noob orders sidekick

[john keyes]

First post, you guys are the greatest.  What a wealth of info.

I've got this stuff on the way:

1 of 21-5447 NEF Sidekick .50 Cal. Blue/Wood 26" Rifle
In stock-Approx delivery Mon 1/07

1 of 21-2808 Pyrodex .50 Caliber Pellets Per 100 50 GRAIN PELLETS
Shipped-12/31/07

1 of 21-0321 Hornady Sabots .50CAL 240GR XTP/MAG
In stock-Approx delivery Mon 1/07

I had always wanted a Lyman Deerstalker and it was a very tough choice but my hunting time is so precious/limited I was wanting to increase my odds of my ML firing at crunch time.  Maybe I'll get a sidelock later.  I'm also going to switch to loose powder after hunting season.
Can you think of anything else I need to my first trip to the range? 
-range rod
-sabot starter
-patches
-cleaner
-lube

I watched some of the thompson videos and thinking I just need to swab wet then dry between each shot, maybe clean a little more between several shots.
just hate to get out there and need something at the range I don't have.
I'm a little anxious about possibility of difficulty loading the sabots and the breech plug getting stuck.
thanks

[Slufoot]

Hello john, welcome to GBO. I believe you will be happy with your purchase, just remember to keep a little anti-seize on the breech plug. Also you didn't mention if you had any 209 primers.

Let us know how it shoots!

GOOD SHOOTING!
Slufoot

[Keith Lewis]

You will probably need a range rod since the stock ram rod is a collapsible one that is not extremely strong. If you start the bullets before extending the rod and then extend it after they are partially down the bore the stock rod will work but it is a pain to shoot at the range using it that way. In the future you may decide to go with the stronger aftermarket rod made by Hubbards Outdoors which also extends two inches longer than the stock one. There are other additions that I made to my NEF Huntsman which is almost the same rifle but you will have to decide just how much you want to invest in that rifle. I added about $175 more including a scope, mounts, Hubbards rod, different stock to match with the scope, .25ACP conversion breechplug which makes removal easier also as it has a standard hex rather than the slotted thing that is stock on the Sidekick and Huntsman it also eliminates the plastic carriers and replaces them with .25ACP brass with small rifle primers in them. The range rod is the one item that you should get as soon as possible. Forgot to mention that the threads on the stock rod are not correct for black powder attachments also and the Hubbard rod is correct as well as relieved on the end for pointed bullets which the stock rod is not. I know this sounds like a lot but the rifle is really a good shooter and you will be impressed once you get into it.

[john keyes]

I had a good day at the range shooting it for the first time.  First I cleaned the gun off WD-40 to get all of the sticky goop off of the metal parts.  Then I bought about $85 more stuff, a polymer bullet starter with a bunch of attachments, pound of pyrodex RS (my pellets took a long time to get here, they were on the porch when I got home from shooting), a CVA ramrod, a palmsaver that needs to get attached to the ramrod somehow, the hole in the palmsaver is bigger than the OD of the ramrod, a hunter powder measure 70-130 grains, the little brass colored one, works like a charm, .50 cal brush, some bore butter (what do I do with this stuff?), and some Knight breech plug grease.
Loading and shooting was a breeze.  When I got to the range there was a guy shooting the pi$$ out of a winchester .45 209 rifle and he was like a machine gun to me but I was cleaning alot between shots. 
The one thing i forgot was the precision screwdriver set to loosen the screws to adjust the sights. 
Results: all my shots at 50 yds were very close using 70, 90, 100 gr powder, but all were 6-8" low and I didn't have a screwdriver to adjust the sights.
I was pleased with the CVA accessories, the plastic bullet starter and ramrod have metal thread inserts and the packaging and brief instructions were helpful, looks like their stuff is good.
Taking some advice I read somewhere I loosened the breech plug while the gun was still warm and pulled it out.
I never used the supplied telescopic ramrod and really the only thing that bugged me a little was I noticed it pops out of its holder a little.
I am very pleased with my sidekick and CVA accessories and Pyrodex and Hornady sabots.  Good stuff. 
thanks

So, a big sigh of relief for an enjoyable trouble free afternoon of first time ML shooting. 

[Jal5]

You sound like you are off to a good start! The more you shoot that gun the more you will like it, I know I feel that way about mine. Keep working on your load, it should be a very good shooter once you figure out what it really likes.

Joe

[Keith Lewis]

The bore butter is another whole subject in itself. Some people use it and think it "seasons" the bore sort of like an old cast iron frying pan gets seasoned with grease use. Others think this is a bunch of bull as the rifle barrels are not cast iron and likely will not "season". I am one of the people that do not use it although I have about four tubes of the stuff that I collected over time. Some use it when storing the rifle. It can cause rust in the bore if it is applied to the bore when the bore has any trace of powder or moisture in it as it will seal the rusting materials against the steel and actually accelerate the rusting. I clean my rifles and when a dry patch comes out I use a good rust preventative, notice I said rust preventative oil not just lubricating oil. Personally I prefer Ballistol although it is not a quickly acquired item without ordering it. From your local stores you can find other rust preventative oils. One of the reasons I prefer Ballistol is that it is also a good patch lube and can be used with black powder. Do not be too concerned with some who say you cannot use any petroleum products in your rifle. Just run a patch of good cleaner like half and half rubbing alcohol and automotive windshield cleaner and a couple of dry patches before loading. I also know some of the manufacturers of the Traditions products for cleaning and they are petroleum based which pretty much lays that old wives tale to rest. As far as having the ramrod move when shooting that seems to be a standard condition with most of my rifles. You can increase the tension on the retaining devices in some rifles with some improvement but if it is just a small amount I just push the rod back when shooting a string of shots. You can leave the ramrod out when at the range but it may effect the point of contact of the shot over having it in place on some rifles. You will have to experiment. The palm saver likely is intended to be used with the rod but not attached. Personally I prefer a range rod with a tee handle. You will determine what works for you as you go along.

[Keith Lewis]

Forgot to mention that the guy that was shooting faster may have been using one of the substitute powders that require less swabbing between shots. Pyrodex is pretty dirty and unfortunately requires more attention than some of the other substitutes like American Pioneer, Black Mag'3, Goex Pinnacle to mention a few. These are ascorbic acid based powder and they leave very little fouling in the bore. Multiple shots are possible without cleaning between shots. I find Pyrodex seems to be a little more consistent than most of the ascorbic acid powders in most of my rifles even though it is a little more difficult to deal with. I have had great results with Black Mag'3 however it is presently difficult to find and will not be available again until later this year.

[john keyes]

just checking back with you guys, the ML season here in east texas ended last night, I was there up to the last minute.  Friday I hunted all day in my old summit sabre climbing stand.  In the afternoon it started raining about three times and it would stop after about 15 minutes.  Finally about 5 pm it started pretty steady so I got down.  Pulling up to the camp I saw the lease boss and his wife pulling up for the weekend.  He jumped out and grabbed his ML hopped on his four wheeler and headed out for the last 15 min of daylight.  So I sat there with his wife trying to shake off the hypothermia from my 3 mile four wheeler ride and I drank a coke I was so exhausted from climbing different trees and sawing limbs with my hand saw and so on.  So me and his wife are underneath a big canopy and the rain is really starting to come down and I'm thinking man that guy is gonna be miserable.  Finally after dark.........................you guessed it..............he pulls up with a nice doe.  I hunted hard from before daylight until 5pm, he hunted for fifteen minutes. 
Anyway I hunted hard saturday and sunday and missed a doe ranging with a little spike and nubbin buck from about 100 yds.  I vowed I would buy a tree lounge or something where I can kick back and be comfortable and nod off I have to.
All the climbing and moving scratched up my Sidekick pretty good.  When I finally took a shot it went boom, having been loaded for a week.  I checked all the area for blood and hair the road where they ran across and it was a clean miss fortunately.
Im gonna order a scope mount pretty soon.

It might be kinda dangerous but I noticed you can cock the hammer silently if you hold the trigger down while cocking.

[Keith Lewis]

I have cocked hammers that way for a long time. It is only dangerous if the barrel is pointing somewhere that it can cause trouble if you happen to slip off the hammer. Has not happened to me in about 55 years so I would not worry about it much. The new Knight KRB allows you to do that and even if the hammer falls the firing pin will not be hit as the hammer rotates the firing pin striker out of position when cocking. It has to be rotated back up to make contact.l

[Jal5]

thats hunting as they say, I know I had one of those seasons!

Get that ML scoped you won't be sorry, it is a great shooter if I do my part.
Joe