[Jeff Higgins]

What load were you shooting?

Bench technique is exceedingly important with the muzzle loader. There is both a great deal of barrel time compared to a modern, high velocity arm, and a great deal of recoil to boot. This combination demands a certain technique that may be far different than how you normally shoot the old bolt gun.

Most modern rifle shooters rest the forearm on a sandbag, the toe of the stock on a sandbag, and use the left hand (for right handers) to grab that rear bag and squeeze it to affect elevation. This does not work with the muzzle loader (or any relatively low velocity, heavy recoiling rifle). One must grab that forearm, placing the hand between it and the forward sandbag in order to gain some measure of control and consistency. Left to recoil freely, the forearm simply jumps too much and too inconsistently while the bullet is still in the barrel.

The sights supplied by T/C on their "Hawken" are just about the best damn open sights supplied with any rifle today. Believe me, these sights will never hold anyone back. Don't blame these sights - work on your technique and your load. You simply don't have time to be dicking around with the sights.

Success can come slowly with these rifles; I've seen experienced hands (myself included) put months of effort into finding the right load. Far more effort than working up a load for some modern centerfires, as a matter of fact. Like I said before, you are on the steepest learning curve in the firearms world.

Tabby mentions Ned Robert's book. This is considered mandatory reading for the budding muzzle loader shooter. More mandatory reading is Sam Fadala's The Complete Black Powder Handbook, Toby Bridge's Muzzle Loader's Guide, and the Lyman Black Powder Handbook. There is just so much to all of this, so many subtleties beyond basics like powder and projectile selection. These rifles "talk" to you, and if you do not understand the language, you will have little chance of success. They will tell you what they need, but you have to pay attention and understand what you are seeing. This reading list will help, but nothing replaces experience with your rifle.

Of course, you do not have the time for any of that. Your back is up against the wall. What do you have, four days? You would be doing well to get this sorted even if you spend each and every one of those four days at the range. So, tell us what you have tried already, how bad it shot, all of it - how often did you swab the bore and with what, how much seating pressure you used, which caps, everything. Maybe we can make some recommendations from there.