Here is the deal. I have a 54 cal CVA muzzle loader for probably 20 years now. I won it as a door prize at a sportsman banquet.
When I first got it I took it to the range and shot it with the sabot bullets that came with the gun.

The bullets I shot before are these and I believe I used 100 grains of powder??? I do recall they shot dead on at 75 yards .. And like always I did not write anything down about loading them.



This is the powder I have.



Ok so things being what they are I figured its time I bring the gun out and play with it again. What I want to do though is shoot a bullet I cast myself. I have the molds for both a conical and a ball.




What I would like to do is pour and shoot the Conicals. I know if I use the ball it has to be patched. I poked around on the net some for info about Conicals. Have seen people say to patch and some say no patch. I have no idea where to start with trying to load the Conicals. I have bore butter for lube.


So reaching out to the vast knowledge here on T man. I'm looking to pour and then stuff one of these conical in my gun. Shoot it and not blow myself up.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. If I can figure this out. Might try kill a deer come November.
I do better hands on.. But what say all??


Mac

Shot all 3 in my 54 with 90 grains of 2f. All 3 put the hurt on a whitetail out to 75 yards.

No need to patch a conical, but a felt wad under the base will help. Get some better lube than that bore butter. Dan at Bull Shop makes an excellent lube. His NASA lube is highly regarded. Track of the Wolf sells a bunch of different lubes and you can get felt was from them also. Guys who shoot alot buy Durafelt and a set of hole punch dies from Harbor Freight and make their own wads. It'll keep from leading your barrel as fast and helps with accuracy. IdahoLewis on YouTube has a ton of videos worth watching.

Use 100 grains of powder. The directions on the powder you have should say if it is equivalent by volume to black powder, I’m assuming it is. If that’s the case then you can use a black powder measurer. Cast the conical bullets and put the bore butter in the grooves. Load and shoot. Unless you are really going to do a lot of shooting that’s all you need.

I have a TC Hawken in .54. I also use the same Lee bullet mold you have. I have killed a pile of deer with them, but using Pyrodex 90% of the time. I use homemade Blk Powder the rest of the time. For lube I used either Bore Butter, or soap I made with bear fat. I used a 90 grain load.

If your CVA is one of the lightweight synthetic stock models, recoil with a heavy conical will get your attention. Might want to play with the much lighter but effective round ball.

Use to use 100 grains but muzzle hunting in the late PA season with snow, I was seeing unburnt powder on the snow after shots. Dropped down to 90 grains.

Ok got my attention my gun is synthetic stock. I didn't think when I fired the sabots pictured above it was bad at all. So are we talking 12ga slug or 31/2 10ga turkey loads?? Infact I think 31/2 12ga turkey loads kick as nasty as anything I've shot. Or is it more the style and fit of the stock? I've always felt muzzle loaders more pushed than kicked?? Not that I have shot many just a few.




Mac

It is not going to be as bad as 3 1/2 12 ga loads, I used a round ball from my .54 because it was more accurate at 100 yards than conicals, shot elk, deer and bear with that round ball. Patch was cotton from jean pockets, lubed with bore butter, 2F Black Powder.

90 grains will kick less. Biggest problem with round balls are not much "shock" factor. Sabot hollow points better expansion. But your gun your choice.....

no patch on those lee R.E.A.L just smear of lube they are meant to as the name suggest Rifling Engraved At Loading

you May want a fiber wad or lubed wad between the R.E.A.L and the powder

the 20 year old black powder substitute , might not be good any more
Smell it , does it smell like ammonia?
and try to light some a small pile say 30gr on paper outside with a long fire place match or regular match in a long pliers , if it doesn't go woosh I would buy a new bottle , many of those attracted water and clumped or broke down.

100 gr of black or sub and a 432gr conical will be little different than a standard pheasant load in a 12ga single shot and yes I would say less of a kick more of a push

432gr = 1oz so when your shooting

that said more powder isn't typically more accurate especially with the Lee R.E.A.L they don't have the gas seal like a sabot

I would start at 75gr for a hunting load and work up 5gr at a time till you find accuracy then loose, reach max book load or get to where you are happy with what you are getting
swab the barrel between shots with a patch and spit or a patch lube.

Yup....pour 50 grains down the barrel...then Tamp wasp nest material on top of the powder ...and see if it goes off . Have to test that powder !

If that powder goes bang...then go in the pantry and get a spoonful of crisco...and lube up those bullets.

Pour 90 grain of powder down the barrel
Then ram home the lubed chronical

if you haven't any wasps nest material some news print crumpled up would work

My powder didn't go bang wouldn't even whoof with a stick lighter. So today I go on search for jug FFG. Also managed to loose a barrel wedge some where???


Mac

I dont know where to get a barrel wedge but pyrodex is easy enough to find and works good. The folks that bought GOEX make estes rockets. I am hoping GOEX black powder gets available again.

https://www.harborfreight.com/dual-drum-rotary-rock-tumbler-67632.html

These are cheap and if you want a new hobby you could make your own powder.

the black powder supplier I use posted they should be making GOEX again by the end of the year

https://www.addictedtoblackpowder.com/back-powder/

real black lasts a century or more while subs don't

Track of the Wolf sells wedge pins.