As I applied for three states this year (Co, Nv, Ut,) in hopes of drawing ONE muzzleloader tag, it's time to get ready. The results won't be out for 7 more weeks, but I gotta think positive. Worst case scenario, I don't draw but I'll at least have my new .45 cal barrel sighted and ready for the future.
I shoot a custom muzzleloader I purchased in 2002. It's a Kahnke model 94 made by Kahnke Gun Works of Redwood Falls, Minnesota.
http://kahnkegunworks.net/
Here's mine:
I hunt Idaho and Colorado, which have the most conservative muzzleloader laws, so I purchased this gun so I'd be legal in both. Ut and Nv are more liberal but I can only afford one gun, so I bought one that could be tuned for those states, too, but will always be legal in the conservative states.
With the Kahnke, I can change barrels similar to the Thompson guns. I ordered a .45 cal barrel for it as I like the ballistics of the 45 for deer. I bought a used barrel from Cecil at Precison Rifle Bullet
http://prbullet.com/index.htm
and saved about $150.
I'm not worried about the used barrel as I know the company and they will back it up if there is a problem.
I'm retiring my 50 cal barrel unless this new one doesn't work out. The 50 cal averaged 1.75" 3-shot groups with an SD of 0.5" so groups as small as 1.25 to as big as 2.25, which is great for an open-sighted gun. Hopefully the 45 can match or beat the 50.
I shoot the XS sight system
http://xssights.com/index.php?nID=sights&cID=Sights&pID=sights&sID=rifle
and had great luck with it when I was hunting with the 50 cal barrel.
The rear ghost ring site is interchangeable on the barrels, but the front site is not.
The way XS works, they send you the rear sight and the mount for the front sight. You install the rear, then the mount for the front. Because all guns shoot differently, they send you a temporary post for the front sight. It' perforated plastic allowing you to break of pieces in (probably) 1/16' increments. Once you're on paper at 100 yards, you can order the correct height for the front sight.
As there is some turnaround time in this process, I'm cheating and built my own front site out of a steel nut and some electrical tape.
It got me on paper at 50 yards, so I'm going to order it for the measured height of 0.6" from top of barrel to that tiny peak of tape you can see in the pic.
Once I get the sight installed, I'll see how close I am to the draw results being posted. If it's close, I'll wait to order my bullets as it depends on which state I draw if I shoot sabots or conicals. If the sight comes together quickly, I'll order both conicals and sabots just to get jump on the whole process.
Like rifles, I'm kind of an accuracy freak for muzzleloaders, too. I really want an average group size less than 2" at 100. Stay tuned and we'll see if I get it.
I shoot a custom muzzleloader I purchased in 2002. It's a Kahnke model 94 made by Kahnke Gun Works of Redwood Falls, Minnesota.
http://kahnkegunworks.net/
Here's mine:
I hunt Idaho and Colorado, which have the most conservative muzzleloader laws, so I purchased this gun so I'd be legal in both. Ut and Nv are more liberal but I can only afford one gun, so I bought one that could be tuned for those states, too, but will always be legal in the conservative states.
With the Kahnke, I can change barrels similar to the Thompson guns. I ordered a .45 cal barrel for it as I like the ballistics of the 45 for deer. I bought a used barrel from Cecil at Precison Rifle Bullet
http://prbullet.com/index.htm
and saved about $150.
I'm not worried about the used barrel as I know the company and they will back it up if there is a problem.
I'm retiring my 50 cal barrel unless this new one doesn't work out. The 50 cal averaged 1.75" 3-shot groups with an SD of 0.5" so groups as small as 1.25 to as big as 2.25, which is great for an open-sighted gun. Hopefully the 45 can match or beat the 50.
I shoot the XS sight system
http://xssights.com/index.php?nID=sights&cID=Sights&pID=sights&sID=rifle
and had great luck with it when I was hunting with the 50 cal barrel.
The rear ghost ring site is interchangeable on the barrels, but the front site is not.
The way XS works, they send you the rear sight and the mount for the front sight. You install the rear, then the mount for the front. Because all guns shoot differently, they send you a temporary post for the front sight. It' perforated plastic allowing you to break of pieces in (probably) 1/16' increments. Once you're on paper at 100 yards, you can order the correct height for the front sight.
As there is some turnaround time in this process, I'm cheating and built my own front site out of a steel nut and some electrical tape.
It got me on paper at 50 yards, so I'm going to order it for the measured height of 0.6" from top of barrel to that tiny peak of tape you can see in the pic.
Once I get the sight installed, I'll see how close I am to the draw results being posted. If it's close, I'll wait to order my bullets as it depends on which state I draw if I shoot sabots or conicals. If the sight comes together quickly, I'll order both conicals and sabots just to get jump on the whole process.
Like rifles, I'm kind of an accuracy freak for muzzleloaders, too. I really want an average group size less than 2" at 100. Stay tuned and we'll see if I get it.
Last edited:
