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Youth Muzzleloader Options

AZHunter

AZHunter

Iowa Boy At Heart
Hey guys-

It seems like I've asked this somewhere on here before, but I can't find any threads that I started. After watching a buddy of mine's son take a monster desert muley in a youth muzzleloader hunt (unit is traditional only) last November, we got to talking about getting Sydney a muzzleloader to increase her options. I kind of forgot about the possibility, but just spent the night with my buddy the other night and he rekindled my thought process. It seems like there were .45 cal options last winter when I did a quick search, but a quick search yesterday and this morning seems to point to everything buy Rossi offering .50 cal for their youth models. Shots would likely be 100-200 yards in this particular unit, so I want something that will be able to reach out there and do the job, but not break her shoulder (asking for cake and eating it too, right?). IF (big if right now) this happens, I don't want to drop a huge chunk of money on something she may not like, although I know I could sell pretty much anything pretty quickly or keep it for my son to try. Thompson/Center, Knight, and Traditions seem to have the best selection of youth models, but what do I know. I'm a complete clean slate when it comes to muzzleloaders (I own three percussion caps that I've never fired), but I know Barnes bullets would be my first choice for bullet selection. From talking to my buddy, Blackhorn 209 powder is the way to go. I figure all of those details will get worked out once we decide which rifle would be best, so please give me an idea on what would be a good choice for a young, but tough girl!
 
Thompson Center would be your best bet for a possible resale if you needed. I'm speaking based on dealers in my area that wouldn't purchase any used muzzleloaders for re-sale unless it was TC. As far as the kick of the gun you can go with a lower load of powder that would ease the kick quite a bit. The other main issue is making sure you clean it all the time, I usually pull mine out of the safe atleast 4 times a year to run swabs through it and wipe it down really well. I don't think you'll have any issue with her not enjoying it from the first shot. I started out with a 50 cal Hawkins from my father, and that thing kicked like hell for a 10 year old, but it was well worth it when I shot my first deer of my life. Muzzleloaders have improved so much in recent years that she'll hardly notice the kick with better powder, loads, and buttstocks for comfort. Keep us posted on what you decide.
 
I would look at a CVA Wolf. No experiences with it but it's built for youth or small framed adults and CVA has taken giant strides in the industry in the last few years. A buddy bought one for his kid and loaded it down and it shoots great he says. What does it have to do to qualify for primitive? Loose powder? No scope?
 
The CVA is a small compact gun with a short LOP. The T/C Impact is also good for youth/women. It has a spacer that can be taken out of the stock for a shorter LOP...
 
muzzleloader

What I have done since my kids were 7 is I took a knight .50 cal and cut the stock down on it(I have plenty of stocks) and use a barnes bullet and 50 grains of powder. They have shot lots and lots of deer with this set up and never had a problem, probably get some weird looks for this but I have seen them drop deer dead in there tracks out to 200yrds with it
 
I bought my son the T/C Impact since he couldn't get a deer during any of the shotgun seasons. I took the spacer out and its a nice little unit. We sighted it in with 50g of blackhorn 209. Then load it with 70g when hunting. I haven't shot it past 100yrds since I don't feel comfortable with him shooting that far on a live animal. I think I paid around 2-250 for it. To me it was easy to justify buying it so we could keep hunting. FYI my son is now 8 and about 60lbs. I can tell you it kicks considerably less than a 20g slug gun. If you have any questions feel free to ask.
 
