s?
FirstFreedom is offline  
Old October 8, 2004, 10:34 PM   #2
Mark whiz
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 19, 2004
Location: Wabash, IN
Posts: 227
Hodgdon's load data has your load at approx 1840fps and that sounds about right.

I site-in my Knight to shoot 1 to 2" high at 100yds - that will keep you in the kill zone for anything bigger than a varmint from point blank out to 150yds.

Your best bet is to stay with the .451 sized bullets - typically they shoot better out of most rifles...............I think that the thinner sabots have a tighter grip on the bullet and impart the spin to the bullets better.
__________________
"Every moving thing that liveth, I give unto you as meat" (Gen 9:3)
Aim small.........miss small.
Trust God..........but keep your powder dry
!
Mark whiz is offline  
Old October 8, 2004, 11:37 PM   #3
FirstFreedom
Junior member
 
Join Date: May 31, 2004
Location: The Toll Road State, U.S.A.
Posts: 12,451
OK, thanks. Two stores were plum out of 50 grain pyrodex pellets, but had massive quantities of 30 grain pellets, so I need to decide between using a 90 grain load or 120 grain load. The instructions from Hodgdon's with the pellets say never under any circumstances exceed 100 gr, but the owner's manual that came with my rifle say you can go up to 120 on black powder and 150 on pellets. So will 120 with pellets definitely be safe? I'll use whichever load gives me the best accuracy, but I need to know if it's safe to try 120 grains. Thanks.

PS. I learned that a 209 shotgun primer is much louder than I figured - about as loud as shooting a .22 lr in my hallway without ears on.
FirstFreedom is offline  
Old October 9, 2004, 07:55 PM   #4
Jbar4Ranch
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 19, 1999
Location: Near Helena, Montana
Posts: 1,719
Your rifle will undoubtably handle 120 grains just fine, but 90 grains is a pretty standard load in a .50 cal.
__________________
Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets replaced...

SASS 47015
Jbar4Ranch is offline  
Old October 11, 2004, 04:34 PM   #5
Mark whiz
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 19, 2004
Location: Wabash, IN
Posts: 227
What he said.

The 120gr pellet load will be safe.................but you'll probably find that the 90gr load will be more accurate - probably more accurate than the 100gr load was.
__________________
"Every moving thing that liveth, I give unto you as meat" (Gen 9:3)
Aim small.........miss small.
Trust God..........but keep your powder dry
!
Mark whiz is offline  
Old October 14, 2004, 10:41 PM   #6
FirstFreedom
Junior member
 
Join Date: May 31, 2004
Location: The Toll Road State, U.S.A.
Posts: 12,451
OK, thanks. So I think I'll run with a 125 zero, for whitetails, with 240s and 90 grains. That's basically what you're saying, Mark, sounds like.
FirstFreedom is offline  
Old October 14, 2004, 11:09 PM   #7
Mark whiz
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 19, 2004
Location: Wabash, IN
Posts: 227
Yeppers that load ought to serve you well!
__________________
"Every moving thing that liveth, I give unto you as meat" (Gen 9:3)
Aim small.........miss small.
Trust God..........but keep your powder dry
!
Mark whiz is offline  
Old October 16, 2004, 09:30 PM   #8
Chuck Dye
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 28, 2002
Location: Oregon-The wet side.
Posts: 949
Take the ballistic coefficient and muzzle velocity of your chosen load to the Norma Ballistics Calculator and play with the sliders. I would decide on a vital zone diameter and go for a maximum point blank range i.e. 6" vital zone needs a mid-range trajectory height maximum of 3". For Nosler’s 260 grain Partition HG bullet, B.C. 0.174, at 1850 fps muzzle velocity, the close zero is 9 yards, far zero is 138 yards, and max point blank range is 162 yards. These numbers assume open sights with a sight axis .8 inches over the bore axis. You should plug in your bullet, sight height, muzzle velocity, and preferred vital zone.

Always bear in mind that velocities vary, bullets vary, and that temperature, elevation, and humidity not only vary, they have significant effects on performance. As always, calculations are jumping off points for testing.
__________________
Gee, I'd love to see your data!
Chuck Dye is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:23 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.24672 seconds with 10 queries