Fast twist .50cal

[William]

Finally got the right combination of sights on my fast twist .50 cal and was able to take it to the range Friday.  First off, I had a brass blade on the front which had to have a new dovetail cut after removing the bulge.  Had a nice angle on the new crown so it centers conicals easily, with a full buckhorn on the rear.  The brass front shows up well and presents a quick, clear sight picture for me.  I found that both my .50 cal barrels prefer 3f while my.54 likes 2f.

What an accurate shooter!  I tore several holes in the 10 ring, two right on top of each other at 50 yards using 350 grain maxi type conicals and 85 gr.s 3f.  Having taken nearly 4 inches off the front due to the bulge in it makes for a better balanced rifle, IMO.

I think that 350 grains is more than enough for paper or anything else on four legs that I might want to turn into supper, but I'd like to hear any suggestions on other types of conicals ya'll might have.

[old salt]

Willam
The only conical that I found to well in my 1 in 48 twist was what the call a ballet or a buffalo bullet. I just could not seem to get the combo worked out with sabots to get any kind of grouping that I was satisfied with. I pretty much stay with round ball as they have never missed bring down what i was shooting at. I know folks that swear that the only way to go with the 1 in 48 or faster twist is with a conical of sabots. so I guess the old saying about different strokes for different folks hold true here also.

[Ironwood]

William, if you want to cast your own you might try the Lee REAL 320 grain bullet.  It is very accurate in my 1-48 CVA St Louis Hawken.  It's also very deadly on our Whitetails.

[beowulf]

I`ve never fired anything but round ball in a 1 in 48 twist barrel , to me a fast twist is what my austen halleck has ,1 in 23 ! shoots conical well . havent tried round ball in it yet ! but eventually will just to see how it handles them !

[old salt]

The only thing i have with a 1 in 23 twist is one of the Cablea's hawken carbines with 21 in barrel. So far I have not found anything it seems to like.
If I could find some to bore is out to a 58 cal smoothie I would turn it into a canoe gun

[William]

I have two .50 cal barrels, one is a slow twist, 1/66, the other is the one I had shortened due to the bulge in it, a 1/32 (GPH).  My other ML is a Lyman trade rifle in .54, with the 1/48 ROT.

I've used the ball-ets in my .54 (1/48) with good results, but am wondering how they would shoot in my .50 cal fast twist (1/32)?  The REAL bullets also did well in my .54, but I'm quite satisfied with RB performance in that caliber.  I don't have the equipement to cast my own, so I'm limited to what I can purchase.  Are there any concerns as to the maxi-hunter's performance on game or is it going to be a .50 cal sized hole either way you look at it?

Anyone know where I can get some REAL bullets in the 350 +/- grain range to compare to the maxi accuracy?

Thanks for all suggestions and comments, I really appreciate it.

[Ironwood]

William,  I think I have a few.  PM sent.

[William]

Got to test out the REAL bullets that Ironwood cast for me against the store bought maxi-types. Accuracy left to right is very good, maybe slightly better even, but curiously they hit lower than the heavier maxi-type.  There is only a 30-40 grain difference and I would have expected the lighter REAL's to hit higher, but it was a consistent result.

The maxi's are 350 grains and the REAL bullets are 320 gr. I think.  I also noticed that the adjustable buckhorn rear sight that I have on that barrel is raised all the way to the top, to the point that the screw is too loose to maintain the right level, so I may take a few thousands off the front sight.

Any comments?

[Micanopy]

Hmm, yeah take a lil bit off the front sight a bit at a time and see whats happens,.

[spitpatch]

I know you are probably wanting to shoot conicals in your fast twist rifle, but patched round balls should shoot pretty well.  My first muzzleloader rifle was a Huntsman by H&R. I know, I know, In line.. but it was all I could afford at the time.  It shot Maxi-balls and patched round balls to the same point of aim at 100 yds.  Open sights off a rest, I could get about a 4 inch group with either one.  The twist in that barrel was 1 in 24", I believe.  Give em a try and don't sell em short. They will get the job dun...

Draw a fine bead on em Son.  Bobby

[William]

I have two barrels that fit my T/C stock, one is the fast twist that I had to have cut and crowned as well as put new sights on, the other barrel is a slow twist, both are in .50 cal.  It's just a matter of how far I have to raise the adjustable rear sight that has me thinking to take a little off of the front one.  The rear is raised so much that there's no tension left in the spring that holds it up so it moves around and makes me pull my hair out when shooting it.  I think the better solution is to screw down the rear a little bit, take maybe .08 off the front so it will hit the same place everytime.

[Baldy]

I prefer putting in a traditional non-adjustable sight.  Drift it slightly to set the windage and then pein the barrel at the front of the sight to make sure it doesn't move.  File the front sight to get it where you want it.  This assumes you know what your loads are always going to be.  I have rifles that I have had this way for many years.  I always know that they are sighted in when ever I take them out.

[William]

Here's some pics of the angle crown I put on the barrel along with the sights;

[gordy]

        William , befoutting any off the front sight blade , try reverseing it in the dovetail . That MAY change  the verticle poi.

[William]

Actually, that's the way it's supposed to be mounted, and I thought it looked backwards too until I saw it in the catalog.