Hunting Accuracy & Knockdown Power With The 260-Grain Scorpion PT Gold And The Traditions VORTEK .50 Pistol

Here's a first look at getting the acuracy and knockdown power needed to take deer-sized game with the Traditions .50 caliber VORTEK Pistol.

The .970" center-to-center 50-yard group shown here was shot with a 60-grain charge of Blackhorn 209 and the 260-grain Scorpion PT Gold, from a sandbag rest, and generates and retains enough energy to just over 90 yards for taking a deer or wild hog. Learn what the maximum feasible charge of Blackhorn 209 is for this very serious hunting handgun.

http://www.namlhunt.com/mlhandguns.html

Not A Lot Of New Muzzleloader Hunting Products At The 2013 SHOT Show

     Seems muzzleloading has taken a back seat to a lot of things these days.  One thing is for certain, when it comes to INNOVATIVE... HOT...NEW things for the muzzleloading hunter - the 2013 SHOT Show, held in Las Vegas, NV January 15 thru 18, was a real bust!

     The one truly bright shining star is a new rifle model from Traditions Performance Firearms - the VORTEK StrikerFire.

     In a sense, this new .50 caliber VORTEK model has gone hammerless.  At least, there's no swinging hammer sticking up out of the receiver.  Instead, there's what the company refers to as the "StrkerFire System Button".  By pushing this forward with either the right or left thumb (the rifle is truly ambidextrous), the shooter cocks the internal striker (a.k.a. firing pin) system.  Once the rifle is cocked, the cross-block manual trigger safety can be engaged, allowing the rifle to be carried safely.  To add an additional level of safety, the internal mechanism can be un-cocked by pushing the small silver release on top of the StrikerFires System Button.  The trigger safety can also be switched from right to left handed.  Operation of this new system is effortless.

     Traditions president Tom Hall is shown here proudly holding the new hamerless VORTEK StrikerFire model

     The new model will be available this spring.  I should be test shooting the rifle in May, and will publish an indepth report on the NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING website. 

     Easily some of the best shooting sabots and bullets out of the three VORTEK break-open hammer rifles that have become my primary test rifles have been the 240-, 260- and 300-grain Scorpion PT Gold polymer-tipped spire points and the black .50x.45 Crush Rib Sabots - from Harvester Muzzleloading.  Shooting my favorite 110-grain charge of Blackhorn 209, the rifles have delivered exceptional accuracy - with a fair share of the 100-yard clusters staying inside of 1-inch across center-to-center.  And that is the load I plan to start my testing with once the snows of Western Montana begin to diminish.

     To stay updated on the availability of the VORTEK StrikerFire, check occasionally at this link -

www.traditionsfirearms.com

     Watch for this report before the end of May.  The new 28-inch barreled .50 caliber Traditions VORTEK StrikerFire was easily the most exciting new muzzleloader hunting product at the 2013 SHOT Show.  - Toby Bridges, HARVESTER MUZZLELOADING HUNTER

NOTE:  Hopefully, this spring we'll also be able to do some test shooting with another new break-open .50 caliber rifle model known as the Redemption.  Ths rifle is now being produced by a new in-line rifle making operation known as LHR Sporting Arms.  When Smith & Wesson became the parent company of Thompson/Center Arms, and moved the gun making operation to Springfield, MA...they left behind some fine rifle makers.  A handful of those who worked so hard to make T/C successful and the company's muzzleloaders popular have launched this new effort to give their old alma mater some competition in the muzzleloading big game rifle market.

The company did not display at this year's SHOT Show, but says they may try to exhibit at the 2014 SHOT Show.  For a look at the Redemption, go to the following link -

www.lhrsportingarms.com

Do You Shoot & Hunt With Blackhorn 209?

 

My favored load for hunting just about anything "big" in North America has become 110-grains of Blackhorn 209 behind the saboted 300-grain Scorpion PT Gold bullet offered by Harvester Muzzleloading.  Simply put, this load has shot very well out of just about every .50 caliber No. 209 primer ignition in-line rifle I've loaded it into.

Most 28-inch barreled rifle models feature a 26 to 26 1/2 inch "working bore".  The load tends to get out of the muzzle at right around 1,970 f.p.s. - with around 2,580 f.p.e.  The 30-inch barreled Traditions .50 caliber VORTEK Ultra Light LDR I shoot and hunt with mostly these days has a 28-inch working bore, and the load leaves the muzzle at 2,009 f.p.s., with right at 2,690 f.p.e.  Out at 200 yards, this rifle and load is still good for 1,460 f.p.s. and about 1,420 f.p.e. - and that's good enough to take any North American big game animal.

If you are now hunting with Blackhorn 209, in the comment section of this blog post, share with others the rifle and the load you shoot - and how well it performs for you.  Or you can send it to us in an e-mail at namlhunt@gmail.com .

Through 2013, the NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING website will be publishing a series of pages that will thoroughly cover every apsect and quality of Blackhorn 209.  The first of those pages can be found at the following link -

http://www.namlhunt.com/blackhorn209.html

On these pages we will try to cover every aspect and quality of this powder. In February, we will even ask the question, "Is Blackhorn 209 Too Good?"

