I finally got the chance to get some range time and start working up a hunting load for my second-hand .54 cal T/C Renegade. I brought numerous bullets from 3 different manufacturers, plus about a hundred 380 grain Lee REALs that I cast. My intent was to shoot a few rounds of each to see if the rifle had any preference, then to tweak the load to see how much I could optimize it.

I figured that I would fire a few shots with the REALs first. The REALs where what I had the most of and which cost the least. I wanted to foul the barrel a bit, and to settle in before I started any formal testing. I didn't want to waste any of the store-bought stuff due to their expense and limited supply.

I started with a 380 gr. REAL lubed with bore butter and a felt wad over 85 gr. of Pyrodex. At 50 yds. (my anticipated hunting range) the first group of five shots was 3" and was centered about 2" low and 2" to the right of center. Not too bad, I figured, given the type of open sights, which to me, leave a lot to be desired.

After adjusting the sights 2 clicks left and 2 clicks up, the next 5 shots were clustered around X-ring. Three shots were within an inch of each other. The other two expanded the group to 2". As far as I was concerned my testing was finished. It looks like I found my hunting load. Total testing time spend was about 20 minutes. What also made this sort of remarkable is that I sorted the REALs only for obvious defects. I did not sort by weight. Apparently, with a little care, an inexpensive Lee mould produces a fairly consistant bullet.

I also tried some of the other store-bought bullets. With the same lube/wad/powder combination, none matched the groups produced by the home-cast REALS. The only combination that came close was a swaged round ball, which produced a 3" group, 2" high and 1.5" right of the REAL sight zero. In a pinch, if I had to, I could substitue the balls and expect nearly the same performance.

In short, I was very impressed with the performance of the home-cast bullets. I will say, that my quality control was also much better than that of some of the store-bought bullets. Some of those (not those that were test fired) had defects that would have rated a trip back to the melting pot, as far as I was concerned.

Interestingly, I also noticed a lot less fouling in the barrel when using the Lee REALs as opposed to any other bullet.
Past experience with other bullets has lead me to expect more junk returned on the patch when I swabbed every 5th shot. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was not the case with the REAL/borebutter combination. The patch returned dirty and discolored, but not filthy. When I switched to testing other bullets, the filth and crud returned to their expected levels.

Now I have a new (to me) rifle that I like a lot and that shoots very well. I found a load that it likes to hurl with a fair amount of authority. Bullets shouldn't ever be a problem since I can cast my own. Best of all, the bullets I cast perform as well, if not better than store bought bullets. The only thing left to do is find a white-tail to volunteer for the freezer. :D

Many thanks to the folks that read this forum and that are willing to share their knowledge and experience. This certainly helps to shorten the learning curve for novices like myself.

-hbennett

I started with a 380 gr. REAL lubed with bore butter and a felt wad over 85 gr. of Pyrodex. At 50 yds. (my anticipated hunting range) the first group of five shots was 3" and was centered about 2" low and 2" to the right of center. Not too bad, I figured, given the type of open sights, which to me, leave a lot to be desired.

I have always found REAL conicals to be be very accurate in the 1:48' twist T/C barrels. I also have a .54cal Renegade which shoots both the 300 & 380 grn REALS very well. I also use an over the powder wad. You may not want to stop with your load development yet and try increasing the powder in 5 grn increments. I have found REAL conicals to sometimes actually shoot better with higher powered loads. My Renegade will shoot the 380 grn REALs extremely well with 100 grns of Swiss Ffg. As you stated, the cost of the REALs, when you cast your own, is significantly less than manufactured conicals. You can make your own bullet lube and save even more.

Great information, thanks. I may try to tweak the load some more. I would imagine that a bit more horsepower might translate into less drop at longer ranges.

Due to time and light constraints, as in it gets dark fast in the Northeast this time of year, I was only able to fire a few rounds at 75 and 100 yards. I found that the group opened up a lot. I could try to blame that on the light conditions. Those open sights get hard to see as the light begins to fade, especially with over 40 eyes. Of course the larger group could also be attributed to the nut behind the trigger..but that's an issue of a different kind.

Thanks again for the info. Half of what I like about blackpowder shooting is the tweaking and refining and optimizing. Tips like yours show me that I may still have a way to go before I find the maximum potential from this rifle.
Excellent!! Thanks.

How about REAL in a faster twist, like 1:28?

I might try them in my inline.

I have a Lee mold for my .50 cal CVA side lock and I have used them for years. I have several friends that I supply as well. I use Bore butter and can shoot all day without cleaning. Good bullet and the quality control is up to my standards (me). I used to have trouble getting them lubed and hit upon an idea that I'll share. Just put the finished REALS in the freezer and the bore butter in the microwave. Warm up the bore butter til its liquid and then pour it into a wide mouth short pill bottle. Get the REALS and dip each one into the pill bottle and set em on wax paper. The bore butter fills in well and sticks well. I then store them in an Altoids tin that is the perfect size for about 50 REALS 320 grs. I take several to a buddy's range and hit an 11X8 steel target all day. Mucho fun.

How about REAL in a faster twist, like 1:28?

I might try them in my inline.

I've been shooting 250gr R.E.A.L. bullets in my inline CVA for a couple years now. I get 2 inch groups at 50 yards. I don't know if you're supposed to use them in that tight of a barrel twist but I like the! And cleaning up is much easier than any sabot I've ever used.

I have used them in my 54 cal sharps, I like them, all I cast were with in 1gr, seem to shoot well too.