Hello All,

I bought this 8 Bore Big game rifle at the last Poulin Auction but I have no clue what to load for it.

Bore measures .850" and I bought some .830" round balls. Now I need to find out how much powder to use and patch thickness.

any suggestions?

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/8bore-000.jpg

No load suggestions sorry but great rifle wish it was mine, it’s still a little light at that weight for a 8 ?

I had an awesome 12bore ML period rifle but it didn’t look as nice as your big 8 !

Friend of mine had an 8 bore double rifle by Tolly.
He loaded it with 8 drams and a ball to keep the recoil down, but his favourite load was a three ounce lead bullet with 12 drams of black.
As I recall the rifle weighed around 17 pounds, but it still walked me back when I fired it.
Once that weight was moving back it didn't want to stop.

Thanks for the reply. I've pictured some of the proofs for interest. There is a small J.N. stamp in front of the wedge cage. I wonder if anyone knows anything about this stamp.

Per suggestion from a different forum, I used an old tapered plum bob with various grit papers (120 to 600) to bevel the muzzle. When I removed the barrel from the stock, I found that the wedge was years ago broken with half missing. (see pics) Not sure if this is a shooting issue or not.

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/8bore-proofs.jpg

Beautiful Rifle and piece of firearms history. Were it mine I would not fire it with that wedge. It would not be hard to have a smith make one that fits and save the original one for show. Great purchase please report on shooting it.

Well, I went to the range to test my newly acquired muzzle loader. I have reaffirmed my dislike of muzzle loaders. When I go to the range with a cartridge rifle, all I bring is the rifle and a box of ammo. When I finish shooting, I go home. Not the case with a muzzle loader. Look at the picture of all the crap I had to bring. And, after shooting for only 20 minutes, I had to spent the next hour cleaning everything. Below is the target showing the results.
I am not sure if the results is good or not, so comments are welcome.

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/bp8-2.jpg



http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/HOLLIS-TARG.jpg

Nice group patches look ok. Looks like you got a good one.