Thanks for the input so far, guys! The T/C Impact was rising to the top of my list. I was initially worried about recoil because my buddy said his (Knight, I think) hits pretty hard with 290 gr Barnes bullets, but I didn't ask the powder charge. After reading these replies, I realized, that if she can handle her 7mm-08 and 3" 20 ga Hevi Shot turkey loads, she should be able to handle a decent blackpowder load. Her rifle is currently dialed in for 200 yards and I have no problem with her taking the shot with as much as she's practiced. If we find out in a few weeks that she drew the deer tag she wants, we're going to start practicing at 300 yards. Granted, that's a fast moving 140 gr 7mm bullet and not a big ML bullet. If (still an IF) this goes down for the 2016 season, I want her to have the 200 yard option. There isn't much ground cover, so sneaking within 100 yards may not always be feasible.

bigbuckhunter88 said:
What does it have to do to qualify for primitive? Loose powder? No scope?
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Arizona's "primitive weapons" laws are not restrictive at all, like CO, WA, and others. Scopes, powder pellets, and sabot bullets are all perfectly fine and legal.
 
Knight makes a great youth muzz. Knight little horn .50 I bought it for my boys and they have shot 3 deer with it now. It's a tact driver!
 
AZHunter said:
The T/C Impact was rising to the top of my list.
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I found a like new T/C Impact for sale at the local sporting goods store last fall when I found out both boys wanted to go late ML and I only had 2 ML's. Threw a scope on it and it's a nice little gun that didn't break the bank. Sighting in the scope at 100 yards, had two shots of three touching. Shooting 90 gr of Blackhorn 209 and Barnes .45 250 grain copper solids. Loose powder lets you find the right charge that provided accuracy without punishing the shooter.


 
I have never seen a .45 caliber impact but have been around a 50 that a fella had purchased for his daughter and it shot great.
I think he was using 60 grains of blackhorn and a 200 grain bullet for his daughter.
He threw the spacer in the stock and loaded 100 grains of blackhorn topped with a 250 grain bullet and ended up using it late muzzeloader. Great shooting gun
 
JNRBRONC said:
I found a like new T/C Impact for sale at the local sporting goods store last fall when I found out both boys wanted to go late ML and I only had 2 ML's. Threw a scope on it and it's a nice little gun that didn't break the bank. Sighting in the scope at 100 yards, had two shots of three touching. Shooting 90 gr of Blackhorn 209 and Barnes .45 250 grain copper solids. Loose powder lets you find the right charge that provided accuracy without punishing the shooter.
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Did I interpret that as you're going to ship that down for her to use on a 2016 hunt? :D
 
AZHunter said:
Did I interpret that as you're going to ship that down for her to use on a 2016 hunt? :D
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I seriously thought about it. As a ML, it can be shipped without FFL hassles. I imagine your hunt would be before Iowa late ML, which would be the most likely time I would need it.
 
JNRBRONC said:
I seriously thought about it. As a ML, it can be shipped without FFL hassles. I imagine your hunt would be before Iowa late ML, which would be the most likely time I would need it.
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That particular hunt would be around Thanksgiving time, but she'd need plenty of time to get used to it. And I'd need time to figure out how to work it! If so, I'd certainly figure out how to make it worth your while!
 
I might be heading out to Arizona come September, but by the time I dealt with the hassle of flying with the gun and extra baggage costs it would be easier to ship it.
 
Woehlk said:
I might be heading out to Arizona come September, but by the time I dealt with the hassle of flying with the gun and extra baggage costs it would be easier to ship it.
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That right there is why I come to this site for advice info on these things before the local site. That's an awesome offer! She won't need it until the 2016 season because we've already applied for the 2015 hunts and that youth hunt wasn't one of them. I was just talking to my buddy and my OCD kicked in, forcing me to start researching options now.

If you're in Nor AZ (the great part) in Sept, let me know!
 
Sounds like you have much better offers, but I have a youth stock for Knight Wolverine that you could use. My sons bought the youth Wolverines and then bought a full sized stock when they outgrew the youth stocks. They killed a pile of deer with those Wolverines using a 180 Hornady 45 caliber bullet in a sabots with 70 or 80 grains of Pyrodex. I tried to start my oldest with a 20 gauge and slugs when he was 9 and that was not pleasant. But, the muzzy was easy to shoot and killed them dead. They may be willing to loan out the whole gun so you would not to buy a full sized Wolverine, but I would need to check first.
 
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