Bringing it all together

I scoped my in-line pistol a while ago and finally got to shoot a little today. After toying with a couple different loads I settled down to bring things together and this is what I ended up with at 50 yards. The two inside each other at the top inside the circle came from a clean barrel. The other two touching in the lower portion of the circle were the third and fourth shots in a dirty barrel. The one low and outside was the last shot I took before I cleaned the barrel for the top two and I made an adjustment to the scope right after this shot. These were gotten loading 100 grains of white hot pellets under a 300 grain .45 caliber XTP Hornady bullet/sabot. The hole at the top was a 250 grain .45 cal XTP atop of the 100 grain charge. That’s not bad either but the 250 grain are not the magnum variety and like to pop whatever it hits….makes one huge hole. The magnums have a heavier jacket and hold together better inside an animal.

I’ll go out in a week and bring the point of impact to the left a half inch and call it ready for the deer stand. I shot 22 rounds today and the old palm is a tad bit tender tonight. lol Love this weapon.

I have a box of 300 grain .44 cal XTP bullets I want to try this year before season too. I just want to see if they are any more accurate being smaller diameter but a longer bullet to get the 300 grains.

I’m pretty happy with this picture for a 50 yard pistol shot but I always have the long gun for longer shots or moving targets.

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Nice job Tom

Thanks Randy. Had to go the scope route since the eyes are changing some. I had a reflex site on this but I had to focus either on the dot or the target. With crosshairs I can adjust the parallax so both stay clean and crisp.

Its a Leapers 2X7 scope. I’m shooting at 4 power which allows about 22″ of eye relief…..plenty even for the long arms. And the windage/height adjustment turrets screw-lock down after setting so the recoil doesn’t nudge them off zero. I can also light the reticle either green or red but right now I keep the battery out and will have to try a dark day shoot to see if there is any advantage with things lit.

I’ve taken 2 deer with it, the longest shot being about 70 yards and both were single shot kills. The gun is amazingly accurate for a black powder short barrel but it does like to have a full belly of powder with heavier bullets and the 300 grain bullets are much more consistent than 250 or 240 grain. Sabots do a better job of accuracy than the power belt bullets. A pair of white hot 50 grain pellets do very nice in this but a pair of Triple & magnums have bullets all over. A pair of regular Triple 7 pellets does ok as will a pair of 50 Pyrodex. A 50 grain and a 30 grain in Pyrodex isn’t a bad load for accuracy if I shoot a lighter bullet, like a 230 grain but I am leery of penetration thru bone if a longer shot is taken.

I’ll be playing with the different powders/loads when I play with those .44 caliber 300 grain bullets.

I made it out to the farm today and took the 300 grain, .44 caliber bullets/sabots. Know where both the pistol and rifle placed 300 grain .45 xtp’s
I found that the longer bullet in a slightly narrower profile tightened groups up at 50 yards quite a bit. I’ll be loading the .44 pills for deer season even though they are not of the magnum variety. I shot one from the rifle into a box of sand and the bullet had performed nicely expansion-wise but was not radical.

I closed the pistol group up to about 2″ at 50 yards and I don’t think I can do better with a black powder, scoped or not, so I’ll stick with the load I used today. Pyrodex performed better over the White Hots for the pistol load so that’ll be loaded.

What inline pistol are you shooting Tom? I’ve looked at a few. Thought it would be fun.
DT

I have the CVA Optima V2. Its a .50 cal, 100 grain capable. I use Hornady sabots for both the .44 and .45 caliber XTP bullets and have pretty decent results. In this thread I have been working the scope in as its a new addition this year and provides me a much cleaner picture of the target and the crosshairs. The scope is a 2X7 power and has the option of red or green illuminated crosshairs. I’m fine without the battery and use the traditional black hairs. I also like the scope set between 4 and 5 power.

Black powder pistols can be used to hunt as long as they are a single shot, non-revolver weapon. This means either the old side lock numbers or the in-lines, of which there are only a couple. Vortex [? sp] is the other model, but this one balances a bit nicer in my opinion. The Vortex has a 70 grain capability and is also a .50 cal. Personally, I think the side lock models cannot handle a charge heavy enough to be a consistent deer sized game stopper and saboted bullets are a no-no in them so you’re stuck with patched round balls or swaged bullets that are quite heavy. Sights on the side locks are pretty primitive but can be up-graded without a lot of work. I’ve seen hunting videos where deer have been killed successfully using the side locks but this in-line type of weapon is significantly more accurate and the bullets/sabots allow for a whole world of effective loads for deer and bear sized animals. I wouldn’t be afraid to swat and elk inside of 50 yards with this gun.

Recoil on the side lock weapons is very manageable while this creature using a full load and a 300 grain bullet is about or maybe just a bit more than a .454 Casull. More for certain than any .44 magnum. The barrel is over 14″ long which makes this critter front-heavy but I have been adding a short legged bipod for hunting it and have been carrying it on a sling type system. This season I am leaving the bipod off and carrying it in a holster that’s half a belt and half a shoulder holster affair that hugs the body and keeps the gun low across the mid-section and not so loss that there’s any un-wanted movement. The sling is for the birds with this gun.

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Nice pistol. Interesting to read about your tests as well.

I’ve been hunting deer with TC handgun for over 10 years now and I enjoy the challenge.

Grouse