problem sighting in

[justiceforall]

ok here we go i`m trying to sight in my t/c renagade using t/c maxi hunters @ 50 yards hitting right on the money @ 80 yards dropping 12 inches ,will increaseing the powder charge do anything for me as far as the drop is concerned? if I can get the drop to come closer together is what i`m tring to say.,it looks like i`m looseing velocity but 30 yards diff .to drop that much thats why i`m asking if anybody else has run into this .....shooting 80 gr.of 3 f in it right now I tried 90 but it did the same thing,maybe if I zero it in at 5 inches high @50

[berkscoflinter1]

justiceforall, I shoot patched round balls, and do not have to deal with the degree of drop you are experiencing. I assume your T/C renegade is .50 or .54 cal. With black powder, you reach a point of diminishing returns which might be the reason your 80gr. and 90gr. charges are accomplishing the same results down range. Ten grains of unburned powder may be exiting the muzzle along with your maxi hunter.

I will do some research on trajectory of maxi hunters and get back to you. Sorry I missed you at the Dixon's Gunmaker's Fair. Had I known you were waiting at the books, I would have been there. We bumped into Loggy outside.

[berkscoflinter1]

Here is something else to consider. Sight in dead on at 25 yards. This should place your 50 yard shots, 2-3 inches high. At 75-80 yards, you should be pretty close to dead on again or and inch or two low.

Shooting off hand beyond those yardages is asking alot of you and your flintlock. Just my opinion, however.

[loggy]

BCF has hit the bullseye!!!

One thing I found when i had my 1-48 twist barrel TC Firestorm while in search for that perfect load...the t/c maxi hunters did not group nearly as well as the 370 grain TC Maxiballs. I know of others that have experienced the same results. The maxi-hunters will offer better expansion than the maxi-ball but a 1/2" hole still aint too shabby. The maxiball was consistently accurate.

[soupe]

Dead on at 50 yards ain't bad. Guys sometimes talk some crap about hitting at 100 yards or 125 yards. They are very experienced and have specialized barrels(or bull peddlers). Whether Its a fast twist with bullets or a slow twist with roundballs these guys have been doing it for a long time. 50 yards is great. The fact that you know it drops a foot at 80 means your in pretty good shape. The first deer I shot with a ML was with a maxi hunter at 25 yards. It looked like someone drilled a 1/2 inch hole straight through it.
Increasing my load only decreased my accuracy. You can change your projectile, but write down what works. I find myself in a projectile loop.
Hitting dead on at 50 is a good problem to have. Most of our shots (and misses) have been inside of that.

[zimmerstutzen]

Are you shooting down hill? 12 inch drop in 30 yds. Major league pitchers don't get that kind of drop. (kidding of course) I've heard of folks having guns with off set bores that pointed down hill or up hill. In the early 18980's, Numrich arms sold a crap load of muzzleloader barrels with off set bores, sometimes barely noticeable. Dixie gun works warned folks to use the most off set end for the breech. You can sight fine for some short distance and then a few yards out it is steady down hill. Have ya measured the height of your front and rear sights. Should be nearly the same. A gun with a bore that points down hill or up hill can only be sighted for one distance and goes to wild elevation beyond that. Some times it is just a small bend near the muzzle and sometimes a long slow bend. It only has to be a few thousandths off. That kind of drop seems too much to blame on just gravity.

[justiceforall]

since this first post I have tried various combonations with roundballs ,patches ,wads,powder ...still the same result ,the target black is the size of a pie plate ,if i`m back to 100yards and put the sights right above the black I can hit the center but if I put the sights right on the black it hits about a foot low well maybe 10 inches still enough for a miss ,,they group cloverleaf where ever I aim which is quit impressive ,I have the maxiballs on order beside that I`m lost,.i`m about to buy an inline lol!!!

[berkscoflinter1]

justiceforall, my response above concerning trajectory was more or less "seat of the pants" information, and I have since done some digging and found some info. on practical hunting trajectories. The trajectory of a .530 round ball at 1800 fps, and sighted in for 100 yards, shows the bullet is above the line of sight by 0.96" at 25 yards, by 1.88" at 50 yards, and 1.67" at 75 yards. Dead on again at 100 yards.

Use the roundball, lubed patch, and powder charge that gave you the "cloverleaf" groups you site above. Those groups are telling you that you have found the powder, patch, and ball combination that your rifle handles best, and it is usually different for different rifles. Use targets with much smaller bull's-eyes than "pie plate" size. Shoot 3-5 shot groups at 25 yards, 50 yards, 75 yards, and 100 yards, and make sure you maintain the same sight picture on the target. I would suggest dead on the center of the bull rather than the 6 o'clock hold. Your results should coinside pretty closely with the trajectories offered above.

Like zimmer suggests above, make sure you are sighting-in on a level range, neither up hill or down. Also, use a solid rest with the forearm of the rifle resting on the same spot each time when sighting-in.

Keep us informed. Good shooting!