A Newbie wanting more info

[FishingFool]

I can feel myself getting eaten up with the muzzleloader bug just looking at y’all’s rifles. I want a .54 cal percussion hawken I have looked at lymans but don’t really like the idea of having to modify the stock of the gun because everyone says the butt is sharp. I found the Pedersoli traditonal hunter hawken with the peep sight that i also really like. Heres the problem I don’t truly understand the twist rate as I don’t understand the projectiles as much, only experience I have is I have a modern muzzle loader I put 2 “pellets” of powder down then shove what looks like a modern day hollow point with a rubber cap on the base of it to seat with the powder is this a sabot? I wouldn’t mind using these in a percussion style rifle to be most effect on game is this what the 1:24 twist barrel is for vs the 1:48. I mainly will kill whitetail deer in Texas less than 50 yards but one day would want to take this Rifle elk hunting which a lot of states don’t allow sabots i believe, leaving me thinking i will need a rifle that will stabilize balls or the mini round (I believe this is the more conical looking round with the ribs for lube). How effective are these rifles with the various projectiles? Also is there a muzzleloading book for beginners that covers all the basics on them that i can study before purchasing.(ie Cleaning, loading tricks, common loads)
Also is it worth it for me to just jump right into the high end of rifles or should i purchase a mid tier before fully committing. Any places in Texas yall know where i can look at these rifles before purchasing?
Thank you so much for helping again I am dead fresh into this and I am very excited so please excuse the lack of knowledge.

 

[Woody Morgan]

Welcome!
This is the place to learn. The best way is to learn how to use the search function. That will put you in touch with everything that has ever been posted here and that's a LOT. Before you do however, read the Forum Rules.
Keep ya out of trouble for talking about stuff like sabots and modern day hollowpoints.

wm

 

[sgtprovo]

Yes Welcome Fishing Fool, I'm a fishing nut myself, lefty KVD bait casting reels with Bionic Blade bait casting rods from Bass Pro Shop.
and yea, about 30 tackle boxes of crank baits, plastics of every shape and size, just sold my 2004 Nitro 929 CDX to a younger neighbor
down the road, now he's got the fishing bug and has young boys too.

 

[stewart.leach]

One of the best things you can do is get in touch with some local muzzleloaders. A couple of contacts:

www.buckskinning.org/groups/texas-clubs-list

www.facebook.com/TMLRA

 

[B P Maniac Shooter]

@FishingFool This one covers the basics and will help you get started:

 

[Griz44Mag]

So if we knew where you are - it would be a lot easier for someone here to meet up with you and give you some specific information and hands on experience.
That would help you decide what direction would be best for you and fulfill your specific interests.
If you go edit your profile you can add your location and possibly meet up with a fellow enthusiast.
You get anywhere close to Denton County Texas, drop me a line, we will go shooting.

 

[Bighorserider]

I, like a lot of guys here got started pre-internet. I also didn't know anyone who shot muzzle loaders. I just read everything I could find. You will quickly learn if you spend much time on this forum that there are a lot of not wrong ways to do things. Every gun is different and every shooter has their own way of doing things. Gather as much info as you can, but you will need to experiment and learn what works for you.

 

[French Colonial]

The butt of the Lyman is not sharp.

Not to derail the thread but do a search regarding them and you will learn that curved butt plates are shot from the arm not the shoulder. Thousands and thousands of SMR's, Mountain rifles, Henry's, High walls, Sharps and others to countless to mention had curved butt plates.

Now...back to your regular scheduled programming

 

[Daveboone]

I have two Lymans (the old original GPR and the new Pedersoli). I have no problem with either butt plate, even shooting considerably off the bench with moderately heavy loads.

 

[Gun Tramp]

Also is there a muzzleloading book for beginners that covers all the basics on them that i can study before purchasing.(ie Cleaning, loading tricks, common loads)

Lyman's Black Powder Handbook and Loading Manual or Sam Fadala's The Complete Blackpowder Handbook perhaps guided many here. I suggest edited information sources to start...

