Chronographed the MZ hunting pistol.

[bigbore442001]

Several years ago I bought a unique muzzleloading handgun. The Kahnke M82 single shot pistol reminds me of a muzzleloading version of the Contender in the fact that you can interchange barrels of different calibers and lengths. You can get 10,12 and 14 barrels in 36,45,50 and 54. I own a stainless model with a .50 caliber 14 inch barrel. I mounted a 4x Burris on that barrel. So far I have taken two game animals. A Russian boar and a red deer hind( female) many years ago with the gun.

I wanted to do some shooting over the chronograph and had a bit of free time today. I headed to the range and shot for about an hour and a half. It was enlightening to say the least.

I have a can of GOEX 3 F powder that hasn't been used much. I have been using Hodgdon's H777 powder since it is easier to clean up. I did not have any H777 with me so I decided to shoot the Goex over the screens. I anticipated poor performance but much to my delight it has worked out very well.

Range conditions were rough. The temperature was 90 F with high humidity so the real feel was over 100 f. I did not want to stick around too much as I felt the sweat pour out of me.

First load:

90 grains of Goex 3fg with a 240 grain .451 diameter XTP sabot bullet, CCI musket primer. Average velocity: 1417 feet per second.

Second load:

90 grains of Goex 3fg with a 300 grain .451 diameter poly tipped bullet, CCI musket primer. Average velocity: 1446 feet per second.

Third Load: 90 grains of Goex 3f with a 338 grain Powerbelt platinum bullet, CCI musket cap. Average velocity: 1348 feet per second.

I was pleasantly surprised. I expected velocities of these loads to be much lower but it appears that my specialty gun is in the realm of the 44 magnum class of handguns.

I heard that Swiss black powder is considered the best on the market now. I plan to get a couple pounds in the future to see how well it works with some hunting loads. The next step is to do more testing and find a good big game load. After that, hopefully, take some game using a unique handgun.

On Sunday I did some testing with the same gun but used H777 in place of the GOEX. What a huge difference in performance.

I uses the same gun, a M82 Kahnke with a 14" .50 caliber barrel and used a 90 grain volume charge of H777 in 3f granulation. The following is an average of shots taken with three different projectiles.

Load 1: 240 grain Thompson Center XTP magnum sabot. Average velocity was 1702 fps. I shook my head when I saw that but the average was correct. All of the shots were at or above 1700 feet per second. I thought it was a mistake but the numbers were a repeat performance.

Load 2: 338 grain Powerbelt platinum bullet. Average velocity was 1452 feet per second.

Load 3: 300 grain Thompson Center Polytip bullet. Average velocity was 1627 feet per second.

So I have some viable hunting loads with this gun using H777 in 3 F granulation.

[86er]

I love muzzleloader shooting and hunting and the handgun you have is a good one. Very portable and powerful/accurate. If you have a muzzleloader season and handguns are allowed it is a pleasure to pack in and out leaving you hands free to drag your big game animal!

[olyinaz]

Nice looking pistol! I find it interesting that it takes caps because most of these "modern" types are usually meant for 209 primers no?

Plenty powerful - that's for sure.

Best,
Oly

[O.S.O.K.]

Cool! Glad you can indulge in the sport. I'm sure it was a hassle to get the permit and such but well worth it.

ETA - doh! NEW England... lol not Britian. Good reading comprehension huh? The red deer (hind) comment threw me off...

[bigbore442001]

About eight years ago I went to a hunting preserve in Maine. There was a special on red deer hinds( does) thus along with one Russian boar I shot a Red Deer hind with that gun. I was impressed with the gun. The hind went about twenty yards and dropped dead. The Russian boar went a tad further because they are tough buggers.

I do have a 16" 20 gauge smoothbore barrel for it. I shot a pheasant a few years back with it. Hopefully I will be able to hunt this year or early next. If all goes well I'd like to take it to Florida for a combination of a family trip and wild boar hunt.

[AJMD429]

ETA - doh! NEW England... lol not Britian.

Sometimes I don't know which area is meaner to the free citizens thereof...

[Nath]

Most impressed Bigbore, I remember reading about them years ago and thought to myself what a handy piece of kit one of them would be.

Keep up the good work

Nath.

[Marlin32]

I love muzzle load hunting, have no pistol though. Want a .32 cal for squirrels, next year's project.

It has reinforced the Big Slow bullet for killing deer for me. Last year I shot a buck right through front shoulder, (50cal), he went about 25 yards, he was horrifically wounded, but I never cut an ounce of ruined meat off of that shoulder. I was amazed, I figured I lost a front quarter.

I would love to shoot an Elk (and keep applying for muzzle loader in CO) and Moose.
I want a .54 cal, and hope to get them in close. But those are adventures for a different time, right now have my handsfull trying to create a .348 Marlin Modern Rifle!!! And not for close, but to 330 yds!!!

I am nothing if not a mountain of contradictions.

[bigbore442001]

In the future I want to get a 14" .36 caliber barrel for small game and varmints. I suspect that it would be a fun gun to hunt with.