Got first Knight Bighorn Muzzy, What is best powder and place to get supplies?

[cowboycraig]

Got this Muzzle Loader:

Bighorn Muzzleloader
http://www.knightrifles.com/product-category/muzzleloaders/bighorn-muzzleloader/



Sportco in 4th has a great supply of Muzzle Loader stuff. Still learning all that is needed via YouTube

What is the best powder, or at least good/popular?

Also wondering if there are places all you "Muzzle Loader Insiders" know to get supplies online?

Was going to get some Hornady hollowpoints for it, but Sportco was out. Is there a preferred bullet type/brand/grain Muzzle Guru's?

Any good Muzzle Loader related YouTube channels the insiders know about?

Thanks!
Craig

[GoldenOscar]

Congrats,

I have great luck with 777 powder FF  I shoot 110Gr and my buddy shoots 90grs....both of ours are Knight bighorns too

For bullets I like the Barnes TEZ and he shoots the TMZ....the 250gr shoot best for me but I like the idea of the 290gr better so I am going to work on that load this offseason.........the Hornady SST are a lot cheaper and shoot great so might be worth a box to get you on the paper and practiced....just heard they were not as good on game I don't know from experience.

[The scout]

I used the hornady hp's this year on my elk, my second shot on him was about 80 yds and the bullet went through both front shoulders and stopped on the up against the hide, they are cheaper than a lot of the other's out there and very accurate I will be using them in the future, my uncle shot his bull with the hornady's with the polymer tip and had the same effect. I use the 100 grains of the pellets

[JKEEN33]

Triple seven FFG. I shoot the Hornady XTP 44 or 45 (I prefer the 44) each bullet takes a different sabot. You can buy your own sabots in bulk. You will save a ton of money over the 20 pre packed bullets. They shoot great and kill elk. Do some reading and find which sabot you need for which bullet. I have the same knight. Ton of fun to shoot.

[superdown]

I have had the same muzzle loader for six years and i shoot a musket cap and 2 50 grain triple seven pellets and a hornady 250 grain sst and it works great. It works equally as well with the no.11 mag caps and pyrodex pellets,jim shockeys gold and goex with great plains bullets and powerbelts it also shoots the t/c cheap shots well. I guess it would be easier to say i haven't found anything it shoots poorly lol

[hunterofelk]

Adventure Sports in Lynnwood had a lot of muzzle loader stuff last time I was there.

[Bucks2Ducks]

Sounds like a lot of guys getting into the muzzleloader's for next year!

[bear hunter]

Sportsmans warehouse

[Duckslayer89]

Barnes EZ 290 on a blacktail buck facing towards me. Was lodged under the hide up near his hips. 6grains of 4f for primer charge and 2 50 grain pyrodex pellets. RWS German musket caps. Done a lot of research people say the German musket caps burn the hottest and best

[Chukarhead]

Good choice.

Get a Williams peep, they're great.

I shoot 125gr Triple 7 FFF under a Barnes 290 T-EZ and RWS musket caps in my Bighorn.  Lots of very dead elk and deer over the last six years.  None lost.

[cowboycraig]

THANKS! for all the comments and info.

What is the  "FFF" vs. "FF" powder about?

Also the pellets look a lot easier to measure and deal with than powder. Is one or the other considered "better?".

[cowboycraig]

Barnes EZ 290 on a blacktail buck facing towards me. Was lodged under the hide up near his hips. 6grains of 4f for primer charge and 2 50 grain pyrodex pellets. RWS German musket caps. Done a lot of research people say the German musket caps burn the hottest and best

I always like collecting bullets after the fact. Some collect stamps, I prefer expanded bullets

You mention "6grains of 4f for primer charge and 2 50 grain pyrodex pellets". What is the primer charge for? From what I am finding looks like just the pyrodex pellets are needed.

[Duckslayer89]

Barnes EZ 290 on a blacktail buck facing towards me. Was lodged under the hide up near his hips. 6grains of 4f for primer charge and 2 50 grain pyrodex pellets. RWS German musket caps. Done a lot of research people say the German musket caps burn the hottest and best

I always like collecting bullets after the fact. Some collect stamps, I prefer expanded bullets

You mention "6grains of 4f for primer charge and 2 50 grain pyrodex pellets". What is the primer charge for? From what I am finding looks like just the pyrodex pellets are needed.

Well I heard in some cases that pellets if they get damp or something they can be harder to ignite. So I saw this guy online saying he uses a priming charge of 10 grains of real black powder first down the barrel. But the guy at muzzleloader supply said you don't need that much so I use 6. I believe the difference between ff,fff,ffff is grain size. So ffff would be the most powdery smallest grain so it would burn hotter and faster kind of like kindling compared to logs. Which is why you wouldn't want to use ffff just as your full charge it's made for flash pans on old muzzleloaders. I really don't know what a flash pan is even. But ff you could use as your whole charge because it doesn't burn as hot. This is just what I've read and researched but someone else could know more. I just started muzzleloading a few weeks ago haha. All I know is that with what I've done so far I haven't had a single misfire and I've been shooting in damp cold conditions

I also bought this little tool that you fill up with black powder then you can press on the end of the cap and it lets out exactly 3 grains of powder out of the tube it's a good way of knowing exactly how much powder you put in as a priming charge. You want to be exact on measurements with this stuff. He sells them at muzzleloader supply on river road. Big j's in Orting has everything else I bought and the guy there knows a lot about muzzleloading he has RWS musket caps.