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

You do not need to modify the stock on a Lyman or any other rifle with a crescent butt plate. When you raise the gun to firing position, you place it a bit farther out from the shoulder, more like just outside the shoulder socket, above the bicep. You turn your face just slightly to whatever is comfortable and allows you to line up the sights. To me, I feel like my body is just slightly turned toward the gun. This also lets your body turn a bit and help absorb the recoil from the gun, not that there is that much recoil. My .54s with heavy loads can get your attention though.

What you have read about having to modify the stock comes from people who have not learned about how to shoot the gun and have incorrectly assumed that's the best thing to do and so misinformation gets spread on the internet and it becomes a false statement that folks like to believe.

 

[toot]

Welcome.

 

[hanshi]

Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on your start climbing that BP learning curve.

 

[FishingFool]

Yes Welcome Fishing Fool, I'm a fishing nut myself, lefty KVD bait casting reels with Bionic Blade bait casting rods from Bass Pro Shop.
and yea, about 30 tackle boxes of crank baits, plastics of every shape and size, just sold my 2004 Nitro 929 CDX to a younger neighbor
down the road, now he's got the fishing bug and has young boys too.

Thats awesome I’m more into offshore fishing but always enjoyed a day out on the lake

 

[FishingFool]

Welcome!
This is the place to learn. The best way is to learn how to use the search function. That will put you in touch with everything that has ever been posted here and that's a LOT. Before you do however, read the Forum Rules.
Keep ya out of trouble for talking about stuff like sabots and modern day hollowpoints.

wm

Thank you for the rule post didn’t even think of the unmentionables….

 

[FishingFool]

You do not need to modify the stock on a Lyman or any other rifle with a crescent butt plate. When you raise the gun to firing position, you place it a bit farther out from the shoulder, more like just outside the shoulder socket, above the bicep. You turn your face just slightly to whatever is comfortable and allows you to line up the sights. To me, I feel like my body is just slightly turned toward the gun. This also lets your body turn a bit and help absorb the recoil from the gun, not that there is that much recoil. My .54s with heavy loads can get your attention though.

What you have read about having to modify the stock comes from people who have not learned about how to shoot the gun and have incorrectly assumed that's the best thing to do and so misinformation gets spread on the internet and it becomes a false statement that folks like to believe.

Thats good to know thank you

 

[FishingFool]

Thanks for all of the reply’s I will start digging into the search function!

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

Been shooting BP for 38 years and I still ask a bunch of questions.

 

[ratpatrol]

The crescent butt is just part of the fun and joy of learning.

 

[Danny Ross]

As mentioned the Crescent but stock fits where the Bicep meets the Deltoid muscle of the shoulder. The lower end of the Crescent goes more or lesss into the arm pit area along the edge of the chest. When you shoot this style of butt stock, you do so with your trigger arm raised so the elbow is at the same level as your shoulder, not with it tucked at your side. I am a pretty good size guy 5'11" and 270 pounds (hey I have a food allergy, every time I eat I swell up ) , I have no issue with shooting this stock, no pinching or poking of any kind. Shooting sidelock muzzleloaders isn't that hard. One thing though if you are only use to shooting with scopes, you are going to need to learn to shoot with Open Sights or a Peep Sights and what you will need to do to adjust for elevation and windage. My one suggestion to you is when you get a rifle, go with granular powder (Black Powder, Pyrodex, Triple 7) and buy yourself a powder measure. You can fine tune your powder charge better. Look at muzzle loading this way, just like with a cartridge gun and you reload, you work up a load with glandular powder that works best for your firearm. You do the same thing with a Muzzleloading Rifle when you experiment with by volume measured powder charges and fine tune your accuracy. You can't do that with the preset powder charges as you use now. I have one of the Lyman GPR's in 54cal it shoots a patched roundball (230gr) really well, I could probably get it to shoot better if I played with patch lube a little more. It has a 1:60 rate of twist which is a roundball twist. As it sets it WILL kill deer as long as I do my part. and I wouldn't hesitate using it for Elk or Moose. DANNY