PVA Muzzle Loader

[Hawk in WY]

Jumped in the deep end and ordered a prefit barrel .45 cal muzzleloader from Patriot Valley Arms.

The barrel arrived along with a muzzle brake, a section of the barrel, screw-in bolt, and a bag of primer cups.

I reload for a dozen calibers but never loaded a muzzleloader.

Any and all advice is appreciated. With photos even better.

Good and bad news so far: powder is available and the bullets Josh recommends are really expensive.

Thanks in advance.

 

[danatkins]

Is it smokeless or black powder? If black give 75-100 grains of blackhorn 209 a try just work up in 5 grain increments see what shoots best in your barrel

 

[Hawk in WY]

I'm completely new to this. All I know is it loads from the front, not the back.

Is there a muzzleloader for dummies book?

 

[BJames]

I’m in the same boat, but have been playing with mine already. Pellets and sabot/bullets is definitely the way to go. Way more consistent.


Just like any load development, try different combos and see what the target says

 

[Maxduty]

Modern Muzzleloader Muzzleloading Forum

Modern muzzleloading hunting forum & muzzle loading classifieds. Modern muzzle loading forums for inline muzzleloading, white muzzleloaders, bullet casting, smokeless, sidelock, traditional.

www.modernmuzzleloader.com

 

[AE287]

If it’s smokeless powder then I don’t have much advice. If black powder then I like the blackhorn powder a lot. I would start around 80 grains and work from there. Pyrodex is decent, and I would not use triple 7 as it tends to put a black fouling that is hard to remove. I shoot the basic Hornady Great Plains bullet and it is accurate and deadly 100 yards and in.

 

[AE287]

Actually I’ve read/ experienced that pyrodex is particularly corrosive, so I would not recommend it either. If it were me I would stick to blackhorn or good old fashioned black powder

 

[Hawk in WY]

The rifle is set up for smokeless powder, called a modern muzzleloader.

Thank you for the education so far.

 

[AE287]

Ok, yeah I don’t know the velocities you get out of that, but it’s probably higher than I would want to shoot the lead Hornady bullet I described. I wouldn’t want to push the lead bullets over about 1,500 FPS because they would probably over expand when they hit something

 

[db2000]

For Smokeless I like 150 gr (3 pellets) Triple 7 and Hornady SST sabots. Accurate and powerful out of my CVA with Bergara barrel.

Triple Seven® 50/50 Pellets

Triple Seven 50/50 pellets are 50-caliber, 50-grain pellets designed for use in 50-caliber, in-line rifles. A single pellet may be used for target or small game and two pellets may be used to create the 100 gr. equivalent for big game. Easy clean-up, just like Triple Seven granular powder...

shop.hodgdon.com

Hornady SST-ML Muzzleloader Bullets 45 Cal Sabot 40 Cal 200 Grain

The Hornady Muzzleloading Low Drag Sabot is designed to be easier to load. The sabots are loaded with Hornady's SST Bullets which achieve controlled...

www.midwayusa.com

 

[M_R_Woodard]

In my smokeless muzzloader I am using 60 grains of H-4198 with a 278 grain Pittman bullet. That load gives me 2610 fps. 65 grains gives me 2730 but the recoil sucks without a brake. Most are using either IMR or H 4198 with the 45 caliber smokeless muzzleloaders. Starting load should be 55 grains and go up from there.

 

[AE287]

How many grains of powder can you put in you smokeless muzzleloader? That’s some serious power

 

[Maxduty]

How many grains of powder can you put in you smokeless muzzleloader? That’s some serious power

Using up to 70ish of IMR or H4198 with 300 grain XLD bullets in my .45 cal

 

[AE287]

Using up to 70ish of IMR or H4198 with 300 grain XLD bullets in my .45 cal

Do you know how many FPS that is running?

 

[Maxduty]

Do you know how many FPS that is running?

Didn't have my MS with me that day. Plan on getting some measurements this weekend. 65 grains gets about 2600 though.

 

[Kimber.204]

I'm shooting my Rem 700/Hankin's Smokeless with 68gr IMR-4198 and 275gr Parker Black Max bullets.
I've only had it out a couple times, need to get it to the range a few more times before the early deer/bear season starts here in PA.

3 shots into one large ragged hole at 100yds from the bench has been consistent. Unfortunately I'm out of LR Magnum primers and I'm going to have to switch to standard large rifle.
Now that I've settled on my powder charge I'm going to check the elevation drops at 200 and 300yds. Around Pittsburgh I'll never get a 300yd shot, but if I use it around my parents farm it would be nice to know.

I invested in a smokeless muzzleloader to eliminate the dirt and corrosion from black powder and the many good alternatives. Burning IMR-4198 it is like any other modern rifle. I don't have to clean it every time I take it to the range a shoot it, and it is still easy to load and fires consistently.

 

[buggz]

watching…

 

[Sbenc]

I got up to 65 grains h4198 on 23" barrel with 300 grain xld smooth sized. 2500 fps. When i get a brake i will up it some more.

Does your PVA barrel seem like a looser fit on the bullet until your bullet gets down closer to the chamber end?

Also my barrel headspaced rather loose at go gauge +.013 or more and i am having primers backing out and a bit of gas leakage around the module. Anyone else run into stuff like this with the PVA barrels?

I am still waiting to hear back from PVA on how to remedy this.

 

[OH58DViper]

Jumped in the deep end and ordered a prefit barrel .45 cal muzzleloader from Patriot Valley Arms.

The barrel arrived along with a muzzle brake, a section of the barrel, screw-in bolt, and a bag of primer cups.

I reload for a dozen calibers but never loaded a muzzleloader.

Any and all advice is appreciated. With photos even better.

Good and bad news so far: powder is available and the bullets Josh recommends are really expensive.

Thanks in advance.

how did your new barrel work our for you?

 

[Hawk in WY]

Thank you for asking.

I now have all the components including the bullet swage die. Bullets are really expensive for this thing. I believe I know how this should work and look forward to shooting it.

Since the modern muzzleloader is not legal for the Idaho muzzleloader season, I am now focusing on the Pedersoli Kodiak 50 cal I have added to the collection. Challenge is finding percussion caps.

Stay safe.