Something New and Different: The ‘Denali’ Break-Open In-Line
by Toby Bridges
Contributing Editor
I find it interesting how quickly “something new” in the muzzleloading industry gets copied these days. About four years ago, Thompson/Center Arms announced the introduction of their “drop action” Omega in-line muzzleloader. And even before many US shooters had an opportunity to pick up one of the rifles and examine it first hand, there were already a couple of off-shore-produced knockoffs on the market. Likewise, when the reintroduced H&R “Huntsman” break-open showed promise of being a good seller, two or three other companies jumped right in with similar designs of their own.
One thing is for certain: the machinery used in today’s firearms industry is nothing short of amazing. With a minimum of effort and production cost, skilled machinists can duplicate just about anything. Unfortunately, that often means modern in-line muzzle-loaded hunting rifles with copy-cat looks and features are filling local dealers’ racks. On the other hand, it also means that manufacturers can do a better job of building each and every rifle that leaves their facility exactly the same.
One muzzleloader manufacturer who has really come on strong over the past couple of decades has been the Pedersoli firm of Gardone, Italy. The company’s line today includes superb copies of many popular original percussion and flintlock muzzleloading guns from the past, plus a growing line of reproduction blackpowder cartridge rifles. In this regard, the ability to copy closely has been a good thing, resulting in near exact duplicates of original guns, only now built with superior modern steels.
A few years back, Pedersoli did begin to offer a modern in-line percussion big-game rifle. The rifle, offered by Dixie Gun Works, was built with a simple “plunger style” hammer, and functioned flawlessly. However, by the time this rifle came to the market, in-line ignition systems of this design had already become “old technology.” Shooters and hunters had already moved on to new “bolt-action” and “break-open” designs, most of which relied on hot No. 209 shotshell primers for guaranteed ignition.
Realizing that more than 80% of all muzzleloading gun sales in the US are of modern in-line muzzle-loaded big game rifles, Pedersoli went back to the drawing board. The new break-open .50-caliber “Denali” is now being produced for an old-line muzzleloading company, Dixie Gun Works of Union City, TN. In fact, this well-built, very modern in-line muzzleloader just may set a few new standards for other break-open designs to follow . . . and for other companies to copy.
I saw a prototype of the rifle at the 2003 Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show. I was impressed with the exposed hammer, break-open rifle I saw then. But when I got another look at the refined prototype of the hammerless version at last year’s SHOT Show, I knew that the finished rifle was going to be “something new, something different.” And I wasn’t disappointed.
Test Rifle
When I unpacked the first production test rifle shipped to me late last summer, my first impression of the muzzleloader was that it looked like a front-loaded, modernized version of a classic European break-open stalking rifle. The machined fit of the breech end of the barrel and the table of the receiver was excellent. And despite a relatively long barrel, this .50-caliber muzzleloader is exceptionally well balanced.
Dixie markets the “Denali” as a 26-inch barreled rifle. However, a tape measure will quickly reveal that the “outside” length of the stepped and tapered round barrel is actually just a little more than 28 inches.
This is a refreshing break from models that are sold as 26-inch-barreled muzzleloaders, only to discover that the actual length of the working bore is just 24 to 25 inches. I slipped a wooden dowel rod into the muzzle of the “Denali,” pushed it down the bore until it made contact with the face of the breech plug, then marked the rod flush with the muzzle. This 26-inch-barreled muzzleloader has a 26&Mac251;-inch working bore.
The rear 2&Mac249; inches of the barrel has been machined heavy to match the receiver contours. The barrel at that point is 1-3/8 inches in diameter, making this the heaviest barrel breech you’ll find on any production run muzzleloading rifle today—either of modern or traditional styling.
I quickly took to the under-lever that breaks the action open. It is long and takes absolutely no effort to find—even without looking. Still it is far enough below the grip that a shooter does not have to be concerned with getting knuckles rapped when the rifle fires, even with a hot magnum load. The mechanism unlocks positively, and when the barrel is closed you can feel and hear it lock. Also, the sliding safety automatically engages every time the lever is pushed down and the action opened.
