I'm back after 20 years & need advice

[LEAD PIPE]

Hello to all, this place is great!

I stopped shooting my mussel loader 20 years ago when I got into bows. I want to get back into it and took my T.C. 54 cal. Renegade (kit gun) out of storage. I don’t have any recollection on how much powder I used to shoot with and I want to be safe. I shot lead balls back then. I am looking to deer hunt with this rifle. Back then we could only use ball ammo to hunt with. We can now use bullets. Can I shoot them out of this gun? If so, can someone give me a recommendation of which ones to try and what load to use.
Thanks for the help!

Here is a photo of my gun. Sorry about the glare, I worked for a plating co. back then and got a little crazy with the nickel plating.

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[musketman]

They shoot the T/C Maxiball and MaxiHunter very well, don't know about the others, those two were the only two I experimented with.

 

[roundball]

My TC .54cal x 1:48" shoot PRBs very well...my loads are:

TARGETS / PLINKING
60grns Goex 3F
.018" TC's precut/prelubed pillow ticking
Hornady .530" balls

DEER HUNTING
90grns Goex 3F
Oxyoke lubed overpowder wad
.018" TC's precut/prelubed pillow ticking
Hornady .530" balls

 

[54mountain]

I've got a .54 T/C hawken that likes 80g ffg and a .18 patched .530 RB With this combo it'll take anything on the continent and RBs are alot cheaper than conicals.

By the way with that nickle plating you definately have a one of a kind gun I like it

Galen.

 

[catman]

That Renegade has got some "Bling" to it..

 

[Stumpkiller]

Hello to all, this place is great!

I stopped shooting my mussel loader 20 years ago when I got into bows. I want to get back into it and took my T.C. 54 cal. Renegade (kit gun) out of storage. I don’t have any recollection on how much powder I used to shoot with and I want to be safe. I shot lead balls back then. I am looking to deer hunt with this rifle. Back then we could only use ball ammo to hunt with. We can now use bullets. Can I shoot them out of this gun? If so, can someone give me a recommendation of which ones to try and what load to use.
Thanks for the help!

No fear. The .54 Renegade is a tank (I own one) and it can digest any sensible load.

We can shoot bullets/conicals here, too, but I still use the round ball. It works fine as far as I can see to use iron sights in the woods.

If you are sold on conicals the T/C Maxi-Hunter does a number on whitetail sized game. I suspect in .54 it will do a number on moose sized game. :shocked2: That's the only non-round muzzleloading projectile I have any deer experiance with. Avoid the Maxi-balls as the local opinion of deer hunters is that they punch through without deforming or slowing down much and are not a good choice for deer.

My current deer load is .530" round ball, 0.018" cotton patch and 85 gr FFg or 80 gr FFFg. In my Renegade I used 90 gr FFg.

 

[Little Wattsy]

Welcome aboard!
Just took a decent deer with a T/C Renegade .54 shooting round balls.
There are a few connicals on the market...For price and function I really like the Hornady great planes bullet my self.
You most likely have a 1 in 48 twist rate which is a little slow for the sabots and pistol bullets and for the most part they are just more expensive anyway.
I would recomend that you shoot for accuraby FIRST and THEN sight in.....start with 75 grains of powder (there are a TON of options here; real or substitutes ((I like Pyrodex RS myself)) ffg or fffg ((I use ffg BUT have seen and heard of some GOOD shootin with the fffg)) anuway try as meny as you can to see what YOUR gun likes best.
Once you have your most accurate load between 75 and 110 grains of powder, round ball or connical you will have some serious deer medicine!!

Take your time, Have fun, and go get em. You will be good and ready for next years hunting season.

 

[ldykeman]

Here's a link to the T/C Owner's Manual for their sidelocks (contains load info also):
http://www.tcarms.com/assets/manuals/current/Shooting_TC_Side_Lock_Black_Powder_Guns.pdf

Larry

 

[tg]

"Back then we could only use ball ammo to hunt with."

A very sensible approach nothing more is needed.

 

[cowpoke1955]

My .54 T/C Hawkens loves 90 grains of Pyrodex RS and 380 grain Lee REAL bullets with a Ox-Yoke Wonder wad. I really haven't had a chance to work up a good round ball load. You sure have a one of a kind rifle :thumbsup: .

 

[LEAD PIPE]

Thanks everyone for the help. Back then I nickel plated all my guns. I started with this one. I have the exact same rifle in a matt nickel finish. My thoughts were that the nickel finish would hold up better and make the barrel easier to clean. My nickel finished 308 savage 99 gets a lot of looks at the range.

I think I will shoot my old lead balls but I want to try the maxi hunters too. Do you need a patch for the maxi? If not how do you load them.
Thanks again

 

[roundball]

Do you need a patch for the maxi?
If not how do you load them.

