.54 Deerstalker

[Walks with fire]

I got a chance to shoot the Deerstalker today to test some Goex 3f. I got 3 shots at 50 yards with 80 then 90 grains. The 80 grain turned in about 2" and the 90 grain was 1 3/4" hand held off bags. Not too bad. I have about 100 ball through it now. It's doing ok but not stellar by any means. I have hopes it can do a little better.

Loaded smoothly and no wiping with Hoppe #9 lube. Patches were good. I think I will try .535 next test. I also shot one 90 grain with a rest on the side of the shelter post like I would with a tree rest and it hit dead center; all luck of the shot I guess because it was the best of the 7 shots.

I do plan on adding a 36" GM .54 1/70 twist for a switch barrel on it though. I love the trigger, lock and stock on this rifle. The stock is by my way of thinking; robust, and is begging for a long barrel on it. The balance with a long barrel on it is outstanding.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I'm not sure if the small Lyman has a dovetailed front sight post or not. IF it does, you might consider getting a thin one from Track of the Wolf and swapping out the factory front sight post to see if you can get better accuracy.

LD

 

[Walks with fire]

It comes standard with a fiber optic sight set. The front sight is a rather large bead but I shoot to the top of the sight anyway so blade size doesn't matter much.

It groups 1 big hole with 60 grains but opens up going more. The 90 grain was coming back in a little tighter. It's the 1/48 twist in my opinion. It's doing ok but not great. I don't want to shoot 60 grains for deer hunting and was happy it grouped as well as it did with the stronger charges. I have a feeling I can get it back to all touching at 50 with a .535 ball.

I was shooting on snow today and it sure looked like it was burning the whole 90 grains of 3f in the short 24" barrel. I know it won't burn that much 2f. Not bad recoil either for a stubby little carbine. It does have a recoil pad though and a little heft to it and it's a comfortable rifle to shoot. I am looking to get a consistent 2" grouping at 75 yards with 80 or 90 grains which looks possible now. I thought it would throw some fliers with that much but it didn't. I like having a carbine barrel for deer drives we do but if I am hunting alone or on stand a lot I like a longer barrel with full power 100/110 grain loads. I wasn't sure the 1/48 twist would do it.

I plan on trying a tighter load and some bore buttons next out. I will probably shoot some Swiss as well to see how it does. The 90 grain of Goex 3f is probably getting 1500 fps. or so.

 

[smrkdown]

I have the same. I'm not sure how people get good groupings at 75-100 yards when the front sight covers nearly the whole target at that distance... Any tips?

 

[BrownBear]

...get good groupings at 75-100 yards when the front sight covers nearly the whole target at that distance... Any tips?

I don't use the whole front bead, any more than I use the whole blade on a blade sight. I just use the top edge of the bead, "cutting" where I want to hit with that top edge. The bead is handy for finding the sight in low light and for quick hits up close, but that top edge is key as distance stretches.

Here's an interesting thing to look for: Find the distance at which the bead is small enough for easy viewing and hits with a center hole. Then start moving the target back and find the distance at which the top edge gives you a center hit. Handy.

 

[Walks with fire]

I use fiber optic open sights on most of my rifles because the majority of my whitetail deer hunting is done in low light.

The method I use is something I transferred over from using open sight revolvers out to 100 yards for deer.

The front sight bead sits on a post on my muzzleloaders front sight and I generally sight in dead on at 75 yards for most of my ball rifles although I do have a .50 that is dead on at 100 yards.

I sight in so the bead is in the notch of the rear sight so that it is just fully viewed and the impact of the ball will be right at the top of the front sight. Now if I want to shoot a quick off hand shot at less than 50 yards I just get the bead into the back sight and paste the front bead on the vitals and fire. The trajectory at that range is irrelevant. If I want to shoot at 100 or even 125 yards I just hold up more bead in the rear sight while keeping the front sight post centered in the rear sight.

At the 100/125 ranges you need to test how much to hold up the front sight but impact will always be at the top of the front sight and the target is not obscured at all. How to hold it up varies with the load you have settled on. It isn't as much as you might think though. If your load drops another 4" from 75 yards to 100 yards perhaps you might need to hold up enough front sight so that the bead is now fully sitting on the top of the rear sight flat while your keeping the post centered in the notch.

What you are doing is raising the angle of the barrel to compensate for the drop and using the sights to measure it. You can paint part of your post with white paint if you use a partridge style black front sight and a square notch rear so that you know how much to hold it up at various ranges.

This the best I can explain how I do it. Once you get used to it it's quick and easy to adjust for trajectory.

 

[smrkdown]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll have to give that a try.