Muzzleloader Noobie Questions

[jlchester5045]

Hey guys. Hoping to reach out for some insight as I purchase my first muzzleloader. A little background, I’m a Georgia resident that can take advantage of some early season deer hunts with the plans of going out west for elk, deer, etc. I go west for elk every year with a rifle but hoping for more opportunity with a muzzy. Which leads me to my questions.

I know there are a ton of regulations on muzzleloaders throughout the west. Caliber, ignition, sighting system, etc. what configuration should I be looking at to give me the most opportunity? 50 cal, iron sights, with 209’s? If possible please drop some manufactures and models please.

Secondly, this one may seem like a dumb question but, you load your muzzleloader for a hunt and don’t take a shot? Leave unloaded for the week of hunting? Unload it every night? Shoot it to unload it? Remove the breech plus and dump every out?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[DMuzz8]

Tc Omega, shooting BH209, leave loaded as long as there has been no moisture introduced. Solid, simple, affordable. (Not the BH209, certainly not affordable).

 

[MarkOrtiz]

I borrowed a TC Encore for my hunt last year and left it loaded for 4 days, but its dry here in NV. I bought a TC Omega and have been getting it ready for my personal gun. Check out the modern muzzleloader forums. They have a really good classifieds section.

 

[jlchester5045]

Ok I’ll check that out. Thank you. Yeah as a reloader, I was blown away at $90 for not even a full pound of powder…. I did manage to find a container of it though.

 

[Ringbill27]

My household runs CVA wolf and wolf v2s. Two white hot pellets and Barnes 250gr spitfires. Mine are scoped but they come with iron sights.

As long as moisture does get in I typically load mine and leave it either in the truck or in unheated garage the whole season. This is to reduce the chance of condensation going cold to hot. Typically muzzleloader season temps are 0-30 degrees.

In MN it’s considered unloaded if there isn’t a primer in it.

 

[jlchester5045]

The spitfires are definitely on the top of my list to try out. I’m a huge Barnes fan.

Are you doing anything specifically to reduce moisture while hunting with it?

 

[Ringbill27]

I hunt a special draw state park hunt and the non toxic bullets are required but wow I would use a different bullet. Three deer so far and all bang flops.

When it’s snowing ill use one of the finger condoms on the muzzle. I’ve never seen rain.

 

[jlchester5045]

Ok. Easy enough. I’ll do that.

I greatly appreciate all the help.

 

[Ringbill27]

When it’s snowing ill use one of the finger condoms on the muzzle. I’ve never seen rain.

@jlchester5045 I’ve never had to take a shot using the condom but I think I’d try to take it off prior to shooting.

 

[taskswap]

@jlchester5045 I’ve never had to take a shot using the condom but I think I’d try to take it off prior to shooting.

It's not necessary. There are (many) dozens of Youtube videos of folks testing and proving that.

A bullet doesn't make a gas-tight seal in a rifle barrel, and that's definitely true in a muzzleloader. There is some amount of "blow by" gas that escapes around the projectile before it ever reaches the end of the barrel. This either blows off or punches a hole through whatever's there.

I believe folks have done electrical tape, "condoms" (which I've switched to now, masking tape, and a few other things. Lots of shooters, no accuracy complaints. You'll be fine.

 

[Ringbill27]

A bullet doesn't make a gas-tight seal in a rifle barrel, and that's definitely true in a muzzleloader. There is some amount of "blow by" gas that escapes around the projectile before it ever reaches the end of the barrel. This either blows off or punches a hole through whatever's there.

Good to know thank you.

 

[mtnbound]

Hey guys. Hoping to reach out for some insight as I purchase my first muzzleloader. A little background, I’m a Georgia resident that can take advantage of some early season deer hunts with the plans of going out west for elk, deer, etc. I go west for elk every year with a rifle but hoping for more opportunity with a muzzy. Which leads me to my questions.

I know there are a ton of regulations on muzzleloaders throughout the west. Caliber, ignition, sighting system, etc. what configuration should I be looking at to give me the most opportunity? 50 cal, iron sights, with 209’s? If possible please drop some manufactures and models please.

Secondly, this one may seem like a dumb question but, you load your muzzleloader for a hunt and don’t take a shot? Leave unloaded for the week of hunting? Unload it every night? Shoot it to unload it? Remove the breech plus and dump every out?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Lots of options when it comes to ML’s you need to obviously follow whatever the state regs are first then go look at some to see what you like. There is a big difference between an inline and a traditional side hammer, the side hammer just feels better to me.
I use a CO2 powered bullet remover, it small and works great and I can typically reuse the bullet.

 

[jlchester5045]

Ok. I typically don’t worry about taking it off my rifles when we are hunting in weather either.

The regs in my state are pretty relaxed honestly. It’s just making sure I meet the regs of the west. Are there places where inline isn’t legal? Never even heard of a CO2 bullet remover but I’ll check it out for sure.