The breech plug of the No. 209 shotshell primer ignition system measures right at 1&Mac249; inches in length. To remove the breech plug from the rear of the barrel, the shooter first removes a hefty screw from the left side of the receiver.
This allows the barrel to open more completely, providing access to the breech plug with the wrench that comes with each “Denali” rifle. However, before removing the breech plug, the primer extractor first has to be removed, which is easily done by loosening one screw. Complete disassembly for cleaning takes about one minute.
The rifle can be broken down even further by removing the barrel from the receiver. This requires loosening the screw on each side of the hinge pin, then tapping the pin out. Breaking the action open takes some of the tension off of the pin, making it easier to tap out. Once the pin has been removed, the barrel can then be lifted out of the precisely machined slot in the receiver.
No Lightweight
When it comes to weight, the Brutus “Denali” can hardly be considered a lightweight. This is a very solidly built muzzleloader, stocked with a buttstock and forearm that is made of a filled carbon-synthetic material. Without a scope, base or rings, this rifle tips the scales at around 8&Mac186; pounds.
Pedersoli machines a one-piece steel base specifically for the rifle and packages one with each of the muzzleloaders. The base is very well made and nicely finished. To purchase a comparable base for any other muzzleloading rifle would set a shooter back $50 to $75. Using a set of Weaver-style rings, I easily installed the base and mounted a 3-9x40mm Leatherwood Hi-Lux Optics scope in less than 15 minutes. The fully tricked out “Denali” weighs right at 10 pounds. That’s about &Mac251;-pound heavier than any other scoped in-line rifle I shot and hunted with this past year.
At the bench, that extra &Mac251;-pound surely added some to the comfort of shooting hot loads out of the rifle. Even with full 150-grain charges of Triple Seven Pellets behind bullets of 300 grains, the “Denali” was still a real pleasure to shoot. And with just about any quality saboted bullet for a .50-caliber fast-twist bore, this rifle produced very acceptable hunting accuracy.
Pedersoli rifles the “Denali” bore with 8-groove rifling than spins to the right with a 1-turn-in-24-inch rate-of-twist. This is just a little snappier than the 1-turn-in-28-inch twist now found in most other in-line rifles on the market.
‘Dead Center’
So, it did not come as any real surprise to find that the “Denali” tended to produce some of its best groups with slightly longer saboted bullets, like the 285-grain Barnes all-copper “Spit-Fire” and the 300-grain Hornady SST.
One bullet that the test rifle took a liking to was the 260-grain .40-caliber “Dead Center” from Precision Rifle Custom Muzzleloader Bullets. This way undersized, cold-swaged, polymer-tipped spire-point bullet is loaded into a .50-caliber bore using a special .50x.40 sabot produced by Muzzleload Magnum Products (MMP) exclusively for Precision Rifle.
Now, the rifle and bullet weren’t exactly a perfect match from the very first shot. In fact, the best group shot during the first session with the rifle and 260-grain Precision Rifle “Dead Center” still measured a little more than 2 inches across center-to-center. And it didn’t seem to matter whether I was loading with 100, 110, or 120 grains of FFFg Triple Seven. Most groups with the bullet were about 2&Mac251; to 3 inches across.
Now, there is a lot of plastic around that .40-caliber bullet to make up for the .10-inch difference between the diameter of the projectile and the actual diameter of the .50-caliber bore. And plastic compresses a lot easier than the bullet. Consequently, I found the .50x.40 sabot/bullet combination to load exceptionally easy.
Much easier, in fact, than any .50x.45 combination loaded. And with the hot charges of FFFg Triple Seven being loaded, I decided to try using an MMP “Ballistic Bridge Sub-Base” between the powder and sabot base to see if that improved accuracy.
For my next range session with the “Denali,” I also decided to use weighed charges of FFFg Triple Seven rather than volume measured charges. Triple Seven is much bulkier than blackpowder, so I knew the charges would be lighter by actual weight. And when I weighed six volume-measured 110-grain charges of the powder on an RCBS electronic scale, I got an “average” of 78.6 grains.
