New .54 Cabelas Blue Ridge

[Scott Olesen]

I purchased a .54 cal. Cabelas Blue Ridge and was looking for some basic advice. I currently shoot a Lymans GPH and before shooting it, I had to clean out the bore protectant. The Pedersoli/Cabelas literature doen't mention this, what have you all done? Also what size ball and patch thickness works best for you. I plan on using it for whitetail hunting. I had the opportunity to shoot someone elses flintlock last year at a Rendevous and I was hooked.
Thanks in advance

 

[agill]

plaid wool,

I have a 45 cal Blue Ridge that likes a .445 ball and .010 patch lubed with Crisco. I use Pedersoli's recommended patch and ball diameter. You can find a chart on their Website. Look under "Member Resources" or do a search. Not too hard to find. Also, their are other's here that have their choices that also work. Enjoy! :thumbsup:

 

[JiminTexas]

I shoot the Cabelas .54 Flint Hawken and I have fount that 75 grains of fffG, a .015 well lubed patch and Hornaday .535 rond balls is my most accurate load. I use this for my normal hunting load. I only loose a very little when I step it up to 90 grains (which used to be my standard load before the price and availability of BP got completely out of hand). So if I ever go after something really big or scary, I'll go back to that. I show a slightly larger group at 65 grains and it really starts to fall off below that. I use the fffG because it gives me more consistant ignition. No misfires and a very consistant ignition time.

 

[Jumpshot]

Clean the bore of every new gun before you shoot it, regardless of who made it.

 

[cowpoke1955]

Deaconjo, in the forum here, bought one and seems to be pleased. You may want to contact him and see what he recomends. I have one in .45 and just love it. I was going to get one in .54, then their prices jumped. I have two Lyman .54 GPRs. I use 80 grains of FFg Goex, .530 ball and pillow ticking with moose milk. Works good for me :thumbsup: .

 

Well, I guess there are a few things I can mention as a non-expert but surely as someone who admires this make and model of ML flinter. First, as Jumpshot indicated, you have got to scrub that bore whistle clean. There are probably small metal shavings inbedded in the groves and grease residue and such and you must get them out of there. Also, take the time to clean the whole piece (lock, stock barrel - as they say). There is going to be a lot of machine oil and heavy lubricant crud that should be eliminated. Hoppes #9, or SWEETS (be careful with this stuff - it is amonia based!) and any spray degreaser like Bore Scrubber will work fine. As for a load, for my .54 Blue Ridge, I use 70 - 80 grains of GOEX FFF for a main charge with GOEX FFFF as a prime, and then patch with a .010 patch like FlintHunter recommended. I have found that with this rifle (at least mine anyhow) that thin patches work remarkebly well. Also - I like to use CRISCO as a patch lube. I know a lot of folks use BoreButter and other commercial lubes and you may want to try them but start with CRISCO and if you don't like it - try other alternatives. Another thing about this rifle is the front sight -- It is going to be very high and cause you to plant your shots very low. I suggest that you not even bother with filing it down - just drift out that front blade and replace it with the lowest after market front sight blade that you can find. Make all your adjustments with the rear sight after that. One more thing is the thimbles on this rifle are kind of odd in that the retaining screws pass through them and anchor into the underside of the barrel. You may find that the head of the screws are too small to actually catch the interior of the thimble and as such will not anchor the barrel. If that happens - send me a private message and I will tell you how to remidy that. I don't want to bore you with this detail unless necessary. In closing - this is a fine rifle and I am especially fond of that honking big frizzen for which you will need to use 7/8 inch flints. I like the English variety and I believe you can get them through Track of the Wolf. In closing, you may find that there are some detractors who will disagree rather strongly with my oppinion that this is a good rifle. The important thing is that we shoot what we want, what makes us happy, what we can afford and in accordance with safe shooting / hunting practices. Maybe in a year or so you will decide to upgrade to a custom rifle and that is a good thing because it will mean that you got a good start with this one and are ready to raise the bar. If I can help with anything - just let me know.

 

[Scott Olesen]

Thanks for all of the help Guys. I bought this rifle when they had them on sale and I am embarrassed to admit that I haven't shot it yet. I wasn't sure if these had the same industrial strength bore protection grease like the Lyman's have. I obtained some the accessories I din't have, including the Black English Flints and 4F priming powder. I will try the .535 balls and .010 patches. Could you fellows tell me what size dovetail the front sight is, I would like to order a different front sight as you have recommended.

Thanks again for the help,

PW

 

[Leatherbark]

The front sight on my Blue Ridge in .50 caliber is a standard 3/8ths inch. I bought a Harpers Ferry rifle sight from Track. Had to file it down to around 3/16 inch in height...........Bob