 

[taskswap]

I don't have every state memorized - you'd have to check each one. But it shouldn't take long, they're all posted online. Here's the list for CO:

a. Only legal muzzleloaders allowed in muzzleloading seasons.
b. In-line muzzleloaders are legal.
c. Must be a single barrel that fires a single round ball or conical projectile.
d. To hunt deer, pronghorn or bear, conical bullets must be a minimum of .40 caliber, and round-ball bullets must be a minimum of .50 caliber.
e. To hunt elk or moose, conical bullets must be a minimum of .50 caliber, and round-ball bullets must be a minimum of .54 caliber.
f. From .40 caliber to .50 caliber, bullets must weigh a minimum of 170 grains.
g. If greater than .50 caliber, bullets must weigh a minimum of 210 grains.
h. Shotshell primers and B.O.R. Lock MZ System bullets are legal.
i. Pelletized powder systems are prohibited during muzzleloading seasons.
j. Cannot be loaded from the breech during muzzleloading seasons.
k. Only open or iron sights allowed in muzzleloading seasons. Fiber optics and fluorescent paint incorporated into or on open or iron sights are legal. Scopes or any sighting device using artificial light, batteries and electronic gear are prohibited during muzzleloading seasons.
l. Sabots are prohibited during muzzleloading seasons. Cloth patches are not sabots.
m. Smokeless powder is prohibited in muzzleloading seasons. Black powder and black-powder substitutes are legal.
n. Electronic or battery-powered devices cannot be incorporated into or attached to muzzleloader during muzzleloading seasons.

There's a lot of "during muzzleloading seasons" talk because you can use a muzzleloader during Rifle seasons. I don't know why you'd WANT to, but if you did, half the list doesn't apply - you can use scopes, pelletized powder, etc. But during muzzleloader you have to comply with the list above.

 

[jlchester5045]

One last question. How do I know what rifles can shoot the BH209? I’m a little confused on that. The rest of the substitutes are good in any rifle right?

 

[backyardbandit]

The BH209 is very expensive, really nice to shoot and clean, but VERY corrosive after you shoot it, so don't wait until you get home from your trip to clean it.

I've got an old stainless/nitride or whatever Knight muzzleloader I've been torturing leaving it dirty for the last 5+ years after shooting 777 pellets through it every season, and it's got less corrosion in it than a different stainless rifle I left dirty for a week after shooting 1 load of BH 209.

I'm no expert, but I think most everything can take the pyrodex/777 type substitutes. I'm sure you know, but BH 209 is high octane stuff so be careful not to put the same amount of powder you would with a traditional pyrodex/777 type powder or you could blow up your gun.

MO doesn't care about sabots, and neither does NM where I hunted last year, but I just decided to go to full bore Thor bullets in case I get drawn for CO I don't have to worry about switching everything up. Colorado also requires loose powder, so I went that route as well. CO also requires .50 cal which also sucks with .45 cal performance these days.

Just buy a scoped gun that fits your rules at home, and a peep sight gun for out west!

 

[taskswap]

Just buy a scoped gun that fits your rules at home, and a peep sight gun for out west!

You can also get what I have:

Williams® Precision Ace In The Hole Picatinny Rail Sight - For CVA™ Accura, Optima, Wolf & Apex Rifles - 679010

CVA™ Williams® Precision Ace in the Hole Rear Sight with Picatinny Base - Fits Most CVA™ Inline Muzzleloader Rifles - 679010 - Best Prices, Fast Shipping, Expert Advice!

muzzle-loaders.com

This is a picatinny rail with a rear peep. Combined with a front fiber-optic it makes a great, accurate sight option for those of us that can't have scopes/magnification of any kind. (Fiber optics and peeps are legal.)

The thing with this sight is you adjust its windage/elevation to zero it how you want as it is (I went for 75yds) but because it's a picatinny you can then mount a standard sight to it. Come to CO, leave the scope at home. Hop down to NM or just fun at the range? Drop a sight on. Best of both worlds.

 

[jlchester5045]

Yeah it would be great if I could purchase two but the wife is only giving the blessing for one. So I want to buy one good one. Was looking at the MR-X’s but thought I’d get some opinions. It’s a good possibility that I only run irons here as well. The shots in the north Georgia mountains are pretty close most of the time. So iron sights, loose powder, no sabots, and .50 cal should pretty much cover everything. Did I catch all that right?

 

[DMuzz8]

I think that pretty much covers it. I have read about some issues with SOME of the mrx. The truth is you could buy two Omegas for the price of one mrx.

 

[jlchester5045]

Idk if it’s worth messing with but I do have a Knight LK-93 I believe. Don’t quote me on that model but it’s the one that you make safe by threading the back of the bolt in till it won’t fire if that make sense. Should I even mess with it?