Muzzleloaders

A Primitive Weapon?

Jeff Smith
September 2003

Thompson Omega - 50 caliber

Today’s “Modern” Muzzleloaders are a fair cry from yester-years flintlock and percussion cap firearms.  With light years of technological advancement in today’s inline muzzleloaders, comparing them to flintlocks is hardly worth discussion.  This article takes a look at how the modern muzzleloader compares to a centerfire rifle.

Technically a "Muzzleloader" is considered a firearm that's loaded through the muzzle.  A muzzleloader falls into two categories; percussion and flintlock.  This article deals with the percussion muzzleloader.

I'm sure to get lots of emails from people who've shot a chipmunk at 800 yards on a windy day with a muzzleloader and that's cool.  At 800 yards, you'll be 458 inches low (a little over 38 feet) and a 10 mph crosswind will cause the bullet to move 77 inches (over 6 feet).  All I can say is ... congratulations!!

There’s four distinct traits to a hunting firearm – velocity/kinetic energy, accuracy, reliability and hunting functionality. 

Velocity

Compare the muzzleloader velocity and kinetic energy to three common centerfire cartridges – 270 Winchester, 30-06 and 300 Winchester Magnum.

By comparing the bullet velocity of the centerfire to the muzzleloader, only one muzzleloader velocity (45 Caliber-195 gr. bullet with 150 grains of Pyrodex) is even close to the centerfire cartridges.  The kinetic energy created by the muzzleloader is comparable to the centerfire at the muzzle - later we'll look at the downrange trajectory of the two firearms and compare the kinetic energy at downrange targets.  You'll see a major difference!

Accuracy

It blows my mind the degree of accuracy the modern muzzleloader can achieve.  I handload my centerfire cartridges and can see a noticeable change in accuracy with just a half a grain of powder either way.  Measuring "loose" powder and pouring down the barrel seems very archaic, but it's hard to dispute the results.  Don't get me wrong, my muzzleloaders will not shoot groups like a centerfire rifle but they're more than accurate enough for hunting at their effective range.  Bullet seating depth is very important in centerfire but putting a bullet in the barrel and ramming it down to a mark on the ramrod ... against my better judgment it works.

The charts below show downrange velocity, KE and bullet path with a 150-yard sight-in range:

The Pyrodex data only lists the information out to 250-yards - stay tuned and you'll see why.  They show a 150-yard sight-in range.

As you can see, the Kinetic Energy and Bullet Path has a radical decrease in performance at all downrange variables.  A centerfire rifle is just getting started at 200 yards and a typical muzzleloader has lost most of it's punch at that distance.  The Kinetic Energy is less than one-third and the bullet drop is approximately 6 times greater for a muzzleloader.

Reliability

I don't feel reliability is an issue with today's muzzleloaders.  They're not as reliable as a centerfire rifle, but are definitely reliable.   I fired over 200 shots from three different muzzleloaders over the past couple of weeks and had no misfires.  That was shooting different brands and types of primers (No. 11 and 209) and 4 different types of powder.

Hunting Functionality

Today's muzzleloaders are designed along the same lines as a bolt-action rifle.  They're more time consuming to load and are "single shots", but that's the way of the world in muzzleloaders.  As far as hunting, other than being slightly heavier, they function very well as a hunting firearm.

In conclusion

I've never shot a deer at long range (200+ yards) with a muzzleloader, but at close range it's unbelievable the damage a 50 caliber muzzleloader will do to a deer sized animal.  I limit my range with a muzzleloader to 200-yards - that's not a "gimme" with any firearm but to say a muzzleloader is a centerfire rifle is in my opinion a mistake.  Is it a primitive weapon ... that's for you to decide ... I say no.