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Post by schunter on Dec 9, 2015 11:14:52 GMT -5
I have shot ML's for over 30 years mostly early on to get those extra days of deer season. I got into the SML game because it was interesting and new to me and there is just something about pouring powder and pushing a bullet down the barrel that I enjoy. I can hunt with a CF for deer starting Oct. 11th thru Jan. 1st but I have chosen the last couple years to carry a ML most of the time. This year I have not carried a CF at all and they haven't even been out of the safe in over a year.
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Post by keith on Dec 9, 2015 11:17:37 GMT -5
Partly because I don't like cleaning guns and partly because I'm a rifle loony and this was something new to me. I am always in the pursuit of something better in all things. I still shoot a lot of metallic though.
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Post by Hank on Dec 9, 2015 12:21:26 GMT -5
I'm kinda like schunter. I got my first ML for Christmas when I was still in high school and it was a Thompson center hawkin in 50 caliber. I was always amazed at the accuracy that rifle was able to achieve shooting patched round ball. I still have that rifle in the back of the safe. I should get it out some time and maybe shoot it some more but I don't even have any round balls any more so I would have to get some. I shot this rifle with real black powder and would clean it in the bath tube and I can still remember the smell of the powder when cleaning it.
During the early days when hunting with friends we all had our stories about misfires when hunting in the rain or wet conditions. so as advancements came about I was always jumping in and buying the next gun. I had a knight MK85 I had a wolverine, and a black diamond. The MK85 and wolverine is gone and the black diamond is sitting in the back of the safe also with the hawkin. For about 10 years or so I kinda stopped shooting the ml as I got tied up in a career that left me without much play time, but when I started to get interested in them again I found the path to the SML side of ML's and I haven't looked back.
I am addicted like most of us here.
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Post by 12ptdroptine on Dec 9, 2015 12:22:18 GMT -5
To be different than the others...to be looked at like I am a liar.....then to show them the targets....and still have them look at me like your' still a liar. To have something out of the norm....but still feel right at home with it. Push the envelope. And to look at my quary fr whatever distance I choose and know I can do this
Yada yada yada...lol I do it cause its a BLAST .....literally....
Drop
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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2015 12:40:15 GMT -5
Cause they are cool and I can.
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Post by GMB54-120 on Dec 9, 2015 16:30:35 GMT -5
Mostly because the powder is not corrosive and its way cheaper per shot than Blackhorn209.
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Post by rojo23 on Dec 9, 2015 17:58:06 GMT -5
The counties that I hunt we can not use rifles. In VA it is legal to dog hunt with shotguns, and that is what most people prefer. I personally prefer to still hunt, with a muzzleloader. We start in Nov, and still hunt up to January. If someone is running dogs nearby that really screws the deer patterning up. My nicest muzzleloader prior to my Hankins was a Traditions. The issues I had with that were the triggers suck, and the cleaning process. My main reason for going smokeless was to get away from the cleaning, and corrosiveness of the black powder. I didn't realize the huge different in performance until I shoot my first 1/2" group. I had an 16" drop from 100-200 yards with black powder. Now I can just hold a little high and the deer just fall over.
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Post by Kyle on Dec 9, 2015 19:34:18 GMT -5
I have shot muzzleloaders since I was about 12 years old. My first was a .54 TC Hawkin. It shot well, but I had the occasional hang fire/misfire probably due to oil residue left behind. Then about 5 muzzleloaders later I got my Hankins SML. For me the draw to smokeless muzzleloading was the ease of cleaning, a chance to get away from sabots and better accuracy at extended ranges. My muzzleloader out shoots most of my centerfire rifles. This stuff is good "clean" fun!!!!
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Post by itneverends22 on Dec 9, 2015 20:56:57 GMT -5
I also started young with a 50 cal t c hawkin, then flintlocks, which still are alot of fun, but CAN be frustrating as well! i've have gonic, tc encores, knight,etc. But finally got tired of the cleaning mess, sabots and all, the only sml, I currently have is a break open encore, but I;m planning on having Mr Hankins build a couple more for me on the rem 700 frames.. Sml"s are addicting, but it's all good clean fun...
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Post by jims on Dec 9, 2015 22:22:30 GMT -5
It gave me more range and accuracy than our slug shotguns. We are now permitted to shoot some straight wall rifle cartridges and I have a 45-70 but will still use the SML for longer work.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2015 23:34:21 GMT -5
The inconveniences of normal muzzleloading are what steered me to smokeless. With the sabotless loads traveling in excess of 2600 fps, we are shooting elephant guns that are deadly at 500 yards and beyond with the right projectile. Send a Barnes 290TEZ down range at close to 2800 fps and there is no animal alive going to withstand the blow that is dealt. I have seen them penetrate from stem to stern, breaking any bone in their path, only to exit and never be found. Like Kyle said, my ML is one of my most accurate rifles. I Love IT!
