Gonna purchase 1st muzzleloader, need advice

[Trad Bow 1979]

Hey guys, I hope everyone is doing well. My question is regarding muzzleloaders. I tried the actual Forum for muzzleloaders with minimal responses. Anyway, I am anticipating I might be doing my first muzzleloader hunt this year. So far I am sold on the Traditions pursuit model. I see that you can purchase a lot of traditions pursuit and vortek a with an optic already mounted. Does anyone have any opinions on this particular rifle or the optic that comes with it. Does anyone have an opinion on a better optic to use?

 

[hank4elk]

Don't know about Traditions Arms.
I got a TC Omega 5 yrs ago and love it. I use BH209 and Barnes sabots,Hornady makes some good ones too. I went with Nikon BDC as that was the first one for MZ on market,but I would have gone with Leupold,I'm Leupold guy. The Nikon is good glass but the BDC dots only work on 9 power. I don't go around with rifle set at high power myself,midrange usually. Took awhile to figure it out but shoots great to 200 yrds.
Now all I have to do is get a bull to clear...Hopefully drawing another good tag this year.
The folks on the mz page usually are real good with info..I take it your in NM.

 

[aaronjo2324]

I've hunted extensively with muzzleloader over the past few years and there isn't any thing that comes close to a TC...I am able to shoot out to 275 yards with a Nikon BDC scope on it. Its easy to clean too with the speed breech....cleaning is the biggest pain in the butt with muzzleloaders and its a huge help to have that.

 

[hntbambi]

I have yet to see a combo scoped rifle that I would actually use the scope. It's wasted $ IMO. Buy the rifle you want and put a good scope on it.

You can do a lot better than Traditions for a ML rifle. I can't believe I am saying this but the best bang for the buck is probably the CVA Optima. The CVA line has come a long way in quality over the years.

The T/C Omega is a very good quality gun as is the Triumph. I put them a rung higher than the CVA in quality. The same goes for the Knight rifles.

If you want a beast of a ML the Savage 10MLII is one of the strongest ML guns on the market. It is a tad on the heavy side though.

 

[two7D]

My brother bought a traditions that came with a scope. It shot incredibly accurate with different sabots as well as powerbelts. The only thing I didn't like was the ramrod. The scopes are OK but you can def. do better. I would handle a traditions, TC, and CVA and get whatever you like. I shoot a CVA accura with a leupold scope, and would only trade it for another accura.

 

[Cahunter805]

Get yourself a TC and BH209 and you won't regret it. Very well made and accurate.

 

[Anaconda]

I'm a big fan of spending more on optics.
Cheap scopes can and will work great right up until they don't.
Don?t know what or where you plan on hunting, but sooner or later you are going to abuse your scope. Bump it, drop it, subject it to moisture, extreme heat or cold.
I can guarantee you this, spend an extra hundred on a quality scope, and a year from now you will not miss the money but you'll be glad you have the scope.
Burris and Nikon make decent scopes for around $200. For $300 you can get a Leupold that will last a lifetime. For $400 you can get a scope with stunningly good optics like a Conquest or VX-3
My opinion on scopes for muzzleloaders is you don't need lots of magnification. You?re not (I hope not) gonna be taking pot shots at deer a ? mile away. A 1.5 X 5 is enough, and anything over 3X9 is probably a waste.

 

[Trad Bow 1979]

Thank you all very much on the great feedback! Hearing what some of you had to say about a gun that comes with a no name brand optic confirmed my gut feeeling. Also, one of you guys mentioned the Ramos on the vortek. I saw on cabelas or midwayusa someone else mentioning that it was too short. So I am probably gonna have to buy one for my dad as well, which means I do no see myself purchasing two top of the line Thompson bone collector addition rifles. So I saw really good reviews on the Thompson impact both on cabelas and midwayusa. It is also priced well enough to easily afford a good quality optic. Any thoughts on the impact model? Thanks again guys

 

[hangfire]

Bought my boy the impact, so far it's been a great gun, accurate and simple the ramrod it comes with is junk, but that can be replaced fairly cheap. But for the price I think it's the best entry level gun.

 

[upmuley]

As a long-time muzzleloader hunter and formerly a strong fan of Knight Rifles, there is nothing that beats a TC right now.

