Trail Guns Armoury .50 Double Rifle ????

[Supercracker]

Hi all. Brand new here and brand new to the whole black powder thing. I just got a Trail Guns .50 double rifle (first ML other than revolver) and was hoping to get some guidance.

It is supposed to be unfired and have no manuals or charts for it. I e mailed Pedersoli but have'nt gotten a response. I have 3 questions.

-Is there any kind of special break in procedures or quirky things to do with a brand new ML?

-Any suggestions on where to start with loads? (I'll be chasing pigs pretty much exclusively)

-What have been some of your guys experiences and opinions of these rifles?

Thanks ahead of time guys.

 

[Supercracker]

PS: I tried the search but I did'nt find any info for this rifle in .50.

 

[JayDee Flohr]

I'm not familiar with that gun but I do have Pedersoli's Kodiak double in .50 cal. Maybe similar?
Mine is an older version with a 1 in 44 twist. It really likes 90 grains 3F and Hornady Great Plains bullets in 460 grain. I don't recommend that load as it's a bit on the heavy side, but you asked. I plan on switching to round balls soon as Hornady no longer makes that size.
Your mileage may vary.

 

[poordevil]

I have never shot one, but I have handled several at a Cabilas store, even the .72cal one. It appears to be a well made gun. Pedersoli makes good guns and has a good reputation.

Start with 50grs. of 3FFFg or 2FFg and a PRB, and take it from there. That gun is strong so it should handle 100grs per. barrel, or there abouts....if you can. :hatsoff:

Good luck with them Piggies.
P

 

[Supercracker]

I'm not familiar with that gun but I do have Pedersoli's Kodiak double in .50 cal. Maybe similar?
Mine is an older version with a 1 in 44 twist.

Same gun....as far as I know. Hopefully I'll get some info from Pedersoli soon.

This one has 1 in 48 twist. Or that's what I was told in any case. TBH, I'm still waiting for it to arrive. I'm just very anxious to get started playing with it.

I kind of want to shoot RBs but at the same time we have some big big boys wondering around the woods here and I would like to pack the additional punch given by a significantly heavier conical. In my experience it would be exceedingly rare to get a shot past 50 yds. So I think the RB might be plenty accurate, it's just a wallop issue!

 

[Supercracker]

I have never shot one, but I have handled several at a Cabilas store, even the .72cal one. It appears to be a well made gun. Pedersoli makes good guns and has a good reputation.

I really wanted to get a .72, but there just aren't any around second hand and I don't want to get a new one til I can pony up for the 10ga barrel set also. It's a chunk of change!

 

[nkbj]

Yeah, understand that wallop thing. When I was little Grandad had somewhat legendary tusks on top of a cabinet over Granny's sewing machine. Now those same type animals are over running the countryside and being run over as much as deer. And people thought rats are a problem!

 

[Lorne Johnson]

Poordevil's load advice is right on target. You can also google Davide pedersoli and the web site has a pdf file of recommended and maximum loads for their guns.

 

[pchwcf50110]

i would get some RB's and some bullets and start at around 90gr. of 2Fg. the goal is to see which projectile will regulate better. i have had 3 of these rifles .50,.58,.72 and they are not as sensitive to powder charge weight differences as they are to projectile differences. my .50 (1-48")had extreme crossfiring with RB's no matter what powder charge was used. at 30 yards the impact was 6" apart and one barrel was 4" higher than the other. for me personally i don't use the one sight for each barrel. i want a load that has the barrels hitting together. in my .50 i had to shoot 400-450gr. bullets to stop the crossfiring. it still had one barrel hiting higher than the other but it was now just 2" at 50 yards. the .50 cal rifles are the heaviest model because the .50,.54,.58 use the same barrel profile so i never found recoil to be a problem.

 

[David W.]

Hi all. Brand new here and brand new to the whole black powder thing. I just got a Trail Guns .50 double rifle (first ML other than revolver) and was hoping to get some guidance.

It is supposed to be unfired and have no manuals or charts for it. I e mailed Pedersoli but have'nt gotten a response. I have 3 questions.

-Is there any kind of special break in procedures or quirky things to do with a brand new ML?

-Any suggestions on where to start with loads? (I'll be chasing pigs pretty much exclusively)

-What have been some of your guys experiences and opinions of these rifles?

Thanks ahead of time guys.

I own a TGA Kodiak Express double rifle .58 and and the break in period has to do with setting the sights for the left and right barrels. MY suggestion is no to worry about setting the sights in until you have found the load/ball combination that shoots best in your rifle. This can be accomplished by taking a big peice of cardboard and using an orange dot. Start at about 40 to 50 yards. When you have a tight group, you can then work on fine tuning the sights. Do not worry about hitting the dot, just use that for aiming point. If you do it backwards, you will find yourself constantly re-adjusting the sights.

 

[David W.]

I need to add to the target sighting. You need two targets. One for the left barrel and one for the right.

