17 yr old daughter recoil shy, need advice please.

[p_ham]

Sorry I just saw this post, fiber optics are LEGAL for muzzleloader season in NV. Self illuminating sights such as tritium, are not.

I'll 2nd the 70gr load under a 240-250 gr bullet. I do know from experience that the 250gr hornady XTP is an outstanding bullet out of a muzzleloader.

 

[Gary]

Work up a light load for practice. When hunt time comes stoke up the rifle and let her hunt - as you said she doesn't notice recoil when she shoots at game.

 

[Nick87]

I would disagree regarding muzzleloader having less recoil but I am a novice with one. I had to add weight to my lead sled to tame it a bit. I would compare it to shooting slugs in my shotgun. If she is used to shooting a .243 it’s different than that.
How about she fires the muzzleloader with the lightest loads you can put together so that she gets used to the weight and balance of the gun and dry fire practices with it. Then you work up a load for the hunt. One shot at a deer I’m betting will go unnoticed by her.

That's why I suggested tge70 grain charge. Recoil is similar to a 243 I would say. I'm guessing you were shooting more than 70 grains of powder in your muzzleloader?

 

[rachele39]

Thanks gentleman, got some 240 grain xtp already, also have them in 300 grain and some 300 grain Precision Rifle QT I forgot about. p_ham and VAspeedgoat thank you, I removed the 1x scope I'd put on hers when that's all they allowed in Utah but we never drew a tag. When I read the regs and it said only open sights and peep sights allowed no scopes or lighted type sights I presumed that included fiber optic sights. I don't think I even know what I tritium isotope sight is, but apparently it lights up in the dark. My fiber optic bow sights seem pretty bright to me at dawn and dusk.
My first inclination was to get her a ghost ring fiber optic set up till I read the regs.
Will be calling NDOW Monday morning to double check and get it ordered asap, thank you guys, especially p_ham. I'm sure your correct but I have to find out some info anyway about having a rifle tag for antelope in Utah at the same time and how to deal with that when we come into NV to hunt muzzleloader deer. We have a little rv that will be in town where everything can be left so shouldn't be any issues.
I burnt 13 points on an antelope tag this year so i could transfer it to my daughter before she turned 18. Called Utah dept. of wildlife regional office before hand to make sure I could do it as a non resident. No problem, super easy and she explains the process. After I get my tag, print and fill out the form, mail the fee, simple.
I draw my tag, go to print the form and I'm reading the details and at the end it says I can transfer my tag as a nonresident but the minor has to be a resident????
Called back and get the same lady, super nice but I tell her the situation and I can hear her fumbling through the regs and she drops the phone, gets back on and as she's reading through it for the first time probably she apologizes but says she can't use it so were going to try and record each other's hunts. Still going to be a blast. Thanks.

 

[midwesthunter]

Not sure on that states muzzy laws, but PRbullets makes some light bullets for the 50 cal, all the way down to 175 grain. I have shot their dead center bullets in my .45 cal smokeless with great results.

 

[rachele39]

Thanks for the info, going to try and stick with the xtp by Hornady. I've had great results with the 300 grain and my daughter said she's fine with shooting the 240 grain. Waiting for a cooler weekend to get her out and do some shooting, it was 110 degrees yesterday and the local range has no shade.
Thanks again p_ham, had to call 3 ndow offices before someone could confirm that I could use fiber optic sights but that's a huge deal for my daughter, thank you.

 

[p_ham]

Thanks for the info, going to try and stick with the xtp by Hornady. I've had great results with the 300 grain and my daughter said she's fine with shooting the 240 grain. Waiting for a cooler weekend to get her out and do some shooting, it was 110 degrees yesterday and the local range has no shade.
Thanks again p_ham, had to call 3 ndow offices before someone could confirm that I could use fiber optic sights but that's a huge deal for my daughter, thank you.

Glad I could help. Good luck to both of you!

 

[Greenringer]

I use a 50 grain pellet when my wife is practicing at the range and then 2 pellets for hunting. I know several people who have shot deer out to 75 yards using 1 pellet and a 250 gr bullet.

I pulled this from the NV regulations. If your daughter has a vision issue she may qualify to use a 1X scope.

The Department may issue a scope permit to a person with a visual disability. The scope permit authorizes a person with a visual disability to hunt, during a type of hunt that is restricted to bows or muzzle-loading firearms, using a 1 x magnification rifle scope that is mounted on a bow or muzzle-loading firearm.

(Refer to NAC 503.146)

Good luck!!

 

[rachele39]

Already checked with her eye specialist, he said she is ok with glasses and doesn’t qualify. Thank you though, she’ll do fine with the fiber optic sights I think.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Light loads, and a PAST recoil pad. There's a lot of comfort in that piece of foam between you & the hard butt of a muzzleloader.

Good luck!

 

[lr123]

What about a muzzle brake? They make a huge difference in recoil.

 

[rachele39]

She has a new inline that has a recoil pad on it, with the lighter load I think she's going to be fine. A buddy of mine was wanting something like that PAST recoil pad and I'll be sure to show him, thanks. Just switched out the sights to some truglow fiber optics with the ghost ring and she said that helped out tremendously, it also came with the fiber optic V type rear sight if she doesn't like the ghost ring. Wouldn't be able to install a bolt on type muzzle brake due to the front sight but was thinking about getting one from Witt Machine for a 300 win mag model 70 featherweight. lr123 you just made my decision for me, looked them up and they have them on sale right now for $71, saved me $20, I appreciate it.
Going to take her out this Saturday and work up a load for her and get some practice in. I go off call at work and it's supposed to be almost 20 degrees cooler so a good day for some shooting, thank you gentlemen.

 

[rachele39]

UPDATE
Wanted to thank those that gave advice for my daughter and her muzzleloader. Ended up with the fiber optic sights and it helped tremendously. She was able to shoot out to 100 yards with pretty good results. Started out with light loads and goaded her into trying a heavier load and she took it like a champ. Ended up shooting a 100 grains of pyrodex pellets and a 300 grain Precision Rifle QT sabot that her rifle liked.
Had a bit of a rough start due to the distance traveled and tight quarters in our little rv and mom came along as well. We were all wore out before we left due to busy schedules and we made a big 1800 mile loop through Utah for a rifle pronghorn and 2 Nevada muzzleloader deer. My daughter pushed it to the last morning on her buck, we were supposed to leave and had to call mom and tell her we were going to get a late start. Daughter shot her buck at about 60 yards off hand and it was the little buddy to the buck I shot a couple days earlier. We jumped both of them out of there beds and fired both shots less than 20 feet apart. Good memories.

 

[Pucky Freak]

What a great trip! Congrats to the whole family

 

[2rocky]

Well done Dad! Glad you had a real Family hunt.

Question for the muzzle loader hunters....What about Dry Firing an inline? Should you use a snap cap? When I first got my centerfire rifle, i had the trigger worked on and dry fired it religiously to get used to it.

 

[p_ham]

Looks like you had a good trip! Congrats to all involved.

 

[longrunner]

50 gr of FFF and a patched round ball to start. This will kill deer just fine.

 

[hank4elk]

I was going to suggest a Simms recoil pad.
Makes my mz feel like a 22 while using at range....

 

[kmott]

you could always smack her in the back of the head with a chunk of wood when she flinches from recoil.
you know ,train it out of her and at same time give her perspective on the recoil not hurting her.