Advice on setting up my SOs muzzleloader for her hunt

[hotairgypsy]

My other half and I have a muley hunt the first on November...It is muzzle-loader here in NM...Well optics are not allowed so open sights here we come...Well my other half has MS so i am trying to make it comfortable for her...She has lots of firearm experience so all i have to focus on is setting up the ML with the right load for her...Well a few weeks ago we went out and I set her up with 90 grain loads by weight so 63 grains on the scale...She is shooting Hornady XTP 300 grain with sabots...well she was telling it is too much kick for her...she was telling me it is worst than her 30.06 which she is fine with...So this outing i am experimenting with the loads to slow it down and reduce the kick...so i got her down to 55 grains by weight and her groups were workable...i chrono'd a couple of the shots and they were 1285.1 fps and 1290.0 fps....where we are hunting our shots if we get one will be under 75 yards. so with open sights she is going to have to make some adjust to shot placement but at least the grouping was reasonable...what are your all thoughts on this...i am thinking at impact the speed is around 1000 fps and these bullets claim to work at that velocity...will this setup work properly?

 

[ElDiablito]

Prob work fine. Which 300 gr XTP? The regular or mag?

You could also go to a 250 gr bullet and push it faster.

 

[ElDiablito]

so with open sights she is going to have to make some adjust to shot placement but at least the grouping was reasonable..

Are you saying you’re not going to zero the rifle - you’re just gonna use the sights as is and have her hold to the right?!

 

[hotairgypsy]

the bullets are not mags...

as for sighting in we are dealing with open sights...you can only do so much adjustment to get it close...I will see if i can do any adjustment but overall she will just have to compensate in the end...but I will play with the sights a bit to see if i can help it

 

[ElDiablito]

The non mags will be what you want.

Which rifle and sights?

 

[ElDiablito]

I’m assuming (from your other thread) you’re shooting your CVA Accura V2. I’m sure the factory iron sights on those are garbage, but you should still be able to adjust them.

It would be unethical to go hunting with that rifle knowing it’s not zeroed!

 

[hotairgypsy]

The non mags will be what you want.

Which rifle and sights?

sorry i forgot to give the details...my bad...she is using my Ruger 77/50 and if i remember correctly it has williams fiber optic sights...i did the primer 209 conversion on it a while back....when i put the the sights on they didnt have a lot of choices for this model due to the front sight...so working with what i have

 

[hotairgypsy]

I’m assuming (from your other thread) you’re shooting your CVA Accura V2. I’m sure the factory iron sights on those are garbage, but you should still be able to adjust them.

It would be unethical to go hunting with that rifle knowing it’s not zeroed!

i am shooting the cva and she is shooting the ruger...i have already dialed mine in so it is sighted in...the CVA came with williams sights....i am going to see what i can do with the ruger...plus today was shooting from a tripod...so i know we are not perfectly still...i am going to take the MLs to the range to sandbag them to fine tune then it is up to the shooter...

 

[ElDiablito]

sorry i forgot to give the details...my bad...she is using my Ruger 77/50 and if i remember correctly it has williams fiber optic sights...i did the primer 209 conversion on it a while back....when i put the the sights on they didnt have a lot of choices for this model due to the front sight...so working with what i have

Wow - Ruger did put some crappy sights on those! You should have no trouble, however, adjusting those a little.

 

[hotairgypsy]

Wow - Ruger did put some crappy sights on those! You should have no trouble, however, adjusting those a little.

ill adjust them when i am on the sandbags so i dial it in the best i can...as for the charge and velocity...based on what i have will 55 grains by weight flying at roughly 1287FPS sending a 300 grain XTP work properly to bring down the beast at approx 75 yards?

 

[Matt5266]

The non mags will be what you want.

Which rifle and sights?

I thought previously you recommended the mag version over the non mag? Has something changed or is this just do to the animal being a mule deer and not a elk?

 

[ElDiablito]

based on what i have will 55 grains by weight flying at roughly 1287FPS sending a 300 grain XTP work properly to bring down the beast at approx 75 yards?

Yes

 

[ElDiablito]

I thought previously you recommended the mag version over the non mag? Has something changed or is this just do to the animal being a mule deer and not a elk?

Yes - for elk (or shooting at normal muzzy speeds of 1900-2100 fps), I’d use the mag version.

 

[Matt5266]

Yes - for elk (or shooting at normal muzzy speeds of 1900-2100 fps), I’d use the mag version.

Understood. Thank you sir.