 

[parecido]

I was a first time muzzy hunter last year, and i purchased the TC pro hunter and couldn't be happier. With BH209 powder it shoots very accurate and is super easy to clean. I topped it with a Nikon scope and can shoot out to around 250yds. Take a look at the TC's before you buy, they really are a great muzzy

 

[bassinhunter]

Man I bought a Thompson center omega thumb hole after having a much more expensive knight disc extreme and I couldn't be happier. I'd go with the leupold ultimate slam scope with it. Its a better scope than the Nikon. Its bdc ballistics are matched with 250 grain hornady set/ml sabots and you can set the scope for 100 or 150 grain pellets. Its a ridiculously accurate combination. I feel more comfortable shooting my muzzy out to 350 than I do my 7mm mag. (If u can believe that) took my 6x6 elk this year with that setup at 330 yards. Talk to people that have used different setups and I can guarantee you that anyone who's shot the tc omega with a leupold ultimate slam and the hornady sst's will tell u its a great setup

 

[Cavalier]

I've been using my Omega for about 8 years and am very happy with it. However, it is in .45 caliber in order to reach out further for mule deer hunting. If you are going to mule deer hunt only think about .45 cal but if you want to hunt elk you'll prolly want to stick with .50 cal. as most people don't want to buy two different muzzys.

 

[LaGriz]

82ndreddevil,

Will you use this weapon in other states? In Colorado no sabots or scopes.....In Utah only 0 power scopes can be used.

You can pick up a used Knight MK-85 in .50 or .45 pretty cheap. In my home state of Louisiana and Mississippi they have made crack-barrel center fire rifles leagal in 45-70 and now .35 Whelen! What thinking was needed to do this I can't figure out.
The result is that a bunch of muzzy hunters upgraded to the new weapons and the used muzzy market is flooded! I would opt for a quality scope in the 2X7 - 2.5X8 - or 3x9 range. A quick detach set of rings and some good Iron or peep sight is also a good idea. I have my best groups with 110 Grains of tripple-7 loose
powder and a 250 grain shockwave sabot. Some muzzys shoot the power-belt bullets (legal in Colo.)better than others. The folks with the older White muzzle-loaders are loyal to there gear. I hear of good performance with Buckhorn 209 powder. I will try a new load for my Knight Bighorn useing this product.

Once you make your choice.... take time and custom a load to fit your set up. Look for unburnned powder -tweek the load - get dialed in and have at it!

Griz

 

[JRABQ]

LAST EDITED ON Apr-17-13 AT 03:28PM (MST)[p]I bought a TC Impact last summer, very nice rifle, shoots great. As others have mentioned the ramrod is crap, but I only paid ~$270 for the gun (with camo stock and ss barrel), so had plenty of money to buy a better one.

And BTW the gun is much lighter than some of the others out there, something I was looking for. The stock design and recoil pad do a pretty good job of soaking up recoil, I'm shooting 100-110 grns BH209.

 

[Bwht4x4]

In 2006 I bought a TC Omega and didn't know what I was getting into. I put a Williams peep on it, shot Barnes tipped MZ in front of two pellets of Triple 7 and then proceeded to shoot groups of 1.5 inches at 150 yards. This is without a scope!

Why mess with anything else, TC is my go-to gun if I want to muzzy hunt with an inline.

 

[Trad Bow 1979]

Griz,

I do not see myself using it in any other state. Just elk and deer in nm. I looked at some knight rifles and some had a feature I wasn't sure about. I do not know how I feel about guns that fire from an open bolt. That tells me that the primer is exposed to all the elements such as dust and moisture. It just doesn't sit we'll in my gut.

 

[cosmic_cowboy]

I have a TC Encore with a 50 cal. barrel on it and its a very fine ML... shoots great groups and has never miss fired.Plus you can get different barrels for it.Before you buy check one out! There Sweet!

CC

 

[LaGriz]

Roger that - New Mexico only

The open action you spoke of has been a non-issue for me. I once loaded my weapon on a Friday....hunted each day...and shot a cow elk on the next Friday. It is WAY MORE humid here in La. and to date, no miss-fires have occured. The other models discussed on this thread are easyer to clean.

If your state laws let you buy a switch barrel encore with an enclosed primer I'd go for it. I know a guy that purchased a .280 Rem barrel for his encore and gets great results. I think you must buy another forend stock when you change barrels.

Good Hunting too you!

Griz

 

[hank4elk]

Humidity is not much of an issue here in NM except when the monsoons hit.My Omega I just cover up good in downpour,never a missfire. 3-4" groups @ 200 yrds. BH 209 and Win 209 shot primers, 250 tez Barnes sabots. Dial the load to the gun,I use 100grns 209. And a good scope comes in handy in odd shooting light.