Howdy yall,
I might have a chance at a .54 TC Renegade and i am wondering what moulds and/or projectile types would be best with it and what is most accurate with TC Rifles. Thanks in advance!
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Howdy yall,
I might have a chance at a .54 TC Renegade and i am wondering what moulds and/or projectile types would be best with it and what is most accurate with TC Rifles. Thanks in advance!
the load should be predicated on what are ya gonna primarily do with that nice rifle? i prefer patched .530 or .535 balls with a .54, but some folks like some manner of heavier maxi or REAL for hunting.
I used to hunt with one, so I leaned toward the Maxi Ball. Nice, heavy bullet, designed for the Renegade, and is as accurate as you can hold it.Other than that, I'd get some ffG powder, #11 caps, and T/C Wonder Lube.
a good 3F (swiss or old enysford) is a very good powder for a .54 rifle or smoothie, you'll use less and probably get added velocity, and will burn cleaner than most 2F flavors.
No matter what else you decide to get, do get a LEE round ball mold. Amazing just how relaxing it can be smacking things at will at 100yds with one of those rifles on the cheap.
those LEE ball moulds are excellent, they're all i use for ball moulds. also consider getting a LEE .54 REAL bullet mould in 300 or 380 grains, for some serious smack down power.
For deer and bigger, get a TC maxi or maxi hunter mold. I used them with 105 grains of 2ffg or less 3fffg, lubed with any good ML lube grease or Crisco, and a felt or fiber wad underneath the slug out of pure lead. I took 43 white tails with this in TC rifle, I glass bedded, out to 165 yds, the usually traveled 26 inches or so, straight down!
I'd stick with simple patched round ball. Deadly on elk size critters. No need for extra recoil/weight.
I sure do wish they had more bp shoots in this neck of the woods. Most here shoot those inline wannabees.
Every one of the TC muzzleloaders is it's own critter.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cag40Navy
My brother's Renegade hunting load that he fiddled with until it is tweety bird head accurate is .53 ball, right at the manual maximum charge of FFg, ticking patch, neatsfoot oil, paper over the powder to prevent burn through on the patch.
Most times people fiddle with the powder charge to get best accuracy.
He went with the hunting fast FPS flat trajectory powder charge he wanted and then made that accurate, because he wanted the level of performance in power as well as accuracy.
Cag if you get the TC let me know I have a couple of moulds that you can try be for you get your own
How much recoil can you handle? The heaver the projectile and its powder charge needs to be so's to make it fly straight and true governs the rifles kicking recoil. You want to hunt big bear or elk? Than a bullet type projectile has that crushing penetration edge over a Patched ball. But for deer. A so called thin skinned animal. A single Patched Ball targeted well from a 54s barrel is quite sufficient to drop even the biggest of deer.
54 molds come in two basic ball sizes. .530 & .535._.530 is best for field purposes. (<less problematic with its ramming home in a fouled barrel.) .535 is best used for target practice. (<tighter overall fitting up against its barrel rifling gets the surest accuracy and to the non-hurried availability to swab every so often between shots also helps for a .535 reloading)
Can't improve on a Rd. Ball design.(round is round) Be there's lots of designs for bullets & conical's. Never ending designs. Enough different designs to drain a fellows wallet dry for a extended length of time. (If some other is interested in shooting them all.)
Some like aluminum molds. Others like ductile iron made molds. I myself prefer Iron over aluminum when it comes to molds. Ductile or steel >lifetime use with simple maintenance.
Aluminum molds require little maintenance but indeed wear out sooner. The old motto apply's: "You get what you pay for." when it comes to bullet/ball molds.
I have had a Renegade 54 that I have not shot in years. My best experience with is with round patched balls at 75 yards. 10 shots so close I could cover the holes with a closed fist. Have also shot maxie bullets and real cast lead. I remember that they were all accurate. Love the black steel fittings, the overall balance and look of my rifle.
Bests thing to do with a Renegade is send that 54 pea shooter to Bobby Hoyt and bore it to a 58 cal.