1:48 twist and round ball?

[Pete Gaimari]

The Renegade does have a 27" barrel if you measure the outside of the barrel. The usable measurement is 26" on the inside.

 

Capper - I love that quote: "That TC barrel will knock the eye out of a gnat if I do my part". I have a t/c .54 Renegade headed my way as we speak. These rain forest gnats I have behind my house better watch out. I have lots of powder and ball and time for the stalk. Good one I say.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Pete, I'm with you! My Trade Rifle has cut many a playing card and some fishing line too! Just love that thing! At the end of the day, it's the SCORE that counts, not how much the rifle costs or how pretty it is!

I shoot next to a guy who can put 8 out of 10 370 grain Maxi's into a spread the size of your fist from 100 yards (sitting position) using his .50 Trade Rifle with its' 48-twist. So they can throw huge chunks of hot lead quite a ways with accuracy!

Dave

 

[nw_hunter]

The Renegade is a great choice, and because it's 1 inch across the flats, a 54 cal Hawken barrel will fit it.You could find a great buy in 50 cal, and look for a good used Hawken or Renegade 54 cal barrel to switch out on it!Also there are smooth bore barrels in 56 cal. out there as well.

Just don't buy a 50 cal Hawken barrel to use on a Renegade. The 50 cal Hawken barrel is 15/16 across the flats.

 

[nkbj]

Renegades are fast becoming a "classic". Too bad TC didn't make a whole bunch of them in flint (left hand of course).

 

[Snow on the Roof]

Renegades are fast becoming a "classic". Too bad TC didn't make a whole bunch of them in flint (left hand of course).

Can I get an AMEN on that!!

Snow

 

[huntinguy]

This should make you feel better.

I have a Renegade .54 with 1-48 twist. I also have a GM barrel 32" 1-70 twist for it.

I know the GM barrel should shoot a PRB better than the TC barrel.

It doesn't. That TC barrel will knock the eye out of a gnat if I do my part.

Only way mine will knock the eye out of a gnat is if he is shooting it and I load 110 of FFF behind a round ball.

I am lucky if I can get a six inch group at 100 with round balls. Conicals... I know they go down range... I think.... :idunno:

Have another that will stack maxi balls with 90 of FFF at 100. Had a guy tell me that a M/L couldn't shoot 200 yards, so I sailed a maxi ball down into the 12inch gong, then to prove the rifle could shoot I did it again. I must say, I did have time to reload before the ball made it all the way down range :rotf:

With all the T/Cs I have been shooting around, they seem to be hit or miss. If you get a good one... ya got somthing. If they don't... well, Green Mountain makes barrels. :stir:

 

[Pete Gaimari]

I tried the Maxi Hunter in the Renegade barrel. It didn't shoot them for beans. Plus the recoil was ugly.

PRB + 90gr 2F + 75yds = Dead Elk.

I can't see past that, so I don't need a long range load. :idunno:

 

[Snow on the Roof]

Capper,
I'm working up loads for the up coming elk season. Current best in a .54 Renegade is 95 grains FFF Goex under a .530 RB wrapped in .015 pillow ticking. Getting 1.5" to 2" groups out to 60 yards. Hav'nt tried past that range yet. Am I on the right track? Particularly considering I have an antlerless only tag...

Snow

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Is 60 yds your range? A 2" group is fine for elk. It might be more accurate with less powder, but if you're happy with that load, it should work fine. Are the patches staying together?

 

[Snow on the Roof]

60 yards is the longest my home range can accomodate. The plan is to work up to 100 yards with 75 as a realistic max for hunting. I tried up to 100 gr FFF but the group size dramaticly opened up so I back down to 90 and got the best accuracy. With 90 grains the patches are clean and perfect, with 100 the patches where burnt and I was only able find a few. All the more reason to back off the charge to 90 which is the most I can use and keep the accuracy.

Snow

 

[Pete Gaimari]

We're close to the same load, but i'm using 2F.

Both loads should fill the freezer.

 

[longrifle346]

I love the Renegade, the 1" platform gives you a ton of options for barrels and calibers. Just the variety of barrels available to "drop-in" gives it the nod for me. I've collected 50, 54, and 62 smoothbore so far, looking for a 58.

My 54 will now shoot 4" groups pretty readily at 100yds if I do my part but that didn't happen until I started using an 1/8" felt wad under the PRB(thank you roundball!). And it prefers 3F and magnum caps. I'm kinda forced to shoot Triple7 as real BP is non-existant anywhere within two hours of me.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

T7 3F is why you need the wad.

 

[win4jimbo]

Hi Rosey. Jim H

 

[Rifleman1776]

I am not particularly a fan of the 1:48 twist. I'll get to the 'why' of that shortly. But, understand, the twist does not determine the size of the ball that will work best in your gun. The diameter of the bore is the major factor. That can vary slightly even with factory made guns. Unlike others, I favor a larger ball and relatively thin patch for accuracy. Testing using two or more size balls and several patches is necessary to find the combo that will work best in your gun. Now, the reason I am not a big fan is the 1:48 is that, IMHO, it is kinda finicky as to the charge needed for best accuracy and often does not perform well with heavier charges. The slower the twist, the more forgiving the barrel with regard to charges it likes. However (and in this game, there are a lot of "howevers" and "buts") you will find bench shooters who use a 1:48 with whomper-stomper charges and eat up X centers. And they do it while the guy next to them is using a 1:72, or slower and getting similar results. I don't want to get too wordy but one final thought. The G.M. Davis gun museum at Claremore, OK (great museum BTW) has specification information cards with every one of their many-many muzzle loading rifles. Looking at those, one will quickly see that 1:48 is/was far and away the most commonly used twist on the old guns we are trying to emulate today. So, don't sweat it. Try different size balls and different patches with different loads. When you hit the sweet spot, start bragging, make notes and stick with it.

 

[marwat06]

I took the monthly club match with my 1:48 TC. She had no problems handling the 1:60ish gals. :grin:

 

[trigrcreep]

I agree, Now I have had 1-48 rifles that really shot well.,however my most recent try was with a cabelas hawken and I have tried every round ball load known to man and finally gave up on it .Got my self a GM barrel for it -shazam instant improvement and a 1-70 twist.Now the point of aim is the point of impact-EVERY TIME

 

[east texas]

i have rifles in 1-66 and 1-48, and though by no means am i an expert, i cant really tell any accuracy differences in the two different twists, i havent done any shooting past 100 yds yet but thats my findings mike

 

[BrownBear]

I have 1:48's in 30, 32, 36, 50, 54 and 58 calibers. I also have 1:60, 1:66 and 1:72 in some of those calibers.

From what I can see, the issue is a mole hill, something to jaw about when you're stuck at home and others are out shooting.

The big difference I can document in my own messing around, some of the 1:48's have real shallow rifling. Guys that shoot a tight patch and a happy lube out of them get just dandy accuracy. Guys that don't usually blame it on the twist rate and go for something slower, which just happens to have deeper rifling. Same in fact for the 1:32 and 1:24 barrels I've tried with RB. Patch em tight with a lube they like and they shoot well.

A whole bunch of the original rifles that are legendary for accuracy had 1:48 twists, including the beloved Hawken. It's not rocket science. It's more like misguided frustration.