I also discovered that those six charges varied nearly 4 grains from high to low. So, I weighed out a good supply of 80-grain charges (by actual weight) and headed back to the range.
Immediately, I saw an improvement in accuracy. Actually, there was a big improvement. My first three groups, using the weighed charges and with one of the MMP sub-bases between the sabot and powder charge, were all inside of 1&Mac251; inches. My best group of the day was just under 1 inch.
At the muzzle, the load is good for 2,040 feet-per-second (fps). That translates into 2,400 foot-pounds of energy (fpe). Precision Rifle founder and owner Cecil Epp has shared with me that the sleek spire-point 260-grain bullet has a ballistic coefficient of right at .375.
That being the case, with this load the bullet is still moving along at about 1,800 fps at the 100-yard mark, and hits with right at 1,870 fpe. Then, all the way out at 200 yards, the very aerodynamic .40-caliber spire-point retains a velocity of just over 1,600 fps and will knock the living daylights out of a deer with almost 1,500 fpe.
With the “Denali” sighted 2 inches high at 100 yards, this load prints only about 2 inches down at 200 yards. Here is a combination that’s the answer to the prayers of muzzleloading deer hunters who do not want to be faced with calculating bullet drop and hold over at ranges of 175 to 200 yards.
Loaded with a 110-grain charge of FFFg Triple Seven, an MMP sub-base and one of the Precision Rifle 260-grain .50x.40 sabot bullet combinations, the “Denali” permits a “dead on” hold, whether the deer is standing at 75, 150, or 200 yards.
I had the opportunity to witness the effectiveness of this neat new break-open .50-caliber muzzleloader and the aforementioned load this past fall. I was hunting the mid-November general firearms deer season on a Nebraska ranch.
Over the years, I had harvested a half-dozen good whitetail bucks on the ranch, but never a mule deer. So, when I spotted 20 mulies working along a wooded draw on the fourth day of my hunt, I made my move.
From where I had first watched the deer, I could see the group included four bucks—two younger fork-horns and two decent 5x5 bucks. I wasted little time in getting a little above the deer and ahead of their movement. I had just eased down to where a point dropped off into the valley below, when the first few does began to filter past. Through my binoculars, I could see that the two mature bucks were bringing up the rear, giving me plenty of time to settle down behind an old dead cedar.
When the two younger bucks moved past my ambush point, I guessed them to be a little less than 200 yards away. When one stepped into an opening and stopped, I couldn’t resist taking a practice hold. I would be shooting downhill at a pretty good angle, so settled the crosshairs near the top of the shoulder, then eased them back to the edge of the shoulder line.
Almost five minutes later, the larger of the two 5x5 bucks stepped into nearly the same exact spot, stopped and looked back at the other buck that was now bringing up the rear. I took the same exact hold, eased off the safety and gently squeezed back on the trigger. The rifle barked and belched a light whiff of smoke.
At the same instant, the bullet drove home with a resounding “wallop” and the buck kicked high into the air, took about five steps and dropped. When I returned to get the buck, I took a laser range-finder reading on the dead cedar I had used for a rest. It was 191 yards away.
The 260-grain “Dead Center” had caught the rear edge of the shoulder blade, had passed through both lungs, centered a heavy rib bone and exited out the opposite side several inches to the rear of the shoulder. The terminal performance of the bullet was everything a hunter could hope for.
Pedersoli and Dixie Gun Works have a winner with the .50-caliber “Denali.” The rifle has a satin blue finish, with choice of either camouflaged or grayish-black carbon synthetic stocks. Suggested retail for the camouflage-stocked version is $599.95, while the non-camo model retails for $549.95.
For more information, contact Dixie at: Box 130, Dept. GWK, Gunpowder Lane, Union City, TN 38281; phone: 800-238-6785; on-line: www.dixiegunworks.com.
Now, I’ve already begun to wonder if the manufacturer and importer of this well-built break-open in-line rifle have thought about copying another popular break-open system and will offer interchangeable center-fire rifle and shotgun barrels in the future. Hmmmm!
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