Tuesday, July 1, 2014

What Would You Like To See More Of On www.namlhunt.com Web Magazine?



Between now and this time next year...what would you like to see more of on this website? More hunting stories...more rifle test reports...more articles on muzzleloader hunting in the past...more traditional or more modern muzzleloading...more load data...more on hunting whitetails, elk or whatever...more hunting product reviews...more technical information...or just more of everything overall?

Drop us an e-mail at namlhunt@gmail.com and let us know...Or...Just make your suggestion as a comment below...

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Do Radical Changes In Elevation Cause Radical Changes In Point Of Impact?


My personal shooting range is located on what was once the bottom of an ancient lake that was in some places 2,000-feet deep.  Of course, that was more than a million years ago, and the bottom of that huge glacier created lake is now the Missoula Valley of Western Montana.  The elevation where I annually shoot 3,000+ muzzle-loaded rounds is right at 3,000 feet.

Missoula, a city of 70,000 people, is the largest such city in the U.S. that is completely surrounded on all sides by mountains...with some of the peaks reaching 9,000 feet.  There is easy access to a lot of high country where, when it begins to heat up too much in the valley bottoms to do a lot of shooting with saboted bullets, that I can load up and drive to a reasonably remote mountain valley or ridge and get in a morning of shooting with temperatures in the 40's - even in July and August.

On my valley range, I generally sight rifles to place point of bullet impact approximately 2 inches high, to preserve my point of aim.  When we take the dogs and spend a few days in the mountains to get away from city noises, I always take along a muzzleloader or two - and try to get is some high elevation shooting.  I have noticed that at 5,000 to 6,000 feet, point of impact often moves up another inch or two - depending on the load and bullet.

One test I hope to complete by the end of summer is to see if I can actually discern an approximate change in that point of impact at 4,000...5,000...6,000...and maybe 7,000 feet.  The rifle I'll be using for this test is the new 30-inch barreled Traditions .50 VORTEK StrikerFire LDR - shown in the photo above.  This shot was taken at one of my favorite high country shooting spots, at about 6,000 feet.  The snow capped mountains in the background are the Mission Mountains of Western Montana...with several peaks up around 9,000+ feet. 

If you have the opportunity to shoot at such radical changes of elevation...have you noticed any significant changes in point of impact?

This will be posted as the July "Question of the Month" on the NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING website - at www.namlhunt.com

Toby Bridges
NORTH AMERICAN
MUZZLELOADER HUNTING 


If you have any insight on this topic, please drop us an e-mail at - namlhunt@gmail.com 

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Are You Planning To Buy A New Or Different Muzzleloader This Year?


NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING would like to know..."Is there a 'new muzzleloader' in your future...if so, are you buying it specifically for a special hunt...will it be a new production rifle, a custom rifle, or a classic from the past...are you looking at improved performance or looking at stepping back in time and hunting with a traditionally styled muzzleloader?"


If you don't like leaving comments on blogs such as this, please drop us an e-mail at the following address and share with us your muzzleloader purchasing plans.  

                                           namlhunt@gmail.com 

Thursday, May 1, 2014

NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING would like to know..."Have you ever loaded and shot with a four Triple Seven Pellet powder charge...if so, what kind of accuracy and velocity did you achieve?"


At the 2014 NRA Show and Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana April 25, 26 and 27, Remington Arms unveiled its latest muzzle-loaded big game rifle - the .50 caliber Ultimate Muzzleloader.

One huge banner in the hall leading to the hundreds of exhibitor displays was basically the above photo and 300-yard claim.  NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING has shared its thoughts on the velocities and range now being claimed, published at -

http://www.namlhunt.com/mlpreview.html

Our question to you is...have you ever achieved 2,300 to 2,400 f.p.s. with a load built with four of the so-called "50-grain" Triple Seven Pellets?

Do you think it is possible?

Thursday, April 3, 2014

April 2014 "Question of the Month"


Do You Have A Used Whitworth Reproduction For Sale?

Mike is a Civil War follower and photographs Civil War re-enactments.  He's looking for a great condition Dixie Gun Works (made by Euro Arms) .451 caliber hexagonal bore Whitworth target rifle.  He called Dixie and was informed that they didn't have any of the rifles on hand - and that they did not plan to stock the rifle any longer.

If you know of anyone with one they would be willing to sell.  Leave a comment below, or drop NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING an e-mail at namlhunt@gmail.com .

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Does Anyone Know Where There's A Santa Fe Hawken For Sale?


Rod Would Like To Know......"Does anyone have one of the late 1970's/early 1980's Western Arms/Uberti Sante Fe Hawken rifles for sale?" 

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

New Double Features Pages To Become A Regular Feature On NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING Website!