No patch with a conical...T/C makes them by caliber so just get a short starter and punch them in...aligned as straight as possible of course.
When they are punched in, the ends of the lands 'cut' through what is called a 'driving band' of lead around the conical...like a collar. Then the conical slides down easily, revolving as the 'cuts' follow the twist of the rifling.

NOTE#1
Punching them in sharply with a short starter for clean cuts is important, as opposed to trying to force them in using the ramrod which can cause them to get wallowed out while working a conical in that way, then they'll be looser than if cut clean.

NOTE#2
Once the driving band has been cut, there is no where near as much "grab" by the bore as there is with a patched ball, and it is often written to be cautious that the conical doesn't gradually work up off the powder charge, creating a bore obstruction.

Examples given are while out hunting, walking, jumping over a ditch, etc...any/all activities that might cause the conical to move...and the simple remedy being to occasionally check/reseat the conical with the rod from time to time to ensure its still where its supposed to be.

 

[Flintlock58]

I started out with TC 54 renegade and it harvested some nice bucks and does out to 80 yds on 90 grains of BP under TC maxiballs and most of the deer I got tipped over where they were shot and I never tracked the others over about 30 yds with plenty of blood trail. Good luck!

 

[nw_hunter]

I believe the question was about types of conicals, not RB's to shoot :wink: . There are several conicals I like to shoot in my T/Cs. Lee Real bullets do very well in the 1/48 twist barrels, as well as Thompson Maxi Hunters, Lyman great plains hunter, and my favorite for the big critters Lyman shocker bullet(445 gr. in the 54 cal.) I know the 1/48 twist is a compromise twist, but I get better groups with conicals over RB's.The next barrel I buy will be a slow twist RB barrel from GM.

Not that the 1/48 won't do the job with RB.

 

[Jblk]

I have shot alot of Thompson maxies out of my Thompson .54, and they do a great job.Both of my deer this year have been taken with that slug.My Thompson also works great with a round ball.The round ball does a great job out to around a hundred yards, and I think kills faster than a long projectile.I use eighty grains ( by volume) of RS pyrodex and a .53 ball with a linen patch lubed with olive oil, lard and bees wax that is mixed to a soft consistancy for cold weather.That shiny finish on your rifle might give you away on a sunny morning.The rifle also works well with real BP but its becoming so hard to purchase I save mine for duplex loads for my flintlock. Good luck

 

[Zoar]

ahhhh, golly, but real black powder is so much more FUN! And yes from my experience works better than fake stuff in flinters and cap guns.

I'm a big fan of round balls too instead of the conicals and maxies. That 54 cal has alot of supporters who prefer RB's over the conicals for deer, too. I hunt with a 54 too but different make and model. Round Balls are so accurate and I can jump... or stumble and go down... as much as anyone and no need to reseat that very snug fitting patched Round Ball.

I'd say 90 grains of 3F real black over a .530 round ball wrapped in a wonderpatch to start off is an all-round (although not period correct) reliable hunting set-up for a guy RE-starting out hunting deer with a frontloader. Let us know what you found out on your first day of target shooting with this gun!

 

[paulvallandigham]

I will never understand why anyone shooting a .54 caliber rifle for deer NEEDS to shoot any kind of conical. That 225-230 grain round ball is HUGE, when compared to any modern cartridge recommended for deer. It lets a lot of air in and through the deer, and drops the blood pressure rapidly to cause unsconsciousness, and then death. There are very few reports of any .54 ball remaining within a deer's chest cavity, and the exit hole is almost always bigger than that .54 caliber entrance hole.

The conicals, on the other hand, have a LOUSY RECORD of expanding at all in deer. They punch a hole through the deer, but beyond 80 yards, they are not more likely to kill a deer more quickly than that PRB. Accurate placement of any projectile is far more important to a quick kill, than the weight or shape of the projectile.

The weight and diameter of the projectile used by a hunter is, like the length of the blade on his hunting knife, in direct proportion to his lack of experience hunting and taking deer. The more experienced you are, the smaller the projectile you shoot, and the shorter the blade on your knife. A .54 RB is more than enough for any deer.

 

[tg]

"I'd say 90 grains of 3F real black over a .530 round ball wrapped in a wonderpatch to start off is an all-round (although not period correct) "

I don't think the type of lube is much of an issue when it comes to the PC thing likely something much like the wonderelube was around back then.

 

[Zoar]

I concur. I just added the parenthesis to fend off anyone saying--"WONDERPATCH?! WONDERPATCH??!! What the heck is wrong with you, boy?! That is not Traditional! Ten demerits! Off wth your head!!!"

Hahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaa

 

[roundball]

"WONDERPATCH?! WONDERPATCH??!! What the heck is wrong with you, boy?! That is not Traditional! Ten demerits! Off wth your head!!!"

Brings up an interesting thought...there hasn't been as much of that manure this year as there normally has been :hmm: