Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, September 18, 1995 TAG: 9509180120
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Most are buying equipment as modern as the law will allow. They are going home with in-line rifles that often have a telescopic scope mounted on them.
``When they go hunting with a modern in-line rifle, they make no more association to Daniel Boone than they do to Robin Hood when they go out hunting with their modern compound bow,'' said Toby Bridges, of Modern Muzzlelaoding, Inc. ``They are out to take a game animal - the whitetail deer - as cleanly as they can.''
Muzzleloading rifles have gone modern. Scopes will be legal for the first time during the special black powder season.
In-line rifles have been showing up in increasing numbers the past two seasons. Even from a short distance, it can be tough to tell one from a modern, centerfire rifle. You certainly wouldn't want to show up toting one at a mountain-man rendezvous.
Apart from their single-shot, load-from-the-muzzle characteristics, they aren't much of a handicap. Modern muzzleloaders will fire 1- to 2-inch groups at 100 yards, said Bridges, who took his 75th deer with a black powder rifle this past season.
A muzzleloading rifle affords a hunter extra days afield, and at a prime hunting time - the peak of the rut in uncrowded woods. That's the big attraction, Bridges said.
``More and more, people aren't out there to relive history,'' he said.
A black-powder hunter for 30 years, Bridges not only has watched the transition from traditional to modern, he has been a promoter of it. Modern Muzzleloading, Inc., headquartered in Iowa, is the company that takes credit for the birth of the new-generation of black powder rifles, which now are turned out by a number of manufacturers.
The rifles are lightweight and have an in-line ignition system, rather than the traditional sidelock. The stocks often are made of synthetic materials and are equipped with a recoil pad. The receivers are drilled and tapped for a scope. The barrels are short and have a fast rate of twist that sends a round downrange with accuracy.
With all the new options comes the question, ``What to buy?'' Bridges gave this advice during a recent visit to Virginia:
RIFLE CHOICE: The in-line is the choice of an ever increasing majority of black powder hunters. But what is great about our regulations today is they allow the hunter to modernize his muzzlelaoding equipment. At the same time, it doesn't preclude the guy from going out as traditional as he likes. If he wants to shoot a flintlock and a patched-round ball, he can do so. If he wants to shoot a modern in-line with a scope and sabot bullet, he can do so. There is room for all of us, and our deer herd is growing. It is not like we are shooting a dwindling resource.
PRICES: We have a model that starts out at $210 to $220. On the other end of the spectrum, we have one that sells for $1,100. And we have models between them, in an effort to try to have something for everyone. The one thing that all these rifles have in common is they all have the same barrel and they all have the same ignition system. And they all have a good, adjustable trigger. Our $210 rifle is fully capable of shooting right along with our $1,100 rifle. What it is, you pay more for refined features: a little better sight, a little nicer stock, maybe a little nicer trigger.
WHY A SCOPE?: I always say you have one hour of good deer hunting: a half-hour after daylight and a half-hour before dark. A good scope will allow you to see better in those low-light situations. It will help you better identify what you are shooing at and allow you to do a better job of putting that bullet where it needs to go. Scopes really are important to someone whose eyesight is less than perfect.
SCOPE CHOICE: Just about all of my hunting rifles are mounted with a good variable scope. I like a 2-to-7 or 3-to-9 power. The reason I like a variable over a fixed power is I have a rifle that is fully capable of shooting a 11/2-inch group at 100 yards. So, why put a low-power scope on it that will handicap me when I am shooting 100 to 125 yards?
With a variable, I can be in my treestand and have the scope set at 2 or 3 power and will be able to quickly swing on any deer that runs in close. I can find him in the scope very easily at that low-power setting. Later, if I am hunting along an open field, I can just as easily crank that scope up to 9 power for a longer shot and harness what the rifle is capable of doing.
FIXED SCOPE: If a person likes a fixed-power scope, he can't beat a plain, old 4 power. It is not so low a magnification that it handicaps you so badly that you can't pull those 100-yard shots, but it also is a low enough magnification that you can find something up close.
BULLET CHOICE: There are several good sabot lead bullets on the market that are legal for hunting during the muzzleloading season in Virginia. My choice is the 260 grain. I find it to be a little more accurate, and it has a little flatter trajectory, for those longer shots, than a 310 grain. The 310 gives you a little better knock-down power, but the 260, being lighter, gets better velocity. By getting better velocity, I can almost match the 310 for energy retention.
POWDER: Most good hunting loads consist of from 80 to 100 grains of black powder or Pyrodex. My favorite hunting load is 100 grains of Pyrodex Select. I tend to favor Pyrodex because it burns so much cleaner and I get good, consistent accuracy out of it. But don't use Pyrodex left over from last season. I feel it should be shot within four or five months, or you will sacrifice accuracy.
ACCURACY: A clean barrel always will outshoot a dirty barrel. When you are on the range, always take time to run a damp patch down the barrel between every shot. That will keep the fouling down and you will get consistency.
CAPS: My favorite for hunting is the German RWS cap. A lot of the foreign caps are a little tighter than the American made caps. That can be an advantage, because when I push it on the nipple hard and it is tight, essentially I have waterproofed that end of my muzzleloader. I can sit in a rainstorm three or four hours and not worry about a misfire.
The average guy will find that CCI caps are hard to beat. They give good, consistent performance, even through they don't fit quite as tight as a German cap.
ZEROING: Here in Virginia, you wouldn't go wrong by using a 260 lead bullet and sighting it dead on at 100 yards. That is going to put you about 1 1/2 or 1 3/4 inches high at 50 yards and only about 3 inches low at 130 yards. You pretty well can dead-center your rifle anywhere from a treestand distance all the way to 130 yards and get a clean kill.
by CNB