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beans
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Post by beans on Dec 10, 2015 6:16:27 GMT -5
I'm with Jims. Spent a lot of money trying to make a legitimate, dedicated slug gun be a reliable killer to about 125 yds. Had an Ithaca, NEMF and mossburg that all had their days in the sunshine. However, it took testing every freakin year to find a slug that would do it. Seems like they changed something every year. Bought a Thunderhawk .54 cal in 1998 after watching one of the guys at camp shoot out to 150 yds in 2-3" groups all day. Ended up carrying that gun in regular season until 2000 when I upgraded to a 150 gr Knight Disc which was awesome!! (still is but it is in the back of the safe). Then in 2003 I upgraded to the Savage when everyone was trying to figure them out. Never looked back. Still very satisfied with the stock gun....I did bed it but that is it.
Love the no cleaning and love he ability to vary loads from super light to very heavy and get all the accuracy I need to kill anything I can get a solid rest for to about 250 yds.
I will probably never go to a super build because for what I use it for, it wouldn't help me do anything better. Mind you, the county I live in went centerfire in 2012. So, the Savage gets used for ML season only. For me that's ONE weekend and maybe a long weekend if a take FRI or MON off. So for 2-3 days a year, I am good to go.
The ML for me was a way to maximize range and accuracy over a slug gun. Now that slug guns are "obsolete" here, ML for me is a 2-3 day event per year....whereas from 2003-2011 I never put the damn thing down experimenting. And it was a ton of fun.
ONE and only thing I don't like, in hind sight.....when you go for max speeds so you are ready for long range, then kill EVERY deer you've ever killed inside 100 yds? You make a big mess of them. The 30-30 has fixed that!!
LOL
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Post by scallop on Dec 10, 2015 12:58:01 GMT -5
I got into Smokeless ML's because 85% of my hunting is in shotgun/ML only states. I hunt mostly agricultural areas where shots out to 300 plus yards are very possible. I went through 5 different slug guns, but never had one that I felt 100% confident with on shots past 125 yards. I hear about these 200 yard slug guns, but I never had one I thought was consistent 100% of the time out to 200 yards. About 5 years ago, I purchased a NULA SML. Now, I am on my third SML. For stand hunting deer over cut grain fields and/or food plots in shotgun/ML only states, there is no substitute for the SML.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2015 12:54:36 GMT -5
I was just looking for a more accurate and less cleaning way to ml hunt...I missed a couple of nice bucks with my cva optima with powerbelts and 777 pellets...I had bought a stainless Remington 700ml at bass pro,but its breachplug/ignition was poor ....Since Hillbill upgraded it,it has been my favorite firearm "Showgirl"...
I had no idea what I was getting into a few years back on Doug's ,but I have learned so much since then from burn rates,harmonics,BC,bullet construction,duplexing,etc....I just had a very good range visit the other day where I was able to shoot both Showgirl and BigMac sub moa ...The guys at the range couldn't believe it,lol...
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2015 13:55:42 GMT -5
You can make it what you want, the options. One load you can knock yourself off the shooting bench and the next a 7 year old kid can pull the trigger and smile about it. I never realized this till a bad concussion. Hard recoil can give me a 3 day headache now, if I had to still use a slug gun I don't think it would be worth it.
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Post by GMB54-120 on Dec 11, 2015 14:03:11 GMT -5
Me too and until then i didn't really care for SML hunting. All the platforms weigh more than i prefer to carry. Its still my only SML that is in the running each year. Every year i struggle with the idea of converting it to a 45cal but it shoots so good just the way it sits.
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Post by speedrackin on Dec 11, 2015 14:14:32 GMT -5
Growing up in WNY it was smoothbore slug guns ..... usually ur pheasant gun then came scopes slug barrels , all rifled barrels .... got boring point shoot kill . So the late season came using hawkin style and round balls exciting very unforgiving ..... but challenging . then it was a traditions buck hunter pro , then a black diamond , then an omega , then we were allowed rifles in certain counties .... that got really boring no challenge at all ... then came the single shot challenge in me ..... that also got to be no challenge who cant drop a deer at 200 standing still . back to the omega ..... then came trophy suburba big bucks ..... right in my back yrd ..... of course bows com in first above all . Thats where the interest in shooting long distance at some decent velocities ... i dis covered SML i cruised dougs lookin for info saw a builder but he wasnt interested in what i was thinkin . Then jeff appeared . he listened " said send me your gunand ill se what i can come up with " the rest is history . Hence was born the His break open custom conversion ...... with usuable ejector how cool is that !
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