54 Cal Muzzleloader Bullet
- Thread starter idcwby
- Start date
Emailed TC about my guns and they said the Thunderhawk has a 1:38 and the Renegade is 1:48. They also stated they no longer make 54 cal bullets.
In my search for stuff I came across these https://parkerproductionsinc.com/collections/hydra-con They look interesting, may be to long for the Renegade though.
In my search for stuff I came across these https://parkerproductionsinc.com/collections/hydra-con They look interesting, may be to long for the Renegade though.
JimP
Administrator
I hated it when S&W bought TC in 2007 and decided to get rid of a lot of the muzzle loader products that they had.
JimP
Administrator
That's where I am moving into the .50 cal direction and picked up the .50 cal barrel for my Renegade. However you may have a tough time trying to find a left hand barrel for your rifle in .50 cal. I would just watch Ebay and see if one by chance shows up. I looked at a couple of online used parts houses and didn't come up with any.
I think that a big reason for the demise of the .54 was all of the inline .50 cals that are out there. That along with a lot of states allowing the inline rifle instead of a more traditional muzzle loading rifle like the side locks. I actually picked up a .50 cal inline to use in Utah and here in Colorado. I placed some peep sights on it because I had to have iron sights here in Colorado but not in Utah. Then a year and a half I won a CVA Accura with a scope on it. So now I have three muzzle loaders and depending on what state I am hunting in will dictate which one I will take hunting. Utah has allowed scopes for quite a while and just a few years ago increased the magnification from 1x to whatever you want to put onto your rifle. It has really turned the muzzle loader hunt into a single shot rifle hunt.
I think that a big reason for the demise of the .54 was all of the inline .50 cals that are out there. That along with a lot of states allowing the inline rifle instead of a more traditional muzzle loading rifle like the side locks. I actually picked up a .50 cal inline to use in Utah and here in Colorado. I placed some peep sights on it because I had to have iron sights here in Colorado but not in Utah. Then a year and a half I won a CVA Accura with a scope on it. So now I have three muzzle loaders and depending on what state I am hunting in will dictate which one I will take hunting. Utah has allowed scopes for quite a while and just a few years ago increased the magnification from 1x to whatever you want to put onto your rifle. It has really turned the muzzle loader hunt into a single shot rifle hunt.
JimP
Administrator
It doesn't help when the manufactures come out with rifles like Remington's Ultimate muzzle loader that is designed for more powder than you can pack with you. Then there are the hunters who are taking the 400 yard shots with a muzzle loader. In my opinion it is getting way out of hand.
Even with the one CVA Accura that I have that shoots sabots loaded with pistol bullets and pellets I plan to limit my shots to 150 yards. I have also found that loose powder is better than pellets in that you can tailor your load a lot better than just dropping in a few pellets. I was actually surprised that when I got it that it didn't include any sights other than the scope that is one it. But it is one shooting fool of a rifle and I have no doubt that with the right load and some practice a 400 yard shot would not be impossible with it.
Even with the one CVA Accura that I have that shoots sabots loaded with pistol bullets and pellets I plan to limit my shots to 150 yards. I have also found that loose powder is better than pellets in that you can tailor your load a lot better than just dropping in a few pellets. I was actually surprised that when I got it that it didn't include any sights other than the scope that is one it. But it is one shooting fool of a rifle and I have no doubt that with the right load and some practice a 400 yard shot would not be impossible with it.
JimP
Administrator
I've never hunted with hollow points other than with Barnes copper ones.
Hollow points are designed for rapid expansion and not deeper penetration. I have a friend that was using a .357 magnum with hollow points down in Arizona hunting javelina. He hit a few of them with the round and we had a very hard time trying to recover the javelina. The bullet would hit them and then just blow up once it hit a obstruction in the animal. He switched over to a jacketed soft point and it started to kill the javelina instead of just wounding them.
I have no idea of how they would work on a animal out of a muzzle loader. But if you tried to drill them yourself you would want to get the drill bit perfectly centered or as close to center as possible. If off to a side it may throw the rotation of the bullet off once it leaves the barrel.
Hollow points are designed for rapid expansion and not deeper penetration. I have a friend that was using a .357 magnum with hollow points down in Arizona hunting javelina. He hit a few of them with the round and we had a very hard time trying to recover the javelina. The bullet would hit them and then just blow up once it hit a obstruction in the animal. He switched over to a jacketed soft point and it started to kill the javelina instead of just wounding them.
I have no idea of how they would work on a animal out of a muzzle loader. But if you tried to drill them yourself you would want to get the drill bit perfectly centered or as close to center as possible. If off to a side it may throw the rotation of the bullet off once it leaves the barrel.
The Hornadys were hp, that’s why I’m curious, just trying to replicate what I had. I had one travel from behind the ribs through the cavity and came out underneath the neck in the throat area, she dropped right there, shot was about 70 yards. Never thought penetrating would be an issue with that big of slug. But making the hp centered was my concern.
JimP
Administrator
Making a jig to hold them centered shouldn't be that hard. You would want a flat nose to start the drill bit and it may take some experimenting to get it just right. You could use some milk jugs filled with water or see if you could find some ballistic gel to shoot them into.