[LDennis24]

There is a website called ChuckHawkes that has some good info on it for different load combinations and trajectory. You can use a musket cap or a No.11. They both work equally well. Always use magnum percussion caps. Make sure and buy yourself a nipple wrench and a nipple pick for fouling in the nipple. Always wash your gun in soapy water and never oil the barrel, it's not necessary. Use a little on the action though. Some gun's shoot better if you fire a fouling shot before you load it for an accurate shot, some guns don't matter. If you shoot sabot's you will find that some rounds shoot consistently well while others shoot and are never consistent. It's up to you to figure out what bullet shoots best in your gun and how many grains of powder to use for different bullet's. It's easy to figure out as long as you spend a few bucks and some time shooting it and after that you can shoot anything with that gun at 200+yds!

[Firedogg]

 Do Some internet research before going with the Hornady XTP, which is designed for use in handguns. There are plenty of postings of lost game with no blood, hair or bone giving an indication of a hit (I finally read up on them after the fact when the mulie I shot this year went down hard and then scrambled into the deep crap with no signs of a hit).

  I am using a Bighorn, this was my second season muzzy hunting. I went to the 777 load with fffg. Had the XTP dialed in getting 2" groups at 100yds off the bench.  I am looking at working up a load for the Barnes loads but am leaning towards the Hornady 325grn FTX that is used in the .45-70 load. To do this it will take thinner sabots to load the .458 bullet in, either from Hornady or Harvester. Performance should be right there with the .45-70 loads, which I have seen be devastating at ranges up to 150yds.
  I am still trying to find a "go to" place for supplies, but most likely will be picking up separate components as I find them. So far I have picked up most things at Big J's in Orting.

[Firedogg]

I also founds pellets seemed easier at first, but for carrying in the field you will want to use speed loaders. Using speed loaders there is no difference in ease of loading, it's only a slightly longer process before hand measuring out your load. Using powder though allows you to tweak your loads for better performance out of each rifle and loading.

[BigGoonTuna]

i shoot 90gr of T7 FFFG, 250gr barnes or hornady sabot, and a CCI #11 mag cap.

i experimented with many different charge weights before settling on 90gr a few years ago.  90 seemed to be the sweet spot accuracy wise in my gun, and it's a lot of fun to shoot.  besides, if you look at ballistic tables with T7, you don't gain much going above that anyway.  i think the guys shooting 150gr are nuts!  50% more powder for about 5% more velocity and probably 100% more recoil, no thanks...

[Smoke]

THANKS! for all the comments and info.

What is the  "FFF" vs. "FF" powder about?

Also the pellets look a lot easier to measure and deal with than powder. Is one or the other considered "better?".

FF powder is course grain used for larger caliber muzzle loaders (50 cal and above)
FFF is finer grain and used for smaller caliber muzzys (.45 and smaller), and handguns
FFFF powder is the finest grain and used for priming flintlocks...

hope that helps... and welcome to the muzzy world

[mjustice79]

Have you shot it yet? Curious to see how you like it.


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[usmc74]

I have a stainless and a blued Bighorn.  I use T7, 3F powder for hunting (110 GR).  Ignites better when cold out.

I use the 290 Barnes TMZ, but am going to try the same in the TEZ.  The TMZ can be tight in the bore.  Beautiful "mushroom".  My elk just rolled over dead.

I use the musket caps, with knight musket nipples.  Just easier for my old fat fingers.

I stopped using pyrodex, just seems to be more corrosive.  If you want some, let me know.

I like using the SST for practice...cheaper than Barnes.  Almost same impact on target

[cowboycraig]

Finally made it out to the range. Love it!

Thanks for all the tips!

Craig

[usmc74]

I just found Knight sells a sabot for the boattail TMZ that is an easier fit down the barrel.

Knight # is M900137

[bearpaw]

THANKS! for all the comments and info.

What is the  "FFF" vs. "FF" powder about?

Also the pellets look a lot easier to measure and deal with than powder. Is one or the other considered "better?".

I can't remember the exact differences between "FFF" and "FF" powder. I used to shoot FF and someone told me I should try FFF. I got a can of FFF and found out I could get another 100 fps from my 50 cal and it shoots great groups with the FFF. My gun is one of those CVA Hawkens, but after seeing the difference I would try both powders in any gun. Do a little playing around with your bullets too. For a while I had some bullets that weren't expanding well that I had to quit using, but can't remember for sure which ones they were now. Good luck, muzzies are really fun to shoot and hunt with.

[scottcrb]

Use loose powder. I use 777 fffg. With loose you have a lot more freedom when doing load development. I found my knight bloodline 300gr shoots best with 120gr of powder.  You can't get that with pellets, limits you to 50 gr increments. If you ever want a hand I can meet ya at Kenmore range and help. I have a knight disc .