Inline Rifle Muzzleloading:
 Muzzleloading is the term used to describe the sport, or pastime of firing muzzle-loading guns or muzzleloaders. Inline muzzleloading in this case will apply to Inline muzzle-loading rifles. It involves the use of a loose powder propellant (i.e. gun powder), or pelletized powder, a projectile, as well as a 209 primer or likeness thereof for ignition or priming the rifle. The powder and projectile are always loaded from the muzzle end of the rifle barrel.

Inline Rifle Caliber Selection:
 On the rifle muzzleloading page we had a common sense caliber selection chart for hunting purposes, here we will examine that a little closer with a ballistics test between 2 identical magnum muzzle-loading rifles in calibers .45 and .50 with 1:28" rifling twist as these are the two most common calibers used for hunting.

Testing Note: Both rifles charged with the same volume of powder, primed with winchester 209 primers, bullets and sabots by hornady, SST bullets, scope height after installation was 1.8" bore center to crosshair center, sight-in was 2" high at 100 yards to get the best hunting trajectory for both rifles.

.45 Caliber Magnum Muzzleloader / Hornady SST / Bullet Weight 200 Grains: Bullet Muzzle Velocity: 2,331 Feet Per Second. Bullet Muzzle Energy: 2,413 Foot Pounds.
Range	25 yds.	50 yds.	75 yds.	100 yds.	150 yds.	200 yds.	300 yds.
Bullet Drop	+ 0.2	+ 1.0	+ 1.7	+ 2.0	+ 0.8	- 2.8	- 19.0
Bullet Energy	2254	2104	1962	1827	1579	1361	1003

(.45 Caliber), Forty five caliber bore diameter muzzle-loading rifles are a good choice for Antelope, Black Bear, Black-Tailed Deer, Hogs, Javelina, Mule Deer & White-Tailed Deer, which requires a minimum of 800 foot pounds of bullet energy to harvest this size game animal.
(Light To Medium Recoiling Rifle With Bullets Under 250 Grain)

.50 Caliber Magnum Muzzleloader / Hornady SST / Bullet Weight 250 Grains: Bullet Muzzle Velocity: 2,247 Feet Per Second. Bullet Muzzle Energy: 2,803 Foot Pounds.
Range	25 yds.	50 yds.	75 yds.	100 yds.	150 yds.	200 yds.	300 yds.
Bullet Drop	+ 0.1	+ 1.1	+ 1.8	+ 2.0	+ 0.4	- 4.2	- 25.1
Bullet Energy	2568	2349	2145	1956	1619	1335	914

(.50 Caliber), Fifty caliber bore diameter muzzle-loading rifles are a good choice for medium to large game such as Elk Caribou & Sheep, which requires a minimum of 1200 foot pounds of bullet energy to harvest this size game animal.
(Medium To Heavy Recoiling Rifle With Bullets Over 250 Grain)

.50 Caliber Magnum Muzzleloader / Hornady SST / Bullet Weight 300 Grains: Bullet Muzzle Velocity: 2,132 Feet Per Second. Bullet Muzzle Energy: 3,028 Foot Pounds.
Range	25 yds.	50 yds.	75 yds.	100 yds.	150 yds.	200 yds.	300 yds.
Bullet Drop	+ 0	+ 1.2	+ 1.9	+ 2.0	+ 0.1	- 4.8	- 26.0
Bullet Energy	2809	2603	2409	2227	1899	1615	1171

Inline Rifle Loading Sequence:
 The sequence of loading your muzzleloader after checking to make sure there are no obstructions in the barrel is to do the following:
1. Charging With Gunpowder:
 This is accomplished by either inserting premeasured pellets or pouring in loose measured powder.

 For the novice, this can be accomplished easily and with no confusion by using pelletized powder where you do not have to measure the powder just add the desired amount of pellets which is only two for excellent accuracy and trajectory.

Hodgdon Triple Seven Pellets:
 Triple Seven pellets are designed for use only in newly manufactured muzzle-loading in-line rifles of 45 caliber, 50 caliber, and 54 caliber and can only be ignited in a 209 primer ignition system reliably. Use only the correct caliber pellet designated for the given caliber rifle.

 They are designed to be used with saboted bullets or conical bullets in cojunction with a fiber wad which protects the projectiles base and adds to the accuracy potential of the inline magnum muzzle-loading rifle.

Hodgdon Triple Seven Pellets - No measuring. No pouring. Triple Seven Pellets give muzzleloaders greater consistency, performance and faster second shots and it is sulfur free, virtually odorless, the residue left in the barrel is water soluable and can be cleaned anywhere with just plain water.