To bring you even more great muzzleloader hunting and muzzleloader performance articles, we are going to include at least one "Double Feature" page every quarter - and on those pages you will find two feature articles or reports.  This link will take you to the first of those pages -

                            http://www.namlhunt.com/doublefeature.html

On this page you will find an article on hunting whitetails with the .50 caliber Traditions VORTEK Pistol (and Hi-Lux Optics Max TAC-DOT red-dot sight) shown above...plus another article that takes a look at why the Scorpion PT Gold bullets produced by Harvester Muzzleloading are the favorite hunting bullets of NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING.

Friday, January 31, 2014

Looking For A Knight .50 Hawkeye Pistol





Paul Wants To Know... "Does anyone know where I can buy one of the Knight .50 caliber Hawkeye muzzleloading pistols at a reasonable price?" 

Monday, January 20, 2014

"Why Can't I Duplicate The Load Ballistics Published On The NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING Website?"


World events are so much easier captured for the public to see due to the fact that such a large percentage of people now have a camera with them at most times - whether that camera is an actual digital still or video camera...or simply a cellphone with photography or video capability.  Snapping photos, either still or moving, has never been easier.

Somewhat in the same light, inexpensive yet reliable chronographs have made it so much easier for the typical shooter to clock the bullet speeds of his loads.  On a somewhat regular basis, NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING hears from muzzleloading shooters who have acquired a new chronograph - and a few have been shocked to find that, shooting the same rifle...powder...charge...sabot...and bullet...ignited by the same No. 209 primer or percussion cap...they are getting velocities that are often 50...75...or even 100 f.p.s. different than the loads and data we've compiled on all of the pages found at the following link -

http://namlhunt.com/loaddatalinks.html

That does not surprise me.  The fact is, on any given day, I experience the very same thing.  It simply boils down to the fact that you are not going to get the same velocities on a -10 degree (F) morning that you achieve on a +80 degree (F) or warmer afternoon.  Likewise, a variety of other factors also come into play that will affect the day to day velocities any shooter achieves, including the percentage of relative humidity in the air and the elevation of the range where you are shooting.

I've been on hunts where mornings were below zero and afternoons well into the 50's.  Yes, it will affect point of impact...but normally not enough to be of any real consequence.  A 50 or 60 degree temperature change will very commonly move point of impact up or down an inch or two - but with a properly sighted modern in-line rifle and a good center hold on the chest cavity of the game being hunted (at 50 to 150 yards), shooting a 250- to 300-grain saboted spire point bullet at 1,900 to 2,000 f.p.s., should put the shot squarely through the kill zone, perhaps an inch higher or lower than where the crosshairs were at the shot.

Here at NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING, we try to hit our range two or three times a week in April, May and June, then again in late September, October and early November - basing when we shoot on temperature.  Our range (shown above) is located in a shallow valley about 15 miles northwest of Missoula, MT.  For us, the ideal shooting temperatures are 45- to 55-degrees - often meaning that during early Spring and late Fall, we shoot more in the afternoons - while in late Spring and early Fall we hit the range in the mornings.

The ballistics data on the website was compiled from the shooting we've mostly done within that temperature range.  Still, we do a great deal of shooting when it's much hotter...or much colder.  This ongoing testing is conducted to see how those weather changes affect velocities, accuracy and point of impact.  Our published loads and data are simply a base, shooting during the most ideal weather and temperature range, in order to allow a comparison of rifle, powder and projectile performance.

During 2013, between our coldest and hottest shooting sessions there was an extreme spread of almost 110-degrees (-10 the coldest and +99 for the hottest).  Shooting our 30-inch barreled Traditions .50 VORTEK Ultra Light LDR test rifle, loading with 110-grains of Blackhorn 209 and the 300-grain Scorpion PT Gold, we experienced right at a 90 f.p.s. variation in velocity (fastest during cold weather and slowest during extremely hot weather).  Still, every shot would have taken a whitetail at 100 yards.

Before heading out on a 2013 Missouri Breaks hunt the week before Thanksgiving, the sighting of the rifle was tweaked to bring the point of impact up about an inch - and 5 days later a single shot dropped a nice 10-point buck at 140 yards.  As the weather changes, tweaking the sighting of any modern in-line rifle should be an ongoing thing...especially when a major weather and temperature change rolls in.  -  Toby Bridges, NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING


Here's A 2011 Article/Report That Takes A Look At "Variables In Muzzleloader Ballistics & Performance" -

http://www.namlhunt.com/mlvariables.html 



    

Monday, January 6, 2014

January Question Of The Month


Dave wants to know..."Where can I find parts for the Austin & Halleck Model 420 rifle?"