Toby Bridges
Harvester Muzzleloading
Hunter  

Where Can Muzzleloader Hunting Go From Here?

On Thanksgiving morning last fall, I was hunting a long and narrow hayfield along the Musselshell River in the breaks country of central Montana.  From a knoll that rose a good 40 feet above where the field narrowed to just over 200 yards, I watched as a doe ran past a huge cottonwood, which I had lasered at 227 yards.  A few minutes later, a 5x5 buck followed the same exact route, passing within just a few yards of that tree.  Taking a rest on a collapsible tripod shooting rest, I placed the 225-yard cross-bar of the multi-reticle muzzleloader hunting scope on the shoulder of the buck...and eased back on the trigger.  The modern No. 209 primer ignition fast-twist .50 caliber in-line rifle belched - and a 110-grain charge of Blackhorn 209 powder pushed a saboted 300-grain polymer-tipped Scorpion PT Gold spire point out of the muzzle at 1,970 f.p.s., with 2,583 f.p.e..  At about 225 yards, that bullet drove home with right at 1,300 foot-pounds of knockdown power...and that buck went down on the spot.

So, where can muzzleloader hunting performance go from here?  This new NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING report takes a look at what likely lies ahead...

http://www.namlhunt.com/longrangeml2.html

New Blackhorn 209 Loads & Ballistics Data

This past winter and spring, the NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING website compiled and published several pages of new Blackhorn 209 load data for a variety of .50 caliber No. 209 primer ignition rifle models.

For a look at loads for the 28-inch barreled Traditions VORTEK...30-inch barreled VORTEK Ultra Light LDR...28-inch barreled Thompson/Center Arms TRIUMPH...and 28-inch barreled OMEGA, go to the following link -

http://www.namlhunt.com/modernmldata3.html

For Blackhorn 209 loads and data for the Knight Rifles 27-inch barreled LONG RANGE HUNTER...and 27-inch barreled MOUNTAINEER, go to the following link -

http://www.namlhunt.com/modernmldata.html


See how the Harvester Muzzleloading Scorpion PT Gold compares with the competition... especially down range where retained energy is really needed to put game down.

Eleven States Continue To Discriminate Against Muzzleloading Hunters

My wife Christy poses with a plump doe for the freezer, taken at 125 yards with a Harvester Muzzleloading "Crush Rib Sabot" and deadly accurate bullet...thanks to state muzzleloader hunting regulations that permit the use of a riflescope for precise shot placement.

Following is an e-mail that went out yesterday (12-28-11) to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Attached to that e-mail was a letter to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, filing a discrimination complaint against the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, for the manner in which that state wildlife agency forces the aged hunter with weakened eyesight, and those hunters with a natural sight impairment, to jump through hoops in order to "qualify" to use a riflescope during the muzzleloader season. Eleven states still enforce such discriminating regulations.

The battle to win fair and equal muzzleloader hunting opportunities for ALL muzzleloading hunters is far from being over.

The letter to Secretary Salazar can be read at the link in the following e-mail message.

Toby Bridges
NORTH AMERICAN
MUZZLELOADER HUNTING




December 28, 2011

Dear Idaho Department of Fish and Game;

It's time to get this ball rolling along again. Muzzleloader hunting has stalled some over the past couple of years, and that's partially due to backward muzzleloader hunting regulations, such as those enforced by IDFG, that tend to hold back interest.

The attached letter to Secretary Ken Salazar addresses one of the biggest problems plaguing the muzzleloader seasons.

Your agency is one of 11 state wildlife agencies that continue to discriminate against muzzleloader hunters who cannot see open sights well enough to use them. Since 2006, the DOI/USFWS forced IDFG and ten other state wildlife agencies to make special provisions for those hunters with aged or impaired sight to undergo medical examination, complete an application, sent with a letter from the physician/optometrist, and apply for a permit exemption from the restriction that prohibits muzzleloading hunters from using a riflescope.

The Department of the Interior's anti-discrimination policy specifically says that the agency cannot provide funding or financial assistance to any organization or agency which requires ANY U.S. CITIZEN to "qualify in a different manner" in order to participate in any opportunity.

The requirement you now have in place for those with older or impaired sight most definitely discriminates against these hunters. IDFG is in violation of that policy...and so is the DOI/USFWS when it continues to provide federal tax dollars to IDFG.

More on this issue published at: http://www.namlhunt.com/mllegislation2.html


Toby Bridges
NORTH AMERICAN
MUZZLELOADER HUNTING

10,000 Rounds With No Loss Of Accuracy!

Here is a look at a 1.5-inch hundred yard group punched by Harvester Muzzleloading's 300-grain Scorpion PT Gold and red Crush Rib Sabot. And it was produced by a Knight "Long Range Hunter" with more than 10,000 rounds under its belt! Click on link below for the whole story...

50-Consecutive-300PTGold-Shot-Group