Accuracy Tip: Always use a vegetable fiber wad on top of your powder charge for consistent accuracy as this protects the base of the projectile from extreme heat.

2. Projectile Loading Or Bullet Loading:
 Only one at a time is loaded.
 a. Pre-Lubed bullets, no wad is used as the projectile has a hollow base or gas rings which expands to grip the rifling and is already lubed, however using a wad at the base of the bullet does in some cases increase accuracy.
 b. Saboted bullets, have a concaved base which expands to grip the rifling.

 For the inline muzzle-loading rifle novice trying to figure out what would be a good bullet to use in their new magnum inline muzzleloader, can be very confusing, if your muzzleloader is a .45 or .50 caliber with a 1:28" twist, then hornady offers 3 very good choices as seen in the above ballistics test.

Hornady Saboted SST ML bullets with their polymer-tip, produce extreme long range accuracy and flat trajectory. Controlled expansion and deep penetration translates into great performance on game animals. This low drag saboted bullet is a great bullet for open and brushy country. This bullet is designed for extreme accuracy with inline muzzleloaders that have a barrel twist rate of 1:28".

Accuracy Tip: Always use a premium grade bullet for top performance when hunting, it is of my experience that hornady offers their bullet sabot combinations at a reasonable price and their muzzleloading bullets are designed for hunting.

Accuracy Tip: This is the one thing that can have a serious impact on accuracy and that is always make sure the bullet is fully seated into the sabot as you load the bullet and sabot into the barrel. I normally seat the bullet into the sabot then grab sabot and bullet firmly at the sabot petals then start them together into the barrel.

3. Seating The Charge:
 This is accomplished with a tool called a "ramrod", it is used to push the items down the barrel and then seated firmly together against the breech, at this point the muzzle-loading rifle has been charged with powder and bullet and not fully loaded.

Accuracy Tip: Always use a slow, steady, even and firm pressure on the ramrod to seat the bullet against the wad and powder charge.

Accuracy Tip: Because of the plastic noses on todays bullets, great care must be taken when seating the bullet in the barrel so as not to damage the bullet nose, if damaged you will have loss of accuracy and the bullet will not perform as it was designed to do. You will most likely need to add a proper diameter bullet seater to your ramrod for your imparticular bullet choice.
PowerBelt bullet starter set maximizes the accuracy of poly tipped or hollow-point bullet with the bullet starter. Comes complete with three sets of three loading tips to fit almost all hollow-point and polymer tip bullets and ramrods.

4. Priming:
 Priming the inline rifle muzzleloader, completes the loading process.
 a. The inline rifle is now primed with a 209 shotshell primer or a likeness thereof at the rear of the breech.

Easier Inline Priming:
 Trying to prime an inline muzzleloader in a hurry can be quite frustrating at times a good inline primer capper makes the chore much simpler.
U-View InLine Capper: is designed specifically for use with many of the in-line muzzleloaders that use a 209 shotgun primer. Constructed of clear pastic so you know just how many 209 primers you have left. It holds eight primers securely and allows quick visual inspection of your primer reserves.

Muzzleloading Tip: Triple Seven powder works best with the new Remington and Winchester 209 muzzleloading primers, with normal 209 primers you will have a hard crust build up in the barrel after several shots, these new primers eliminate the crud ring.

5. The Inline Muzzle-Loading Rifle Is Now Fully Loaded:

Accuracy Tip: If you are using pelletized Triple Seven powder, which I recommend for all novice shooters, after each shot fired, run one moistened patch down the barrel followed by one dry patch to maintain maximum accuracy while on the rifle range.

Cheaper Inline Rifle Muzzleloading:
 Premium hunting bullet and sabot combinations are just getting down right expensive making the inline muzzleloader shooter flinch each time the trigger is pulled, not from muzzleloader recoil, but from sticker shock on the price of some of these bullets.

 Now it goes almost without saying that premium hunting bullets do perform better than most fly by night bullet combo's but just save those premium's for the hunting field and not wasted on the range, there is an alternative.

  A box of pistol bullets for the most part is still relatively cheap per 100 count and if you look you will most likely find a bullet weight that duplicates your hunting bullet. Sabots are cheap as well and normally sold per 50 count.

 The pistol bullets if weight matched to your premium hunting bullet will impact a target nearly identical, on the range simply swap out to the pistol bullet load, this should save from 1/2 to about 2/3 of what it would cost otherwise for you to shoot your inline muzzle-loading rifle.