WV January whitetail

[K Pauley]

West Virginia will start a January muzzle loader season. I have 2 inline rifles but this will be for sidelocks only and no scopes. I picked up a used Thompson Renegade for $100. What would I need to do to this to get optimum performance on whitetail? I am sure the sights will need to be upgraded for older eyes. What other equipment and loads are you guys using? 54 caliber. And no Sabots will be allowed.

 

[sabotloader]

West Virginia will start a January muzzle loader season. I have 2 inline rifles but this will be for sidelocks only and no scopes. I picked up a used Thompson Renegade for $100. What would I need to do to this to get optimum performance on whitetail? I am sure the sights will need to be upgraded for older eyes. What other equipment and loads are you guys using? 54 caliber. And no Sabots will be allowed.

I would go with a rear tang sight - I personally like the Lyman 57 ML tang sight.

This pic doesn't really show it very well and I use a fiber optic replacement front sight.

This shows a little more detail

You can see I had to remove a little bit of wood on the stock to get it to fit.

Lyman 57SML and 57GPR Receiver Sights | Muzzle Loader Sights

Take a look at the conicals that Bullshop Dan offers.

I use a shot card under the bullet to protect the bottom of the bullet melting - but I am using 90 grains of T7 powder. T7 burns hotter than the Pyrodex's and reall BP. This is a pic of 50 cal cards you would need to get 54 cal cards.

Hope some of this helps

 

[K Pauley]

Mine has the factory fiber optic front sight. Did you have to drill and tap another hole in th tang?

 

[sabotloader]

Some of the older TC tangs have the second hole... in my case I did have to drill and tap. It is a fairly straight forward operation.

 

[bbell]

Not a T/C, but I used a Lyman GPR .54 last year. I used a roundball and 90 gr of fffg blackpowder. Shot my mule deer at 100yds and had a pass through. She walked about 5 yds and fell over. I think any roundball or conical as long as it is accurate would work fine.

Brandon

 

[bbell]

Oh and I second the peep sight. Much better shooting with it.