Dixie Tennessee Mountain Rifle

[Henry Anvil]

I picked up a 50 cal Dixie Tennessee Mountain Rifle at the gun show this morn, been looking for one for some years now, Its a beauty . anyone here that has one knows the correct ball size and patch thickness or want to share a pet load.

 

[Henry Anvil]

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Very nice find!!

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

Congratulations on the find! I use a .490 ball with a 30 caliber cleaning patch soaked with Bore Butter and anywhere from 50 to 60 grains of 2f Black with mine. I found the cleaning patches to be economical and useful as a ball patch when I first started shooting muzzle stuffers. I take the patches, smear a small amount of bore butter on one side, then place 50 to 100 of them in a small clean plastic yogurt or margarine container and microwave them for 15 or so seconds until the bore butter is melted and is absorbed into the patches. Keep the container sealed and you are set to shoot for a while.

 

[bannockburn]

Henry Anvil

Great find at the gun show! Looks to be in great condition too!

 

[TheOutlawKid]

My experience with bore butter was bad...but i know some people who have good results with it and usually they live in dry climates like high desert. Id stick to using Barricade or Fluid Film (all natural lube, rust preventer, rust STOPPER). Both work great...i have had great success with Birtchwoos Caseys Barricade and just now converted to Fluid Film...by far the best stuff ive ever used that prevents rust and is compatible with black powder since its made from lanolin and has no solvents. To clean i use 50/50 La Awesome mix with distilled water. It cleaned some white bristled brushes that seemed permanently stained with black powder fouling mixed with lubes made from fats and oils. Tried cleaning with dawn and water and every other black powder cleaner available...then used brake and carb cleaner...helped but didnt get the brushes real clean...then used LA Awesome and it cut through the gunk and cleaned the white nylon bristled brushes right up. I was amazed it did what other cleaners couldnt. The cleaner is found at dollar stores. Its gentle and safe on blueing and skin too. I heard its now popular at big black powder gun matches too.

 

[TheOutlawKid]

As far as a.load....i..sorry i couldndt help. I dont have a gun like yours but.then again all guns are individuals and what one likes another doesnt. But what steel horse rider said is a great start, although 3f would probably work just as well. A lot of people use 3f with their .50 cals with great precision.

 

[Ironhand54]

I competed with one for years . 490 ball 15 thousandths ox yoke patch. Most accurate load was 90 grains of 3f Geox. I shot it so much I eventually had to step up to a 495 patch. Great gun

IronHand

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

.495 ball, 65 grains of 3f, .018 canvas duck patch with a few drops of Pine Sol. You should try to find your best accuracy load, it may be way different from mine. I clean with 409 and oil with a light oil.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Mine's a flinter.
Try a .490 ball and a .015 thick patch. If you don't like what you get from the bench, try a .018 patch, then try a .495 ball and back to the .015 patch.
For testing groups, try 50 grains of 3Fg. After that work upwards. In my opinion you want from between 65-80 grains of powder for a deer hunting load out to 100 yards. AFTER you've settled on the load, then align your sights. Otherwise if they are aligned with the 50 grain load, and you decide on 80 grains for hunting, you'll shoot high, and have to replace the front sight post and start over on alignment.

LD

 

[Erwan]

What is the caliber bore and at the bottom of the grooves ?

I think that a .495" bullet with a patch 0.010" thikness (0,25mm) of pure cotton can be good with 55gr (of real BP) 2Fg or 3Fg like swiss N°2 (so what is similar and currently available in USA)...
That will be a good load to begin from 50 to 100 Yds. After that for hunting I cant'say: I'm only a target killer...

Spoiler

E.K.

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Mr. Henry Anvil, im not sure if you are into subs...but i hate pyrodex, cant stand the expense of 777, pellets degrade fast and you cant really fine tune a load using them, but i do have high praise and nothing but positive things to say about a sub called Alliant BlackMZ. It burns hot, extremely clean, perfect for .50+ cal muzzle loaders, and is very inexpensive if you get it from sportsmans warehouse either at their physical store or online store at only $10 a can and even with hazmat shipping fee its a great price. I makw my own black powder, but if i do buy any its Old Eynsford, if i shoot a sub its BlackMZ.

 

[Armored farmer]

Are you new to BP shooting.....or just have a new rifle?

 

[Henry Anvil]

I have been shooting black powder firearms for 30 plus years, I just picked up the Dixie rifle .

 

[Henry Anvil]

.50 Caliber Dixie Gun Works "Tennessee Mountain Rifle"...


Barrel Length: 41 1/4"
Land-to-Land: .500"
Groove-to-Groove: .516"
Rate of Twist: 1 turn-in-56"
Ignition: Flint or Percussion
Ball Diameter: .490" (Speer Swaged)
Ball Weight: 177 grains
Patch: .015" Lubed Cotton

 

[Armored farmer]

I have been shooting black powder firearms for 30 plus years, I just picked up the Dixie rifle .

Aha.....
Congrats on the new rifle then.

 

[D. Buck Stopshere]

Nice rifles, made in Japan by Miroku in both .32 & .50 caliber. Just picked up the .32.

 

[FlSwampRat]

As far as a.load....i..sorry i couldndt help. I dont have a gun like yours but.then again all guns are individuals and what one likes another doesnt. But what steel horse rider said is a great start, although 3f would probably work just as well. A lot of people use 3f with their .50 cals with great precision.

I haven't gone over .50 cal so all my bp rifles and handguns like 3f. When I added my .50 Hawken to my .45 Seneca and Patriot I was crossing my fingers that it would like 3f as well as the smaller calibered guns and was quite happy when I could continue to buy only one type of boom dust.

 

[Henry Anvil]

Shes a shooter Had her out for the first time on the fourth. I think I will really like this rifle.
III

 

[Armored farmer]

That's fantastic.
I havent ever hunted deer with my .45 flinter. I think I will try it this fall.
Your .50 should be good for that too.

 

[Henry Anvil]

I hunt more pigs than deer but should do well either way, Im going to have to get me a rock lock one of these days , I bet they are fun to shoot.

 

[Armored farmer]

I hunt more pigs than deer but should do well either way, Im going to have to get me a rock lock one of these days , I bet they are fun to shoot.

I thought that they wouldn't be as reliable as percussion, but that's not necessarily true, with a good flint in a good lock... I think they're more reliable.
The lock time is a learning curve.

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

In my case when I started shooting flinter's it made me a much better center fire shooter due to having to hold the sights on the target longer with distractions happening in your face......

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I hunt more pigs than deer but should do well either way, I'm going to have to get me a rock lock one of these days , I bet they are fun to shoot.

They are quite fun, but hunting with any sidelock traditional rifle really is something special.
Now as for hunting pigs....



LD

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

I have and shoot 3 .50s, they all seem to like around 65 grains of powder. The exception is the left barrel of my double rifle wants 70ish grains. The right one likes 65, go figure. This is shooting .495 ball with .018 canvas patch lubed with Pinesol.