well i picked up a t/c .54 renegade yesterday, its in new condition and only fired 3 times by the original owner. I paid $100.00 for it i think i got a great deal, he bought it years ago fired it 3 times and then never got into muzzleloading.Now that he is getting into it again and all his friends shoot the modern inlines thats the way he is going so i grabbed it as i wanted a .54 for deer and black bear hunting. Ill take it up to the cabin in a couple of weeks a sight it in. I just ordered some Hornady 425 grain great plains bullets and was going to start off with 90 grains of 2f black powder. Hows this for a starting load ? I chose the great plains bullets because they have shown excellent accuracy in my both my .45 flintlock t/c hawken and a .50 cva that i picked up a few months ago.I plan on using the .54 with the .50 as my backup rifle . I have never taken big game with muzzleloaders yet hope to do so next year hear in NY.

I would start off with 80 gr and work up from there 5 gr at a time. I'd probably also work with patched roundballs, but nothing wrong with gp bullets other than the price tag.

Use GOOD caps. In my book that means avoiding Remington caps like the plague. CCIs are adequate and the Dynamit Noble are best if you can find them.

Brent

You are gonna like the renegade i have one altough it is not my hunting rifle it is fully capable i've been using a 58cal h&r huntsman since i was 9 yrs old and it's tradtion i'm not changing but i use 110 grns of 2f in mine you will be startying out fine and will love it what part of ny

I've had a 54 Renegade for years, it now wears a Green Mountain 50 barrel, the original was tired when I got it (original owner didn't keep it clean) and finally died. While I was shooting the 54 I found that 80 grains of goex ffg or Pyrodex behind either roundball or conical produced the best accuracy. I wish I could have found a fast twist 54 drop in to replace the original, but I've had good luck with the 50 and resized 400 grain .458 sabotted bullets and 100 grains of FFG or Triple Seven.
Enjoy the 54 its a great caliber.

Mine likes 430gr. TC maxi balls and 90grs. fff black powder

TBEAR i have property in Arkville where the deer seem to be scarce these days but the bear are plenty and they are large.Note i said seem to be at least for me this year i actually didnt get out much this year do to a bad fall i hurt my back but we saw more sign this year then we have in a few. There doing a good job of feeding at night and hiding during the day. Thats my opinion anyway. What part do you live in.

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Originally posted by Tanoose:
well i picked up a t/c .54 renegade yesterday, its in new condition and only fired 3 times by the original owner. I paid $100.00 for it i think i got a great deal, he bought it years ago fired it 3 times and then never got into muzzleloading.Now that he is getting into it again and all his friends shoot the modern inlines thats the way he is going so i grabbed it as i wanted a .54 for deer and black bear hunting. Ill take it up to the cabin in a couple of weeks a sight it in. I just ordered some Hornady 425 grain great plains bullets and was going to start off with 90 grains of 2f black powder. Hows this for a starting load ? I chose the great plains bullets because they have shown excellent accuracy in my both my .45 flintlock t/c hawken and a .50 cva that i picked up a few months ago.I plan on using the .54 with the .50 as my backup rifle . I have never taken big game with muzzleloaders yet hope to do so next year hear in NY.

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I have had a couple of these, my personal favorite is the old style double trigger. For just casual shooting at targets, it is hard to beat the patched round ball, JMHO. Try different ball sizes and different thickness of patch. I have always found a tight fit to be best, on both. For hunting, the PRB gets the job done, but so do the conicals, look at the sabot styles. I also found that fffg worked well in mine, and gave less fouling than ffg.

It is the most fun of any of my guns, also takes the most maintenance. Of course, I like good old black powder, too. Have fun with yours!!!

Lewis Green Mountain now has for the .54 a 28"1in28 for conicals and i see they also have a 32" with a 1 in 70 for round ball both for the renegade.