Man, it's been a long hot Summer and I haven't shot in a quite a while.

Got a chance to sneak in a short range session Saturday afternoon. And even though it was eighty-one degrees with humidity high enough that sweat didn't evaporate I couldn't hold off any longer.

The objective of the session was to try some lead conicals kindly supplied by a member of the HuntingNet.com Black Powder forum. He sent me two bullet weights, 350 grain hollow points and 465 grain flat points, all pure soft lead and sized to .451.

He sure does a nice casting and sizing job. Here's what they look like.



I intend to try these beauties with sabots in several of my .50 caliber guns. But yesterday's session was devoted to the .45 caliber Green Mountain barreled Renegade.



The bullets are a perfect slip fit in the Renegades 1:30 twist barrel.

I knew the gun was sighted in for dead on at 100 yards with .40 caliber/200 grain XTPs, and had no idea where those heavy leads would hit. So I set up a target at 25 yards and loaded one of the 350's over 65 grains GOEX FFFg with a felt wad under the bullet.

To my surprise, it hit only 3/4" below the left side of the 1" bull. (See shot #1 on target below.)



After adjusting the scope a little bit up and right, I took two more shots with the same load. That sucker shows promise! Both in the bull 1/2" apart.

Out of curiosity, I tried two shots with the 465 grainers with the same 65 grain load (shots 4 & 5 on the target). Those two had a 1-3/8" spread and may have potential with a heavier powder charge.

I didn't have a lot of time to play, so decided to work with just the 350's. With a target set at the 50 yard mark, I took five shots with the same 65 grain load. The .50 caliber felt wads were a pain to get in the bore without them getting cocked on the side. I can't swear they all went down perfectly flat against the charge. (Note to self - get some .45 caliber wads.)

Anyway, here's the 50 yard target.



I can tell you, I was pretty darn excited after shot number three. But four and five were a bit deflating.

After changing the adjustment on the powder measure to 75 grains, I tried five more shots at 50 yards.

Here's that target.



Can you say "BIG GRIN"?

Being pressed for time I had to quit for the day. It really stunk to have to leave without trying 75 and 100 yards, and different charges under the 465 grain bullet. But family obligations took precedence. Maybe next weekend?
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very cool!

Thanks for the article. Good information. I also shoot the R/C Renegade. My favorite is the 58 caliber. It's a Hawken barrel and I put a 525 lead bullet down range with 90 grains of powder. I've never used the wads. But after this I might give them a try.
Thanks again for the information.

As stated in the original post, I thought the 465 grain bullets might shoot well with charges heavier than the 65 grain load tested. Well, here are two 50 yard targets (shot over a chronograph) with the big 465 grain bullet. This shows real promise. Next time out I'll take it to 75, 100, and 125 yards with the 85 grain load.

75 Grains GOEX FFFg



85 Grains GOEX FFFg





Here's a "100 yard zero" ballistics chart with the projected velocity and energy of the 85 grain load out to 200 yards. I sure hope the accuracy indicated by those 50 yard targets holds up at longer ranges.

Very interesting. Just curious, are you swabbing the bore at all between shots? What is your shot to shot loading procedure? I have a heck of a time developing something that works on the bench and then trying to figure out a practical way to duplicate the procedure in the field while hunting.

I swab the bore with both sides of a patch wet with 91% Isopropyl alcohol between each shot. It dries almost instantly, so there's no worry about the bore being wet when you dump the powder for the next shot.

I carry the alcohol in those little 3oz. bottles with tilt-top spouts that are sold for airline travel. I got mine from Bed, Bath & Beyond. For hunting, a simple spit patch will do, or carry a few of those foil packs that contain one alcohol swab - the kind used in hospitals/clinics for wiping the skin prior to an injection.

Well, I took the big 465 grain bullets out to 75, 100, and 125 yards today.

Here are the results.

75 Yards


100 Yards


125 Yards


Happiness is a 2-3/8" five-shot group at 125 yards with slip fit heavy lead in a sidelock.

That's not bad at all, I'd be happy with that any day out of my renegade.
I'll have to give the alcohol swab a try.

whin i hunt with Ol Kentucky i got one shot. carry 1/2 PVC pipe with caps, for speed loader. Tis amazing how any one survived back then. shoot i'm ing with android &it winning. 2nd try at posting

Hey Colt, I didn't even know they had muzzleloaders on that planet where you live.

keep on tellen em got alien body parts back, shoulder & knee. they just laugh & make fun of me. first deer rifle twas the .45 Kentucky. gotta admit, these bigger & faster guns tis the new age. tis like dis high-tech android keep ing with, it make an idiot outa me. tis a conspiracy i tell ya. dang Gov. tis spying on me ops here come de men in black again u have any luck ops, gotta go below raidar, best wishes

Hey man, don't forget your aluminum foil hat!

whew, dat was close, they gave me a Jury summons, they getting pretty desprite. yagh, like pappy always say's: bout as bright as a burnt out light biulb. whin ya flip the switch, the eliment don't conect gonna stop bye de LQ store first pic up me friend JD & plead the 5th. been shooting ML since 70's. took a hog couple years back while wondering about the woods. tried ta get a ML hog hunt last year tagether in Public Hunting Form. no takers. can't complain. everything is high-tech these days. got replaced by machine any ways best wishes. keep your head held high & your powder dry edit: some of me posts are like, Pete & rePete. I got cheap posts