 

[Bob J]

Best group I got from my .58 Kodiak was with 100 gr 2f Goex, roundballs, and wonder-lubed pillow ticking. Shot a 6-shot ragged hole at 50 yards (benched), 3 shots each barrel.

Also shot the Black Widow Bullet conical well. Although others reported good groups with the R.E.A.L. conical, mine would not group those at all.

 

[BS]

My old double 50 likes 95FF, Heavy Levi patch [Wonder Lube] and a .495 ball. Hard a tight fitting, but shoots the best.

Don't use the wood ram rod, get one of them strong new plastic or brass ones. I did say tight fitting!

 

[Billnpatti]

I, too, have the same rifle and am working on a load for it. I have found that, contrary to one bit of advice I was given, it does not like long conicals. I tried some heavy (I don't remember the exact weight but they were BIG) cast lead bullets that were intended for use in a .50-90 cartridge gun. It did not like these at all. One thing I did discover is that it does like over powder wads. I make mine from 5 oz. scrap leather. I use a half inch hollow punch that I bought from Harbor Freight to make the wads. The punch is a cheapie and is probably made in China but it was cheap and it does work so I am satisfied. Anyway, after punching out the wads, I soak them in Ballistol for a couple days. Then I pat them as dry as I can and they are ready to go. I just load one on top of my powder before seating the ball. It really improved the shot to shot performance. In another .50 cal. rifle it gave me a slight increase in muzzle velocity, indicating a more effecient burn of powder, and it dropped the std. dev. of the MV from 21 to 7. I recommend them for all muzzleloading rifles.

I have some .50 cal. R.E.A.L. bullets that I want to try. They are short and stubby things that have an aspect ratio close to that of a round ball. I think they should work fine in the twist rate of my barrels (1:48) and they have a bit more mass than a round ball. Even if you find that a PBR is what your rifle really likes, you neednt worry about it having enough knock down power. Those slow moving(relative to a modern bullet) balls have lots of knockdown power within the 50 yard range you are talking about. You put that ball in the killing zone and Mr. Piggie will be down for the count. :hatsoff:

Good luck to both of us in our search for the ideal load for our .50 TGA Kodiak Express Rifles. :thumbsup:

 

[Supercracker]

Quick questions.

when using the leather powder patch is that in addition to a cloth patch around the ball or in lieu of the ball patch?

Those would be easy to make I have TONS of scrap leather remnants and already have an assortment of punches.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Use one or the other, not both. It would probably prove impossible to seat the ball if you used both!

 

[Supercracker]

Ok. Rifle finally arrived about 10 minutes ago. I'm liking it a LOT.

The first effect it had is that I know understand why they had gun bearers on safari! the last time I carried a weapon this heavy it was belt fed! Cool now I can incorporate a light workout into my hunts. lol

Other than that it's in great shape. I don't see a ding or scratch on it anywhere.

The ramrod has some scratches, but it is aluminum and even if it were perfect I would probably have made a wooden one anyway. Just because I'm a weirdo like that.

The triggers are...............interesting. The front/RS trigger has a fairly heavy pull, but not bad at all. The rear/LS trigger has mayyyyybe 4 grains of pull. That's gonna have to be adjusted. not comfy with that.

Are the two flip up sights supposed to be for two different ranges or one for each barrel? Just curious, won't be an issue once I get the surefire light and trijicon on it.

The barrel moves around just a bit on the stock. I don't think it will effect accuracy but I would like to fix that. Is ther ereally anything to be gained from a little bedding on these except for satisfying my OCD?

 

[davy]

Davy

 

[Supercracker]

That's the one, except for a few minor details.

There is virtually no height difference between my two rear sights.

My hammers and plates are the same dark color as the barrels

My cheek pad is more pronounced

and my stock is noticeable darker. Which I like

 

[putodebabylon]

Ok. Rifle finally arrived about 10 minutes ago. I'm liking it a LOT.

The first effect it had is that I know understand why they had gun bearers on safari! the last time I carried a weapon this heavy it was belt fed! Cool now I can incorporate a light workout into my hunts. lol

Other than that it's in great shape. I don't see a ding or scratch on it anywhere.

The ramrod has some scratches, but it is aluminum and even if it were perfect I would probably have made a wooden one anyway. Just because I'm a weirdo like that.

The triggers are...............interesting. The front/RS trigger has a fairly heavy pull, but not bad at all. The rear/LS trigger has mayyyyybe 4 grains of pull. That's gonna have to be adjusted. not comfy with that.

Are the two flip up sights supposed to be for two different ranges or one for each barrel? Just curious, won't be an issue once I get the surefire light and trijicon on it.

The barrel moves around just a bit on the stock. I don't think it will effect accuracy but I would like to fix that. Is ther ereally anything to be gained from a little bedding on these except for satisfying my OCD?

:rotf: Funny! Wait, you're joking.....right? :shocked2: