Howdy folks,
I got a new inline muzzle loader on Friday. It is a Lyman Cougar. Stainless. I bought in NIB from a fellow at gunsamerica.com. Pretty good price to. I had a chance to get out yesterday and shoot the sucker. Now I kind of dreaded it and heres why. I own two other muzzle loaders. One a kit pistol and the other a cheap traditions? I think. Anyway, they are a pain in the butt to load. You have to brush the bore between shots. After four shots you have to clean them very hard. NOt with the new one though

The new lyman muzzle loader accepted the sabots I fed it yesterday with ease. Did not need a bullet starter. I was able to easily start the bullets with my thumb. Slid down good too.
This had me concerned. Would it shoot straight being this loose. Informal off hand shooting found it able to shoot 4" groups at 125 feet. I am sure that would tighten up considerably in the hands of a more steady shooter or off a bench. I was quite pleased with how it shot. Messing around with the charge might help also. I just chose a charge and went with it.

The barrel went 16 shots before becoming difficult to load. The before mentioned accuracy stayed with it. But after it became hard to load I cleaned fairly well with birch-wood casey black powder solvent, several patches and a bore brush.
The pyrodex had actually made cakes in the barrel. I think they were actually towards the back. That is where most of the resistance was when I started cleaning. Maybe unburnt powder.

One thing is for sure. This muzzleloader was FUN to shoot. Unlike my others. It will NOT lay on the rack another year before it is shot.