54 problems

[kiph]

I have a Thompson Center 54 ca. black powder rifle. It does not have the word Renegade on the barrel. No matter what powder charge I use, round ball or maxi ball, rear sight adjustment up or down, it will shoot all consistently high 12 inches or better from a sand bagged rest using a six oclock hold at 50 yards. Pyrodex 2fg powder
from 50 gr to 90 gr. I am ready to use this as a boat anchor considering I have 2 other T/C rifles in 45 and 50 who print consistent 2 inch groups at 50 yards all day long. Someone please give me a solution.

 

[Celt5494]

Oh, I thought you had "54" problems so I came in to see all of them. Glad it's just narrowed down to one!

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I have a Thompson Center 54 ca. black powder rifle. It does not have the word Renegade on the barrel. No matter what powder charge I use, round ball or maxi ball, rear sight adjustment up or down, it will shoot all consistently high 12 inches or better from a sand bagged rest using a six oclock hold at 50 yards. Pyrodex 2fg powder
from 50 gr to 90 gr. I am ready to use this as a boat anchor considering I have 2 other T/C rifles in 45 and 50 who print consistent 2 inch groups at 50 yards all day long. Someone please give me a solution.

Lots of questions then
Does it group, and it's just that the group is 12" high, or does it scatter shots and they all are 12" high?
Are you using round ball?
If you are using round ball, have you recovered and examined any of the patches? Can we see photos of them please?
Did the rifle start doing this behavior over time, OR did you obtain this rifle and found it shoots this way?
Has this rifle been coned?
Have you examined the crown at the muzzle?

LD

 

[Newly O’Brian]

A thought, are you placing the sand bag under the forearm or under the barrel and forcing it up?

 

[Indy Durtdigger]

To go with the barrel stuff Loyalist Dave brought up, how does it fit the stock? I.E. the hooked breach, is it hitting the lock, does it take any pressure to seat it? Usually, TC stuff is drop in and go but sometimes a stinker shows up or one someone else messed one up before passing their handiwork along.

 

[Newly O’Brian]

80 grs is a common pet load for prb 54s

 

[Eric Krewson]

I had an un-shot TC Tree Hawk that I bought at a flea market for $90 that shot high like that but grouped well, I ordered a taller sight for it from Midway USA and brough it back into line, the TALL sight looked odd but gave me a full adjustment range on the rear sight.

 

[Fastleo]

Just to be clear, you move the rear sight the direction you want to move the group. So if it’s shooting high you lower the rear sight.
If you want to lower the impact using the front sight you use a taller sight.

Are the sights on your rifle factory?

I’ve never not been able to zero a t/c muzzle loader using the factory sights. Maybe post some pictures of your rifle and maybe we can see something in the pictures that your missing.

 

[kiph]

Lots of questions then
Does it group, and it's just that the group is 12" high, or does it scatter shots and they all are 12" high?
Are you using round ball?
If you are using round ball, have you recovered and examined any of the patches? Can we see photos of them please?
Did the rifle start doing this behavior over time, OR did you obtain this rifle and found it shoots this way?
Has this rifle been coned?
Have you examined the crown at the muzzle?

LD

It scatter shots vertically but sometime surprises me with a 2 in 1 group. I have used RB and maxi's with the same problem. Patches are nowhere to be found. Obtained the rifle from a pawn shop, was unaware of how it shot . No coning. Crown is perfect.

 

[reddogge]

If it's grouping it's a sight problem. Make sure your rear sight is as low as possible. You can also cut the notch in the sight lower or buy or make a higher front sight. The other consideration is a bent barrel and the only good way to find that out is to unbreech it and look down the bore. Barrels can be straightened.

 

[Bad Karma]

It scatter shots vertically but sometime surprises me with a 2 in 1 group. I have used RB and maxi's with the same problem. Patches are nowhere to be found. Obtained the rifle from a pawn shop, was unaware of how it shot . No coning. Crown is perfect.

It sounds like it’s not grouping well, different problem than shooting high. What load are you using?

 

[Loyalist Dave]

It scatter shots vertically but sometime surprises me with a 2 in 1 group. I have used RB and maxi's with the same problem. Patches are nowhere to be found. Obtained the rifle from a pawn shop, was unaware of how it shot . No coning. Crown is perfect.

The problem may be indicated by the patches. IF the patches are being torn up, that usually means either a rough spot in the bore, or a ringed barrel.

The fact that sometimes two ball almost go into the same hole means that for those shots, the patches survived long enough to impart sufficient spin

LD