I just bought a pendersoli bridger hawkins 50 caliber muzzleloader as an early christmas present for myself. its a sidelock style riffle that takes # 11 caps. I only have experiance with in line muzzle loaders. And i usually use 777 powder pellets with powerbelt bullets an in in-line gun. My question is… does anybody know if 777 powder pellets will work in a side lock gun , would i need to go with loose pyrodex powder, or would loose traditonal black powder work best? Thanks!!!

Black powder lights at lower temps and gets more consent fps. I prefer it.

See if the recessed nose on the end of your hammer will fit a musket cap (much larger than a #11), if so get yourself a musket nipple and swap-out the #11 nipple. The musket nipple will make much more fire than a #11, I'll bet you won't have misfires if you go that route.

Pellets are designed for use in inline rifles and I believe the T7 pellets are to be used with 209 primers. You'd be better off using loose powder and that being said, some of the newer powders require 209 ignition. I'd go with Pyrodex loose powder..

I built one of the traditions kentucky rifles that is bsically the same setup. I run 70grs loose hodgens never once had a misfire. Groups great. When I was doing research when I built it it said not to use pellets becuz of pressures and ignition issues.

I would definitely use loose powder, either real black (goex, schutezen, atc) or pyrodex. #11 caps won't consistently (or at all) set off those hard pellets.

What kind of projectile are using? Round ball?

I use FFFG 777 loose powder in my side hammer without issues, I haven't heard of anyone successfully using the pellets, I vastly prefer 777 to pyrodex. Black powder works great but is really hard to find anymore. Obviously all of them require proper cleaning after use so that is really a non-issue in deciding which to use. Enjoy your new rifle.

Pyrodex or one of the other BP substitutes will work fine, and given the current situation with BP would be to your advantage. The only BP mfg in north america is/was Goex, owned by Hodgen. Earlier this year, in early Oct I believe, Hodgen announced it's closure before the end of 2021. That leaves Swiss and Scheutzen to supply the US market, for now at least. Swiss is excellent powder and VERY expensive. It is made in an old BP facility in Switzerland. Scheutzen is made in Germany specifically for the US market but is considered by many to be more dirty than Goex. The current situation is that Goex supplies have been bought up by those who use it, and Swiss and Scheutzen are available but are affected by the ongoing supply chain issues.

See https://schuetzenpowder.com/about-schuetzen-powder/

i prefer pyrodex. black powder requires swabbing between shots if your shooting patched balls. the bore gets so much fouling it is difficult to get another ball in if you dont. i have used pyrodex pellets in my side lock gun. they work. they are also pricey. lots easier to just use a powder measure. i use the same one for my pistol. throws 40 grains. i just put in two in the rifle which is 80. i have used 3,120 with power belt bullets . that works pretty good too.

some pellet's have a very small kicker of real black at the back of them to get it to light.

loose is really the way to go for anything , it lets you find your load and not just stuff a one size pellet , hoe many pellets 1 is bellow a useful hunting load and 2 is near max it's a little like if you could only drive with your foot half in the throttle or all the way to the floor no other option.

I like real black , lights the same in everything , works in everything , it is what everything else is trying to be , it lasts longer than you will live ,I don't find it any harder to clean than 777 a cleaning procedure is a cleaning procedure you have to scrub everything , hot water and a little dish soap.


do you need to swab , well you should be swabbing between shots because it is a good idea any way , can you go 2 shots patched round ball without swabbing , yes , can you go 20 , well I couldn't even with 777 not without effecting my point of impact

Good luck finding powder or caps. No 11's are scarce for sure.

Save the pellets for your inline

FFG Black powder or
Pyrodex powder or 777

you can get real BP here

https://mainepowderhouse.com/product-category/black-powder/swiss/

this is where I get my Holy Black
https://www.addictedtoblackpowder.com/back-powder/

I appriciate all the great advice fellas. Since im new to muzzleloading i figured id go with exactly what ghe gun calls for, wich is patched round balls. Does anybody have experiance with bufallo bullets? Do the expand on impact like yhw old remington core lokt 30-30 shells?

Get your self some .490 and .495 round balls….some .015 and .018 thick patches.l.and see what it likes. Start off with 70 grains of 2F and see how it groups. Increase by 5 grains and repeat…groups may get better with the increase. You’ll need a powdah measure…and a few other items to get started. Loose powder too. At the range you can use neatsfoot oil for a patch lube.

what is your twist rate ?

patched round ball and most pure lead conical do expand

the question becomes is your gun a fast enough twist to stabilize the longer conical Hornady makes a Great Plains conical it does a real number on deer nothing fancy just lots of weight in soft lead that expands well and carries right on through will do a deer end to end nearly.

pathched round ball twists are a very slow turn 1 in 70 or 1:66 while the 1in 48 is considered the dual twist it will do patched round ball and some short conical if you want to go heavy and long 1:30 or 1:28 which is still fairly slow when you think most 22lr are 1:16 , most 30-06 are 1:10

Nessmuck gives good advice. Keep track of your targets, and you will find a load that works well for your gun. My 50 has a 1:66 twist and it likes a .490 ball with a .018 patch and 65 grains 3F. Every gun is different, part of the fun is figuring out a load they like.

This is apparently Danny's experience:

...but it is certainly not mine. I can and routinely do shoot 25-30 patched roundball shots from my Mike Miller .50 cal flinter, and several other flinters, with nary a single swab. The key is to reload immediately after firing, or to plug the muzzle with a rag or other means until you reload, in order to keep the fouling from drying out and hardening.

I prefer actual black powder but it is harder to find right now. You can get it shipped to your house but usually have to buy 25 pounds of it. If you have a group that shoots or use a lot of powder that's not to big a deal. Or you could be stocked up for a long time. Loose Pyrodex, which is much easier to get, also works well in sidelocks. What part of KY are you in?