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T/C Renegade - 24"bbl - 1 in 48"

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glrerun

32 Cal.
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am purchasing a T/C Renegade in .54 cal.

This gun has a 24 or 26" barrel with a 1 in 48" twist.

Would PRB work in such short barrel or should I use conicals, and what would be a good load to start with.
 
It'll be just dandy with PRB's. Might need a little tighter patch/ball combo if you try to scream the velocities, but it's likely to shoot more accurately than you can. At least that's the case with mine! :rotf:
 
That gun will do just fine and dandy with a PRB.
I have one myself. I never put conicals down it. {Well I did when I first got it but it beat me up and left me bruised, so it is round balls only for me.}
 
If you hit 'em in the "right place" with that big ol' .54 caliber round, patched rifle ball, they'll go DOWN.... permanently !

The POWER of the .54 caliber ball is awesome !~!~! :bow:


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.
 
It has the potential to be a great shooter using a PRB. I have a Lyman 1:48 twist that is about the same length and it's very accurate. I would use a .530 ball patched with .018 mattress ticking that has a dry lube (Ballistol/water) and 60 grains of 2f Goex to start with. Mine likes 85 grains but work up a load to see what yours shoots best. As for conicals, I always got better results when I added a lubed fiber wad but accuracy was never on par with a PRB.
 
Concerning the kind of accuracy you can expect...
My brother's head hunter load accuracy load in his .54 Renegade was the max load of FFg, paper over the powder, round ball, ticking lubed with neats foot oil. He settled on the power level he wanted and then made it accurate. We called it head hunting because with a couple of toe headed boys running loose in the woods we shot everything but the rule was head shots only. Seen him cut half moons out of the backside of critter craniums.
 
You'll have two distinct "sweet spots". The first will be right around the caliber of the gun (54 grains) and the second will be somewhere between 75 & 90 grains (usually). Each gun is slightly different, so experiment to see for yourself.

Enjoy the Renegade!

Dave
 
The Renegade came with the 26 inch, 1 in 48 barrel. PRB works fine. I used it to knock over steel targets at 100 yards. The only limiting factor was my marksmanship. Start around 50 grains and work up from there. Closer targets might call for less powder.

The Renegade is a fine rifle. I've enjoyed mine for thirty years.

Jeff
 
You've gotten some really good advice here. Like Ron T. said, the .54 is a very powerful caliber and will shoot a round ball with plenty of oomph for about anything that you may be hunting. I like Bull3540's load advice. That is what my rifle likes. You may need to experiment just a bit to find if yours likes the same thing. But, I bet you will find that Bull3540 is pretty near spot on. 2 Tall pointed out that a 1:48 twist rate will shoot either patched round balls or conicals. Even so, I prefer to shoot only patched round balls. Keep in mind what Ron T. said. As Smokin 50 pointed out, you will find that your rifle has two sweet spots with regard to the amount of powder that you use. Mine likes 65 grains and 90 grains best of all. The others are not too bad but my groups tighten up when I use either 65 or 90 grains of 3f black powder. I use mostly 65 grains because it gives less recoil and my pound of powder goes farther than when I shoot 90 grains. While 65 grains will get the job done when hunting, I choose to use the 90 grain charge. The trajectory is only marginally different until you get past 75 yards. At 100 yards, the 90 grain charge is 6 inches low with a 50 yard zero and the 65 grains charge is a bit over 8 inches low at 100 yards.
 
My brother and I both bought used .54 Renegades a month or so back. They both shoot PRB great with any load from 40gr up to 95gr. Best groups are 85gr. Goex 2f with a .530 ball. My gun likes .018" ticking. I shoot really wet patches. His likes a .010" pre-lubed patch, which were burning a little so he started adding some wet lube to each patch.

Lots of good info here: http://www.namlhunt.com/traditionalmldata2.html

I like to sight in at 100 yards. More good info can be found here: http://home.insightbb.com/~bspen/trajectories.html
 
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