With 90-120 grains of 2F or RS grade Pyrodex loaded with a 600 grain conical it will deliver sub 2” groups at 100 yards. Loads like this will generate enough energy to take the largest big game. At 6.5 lbs. with a 26” barrel it is a slim, well balanced rifle. It’s easy to handle and comes to your shoulder like an old dancing partner. With the right load it’s devastating at 100 yards.

The barrel is made from #4140 chrome moly steel that allows for chamber pressures in the range of 30,000 PSI. It has a 1-24” twist and button rifling .005 deep. The front portion of the barrel is recessed with a free bore of .700. By incorporating a 17 degree taper in front of the bore the conical is started perpendicular to the bore. Bullet canting one of several obstacles a shooter must overcome during loading to attain accuracy with a conical is eliminated.

The Gonic has a bore diameter of .500, tight by industry standards. The design should engrave all the bands on a conical there by eliminating gas blow-by. Which upsets the flight of the conical as it exits the bore.

Loading the Gonic is different from other muzzleloaders too. It comes with a resizing die, short starter and an express loader. If the conical isn’t manufactured by Gonic it must be pressed through the resizing die. (Conicals from Gonic are already presized). The express loader serves double duty as a powder measure and a speed loader for hunting. Measure the powder into the express loader, place the conical in on top, pour the powder into the barrel, align the express loader with the recessed area of the barrel and push the conical into the barrel with the short starter. Now seat the bullet with the ramrod.

It may sound like an unusual approach for loading a rifle, but Gonic has overcome one of the problems facing muzzleloaders—starting the bullet correctly. The express loader coupled with a unique bore design, aligns the conical with the bore and insures that it is perpendicular.

A recoil pad isn’t an option with the GA-87, it,s a necessity! The trigger pull length is 14” - about average when compared to other rifles. But the stock has very little drop to dampen recoil. Normally, the rifle is equipped with a recoil pad, but Gonic was out of stock our test gun was shipped. We used the Past recoil shoulder pad during the test firing.

The rifle comes with a hardwood stock but a laminated stock is available as an option. Studs are provided for detachable sling swivels on the stock and ramrod ferrule. Two screws secure the barrel to the stock, one in front of the flat black trigger guard and one in the rear. This arrangement holds the barrel firmly to the stock. The trigger guard has ample room for a thick gloved finger.

Gonic re-designed the standard nipple for their rifle. The threaded area on the 1/4 x 28 nipple has been extended and the flash hole enlarged. According to Mr. Rodney, the design generates a hotter flame by allowing more oxygen into the flash channel for ignition. The longer threads are necessary because of the higher chamber pressures generated from the heavy conicals.

Fred Rodney incorporated two features not found together on most inlines. A covered breech, and a tube that runs from the breech down through the stock that allows spent caps to fall out of the breech area. The discharge channel is a definite plus, especially when a scope is installed. Without it, the rifle must be turned on its side to dump the spent cap. The covered breech is standard equipment that may be installed as needed. While it is illegal in a few states (be sure to check state regulations!), it’s a nice option to have available if the need arises.

Another unusual feature about this rifle is the hammer assembly design. The cocking handle for the hammer is located on the left side and at first it was awkward. I thought it would be a disadvantage, but after a few hours at the range, I became accustomed to the handle and found that it was a nice feature for bench rest shooting. A little practice with the rifle and you’ll be accustomed to it and never realize the difference. The hammer has a travel length of .580 inch for contact with the nipple versus the Thompson-Center Thunderhawk and Knight Rifle, at .775 and .384 respectively. The hammer spring can easily be removed from inside the hammer for replacement. Tension on the hammer may be adjusted by removing the springand inserting flat washers as needed inside the hollow base of the hammer. Then replace the spring inside the rear of the hammer and insert the assembly into the breech of the barrel.

The trigger assembly is similar in design to one found on a modern cartridge rifle; simple but rugged, it breaks clean and crisp. We adjusted the trigger pull to 2.4 lbs. for our shooting. Pull and slack are both adjustable.

The rifle has two integral safeties. The ambidextrous safety is located to the rear of the hammer assembly on top of the stock. The other safety is on the left side of the hammer assembly. It is implemented by pulling the handle on the hammer to the rear and locking it down in the notched area of the barrel. In this position the rifle cannot be fired unless the handle on the hammer is returned to the horizontal position.

To reduce the weight in the front of the rifle, Gonic abbreviated the under rib and integrated the ramrod thimble into
a one-piece assembly. Despite exhaustive firings, the under rib has remained tightly intact.

Williams’ sights are standard. Windage and elevation are adjusted by two screws. The front sight is the popular bead with a white dot drift mounted on a ramp and the barrel is drilled and tapped for a scope.

To clean the Gonic, remove the ramrod and the two screws in the trigger guard. Once the barrel is out of the stock, take a small screw driver in one hand and with the other push in on the plug at the rear of the barrel. Remove the screw that holds the rear barrel plug in, maintaining pressure on the barrel plug. Once the screw is removed, slowly release the pressure on the plugg from the coiled spring inside the hammer.

Remove the spring and the flat washer inside the hammer. Push the safety forward into the firing position. Unscrew the cocking handle from the hammer. Depress the trigger and slide the hammer out the rear of the barrel. To remove the nipple, insert the combination tool into the rear of the barrel and align it with the nipple. Place a small diameter rod or screw driver into the hole in the rear of the combination tool and unscrew the nipple.

You are now ready to to scrub the bore and breech of the rifle.
Hot soapy water and a military cleaning brush were used to clean the breech, hammer assembly and nipple. On other inline ignition rifles the area around the breech has a small nooks that dirt can cling to, the Gonic doesn’t. The bore was scrubbed with hot soapy water and a wire brush, then dried with clean patches and wiped dry with a soft clean cloth, oiled and reassembled.

Normally 250 to 300 shots are fired during an evaluation. Only 140 shots were fired through this rifle. The bore design restricts the type of bullets that can be fired. It is too small for the .44 and .45 cal. sabots. Seating a sabot is so difficult and the down range results are so poor that the manufacturer doesn’t recommend using sabots in this rifle. Using them could damage the barrel.

Most fast twist rifles will shoot a variety of sabots and conicals accurately at 100 yards. The Gonic is selective about what it will digest because of the tight bore. Sabots are out, the few conicals it will shoot produced good groups. The other conicals were terrible, nothing in between. We found nine conicals, four are sold by Gonic. Al Shinogle of Accuracy Unlimited informed us that he can furnish conicals for the rifle. But they must be special ordered. Unfortunately, we didn’t discover this until after the tests were concluded.

The conicals from Gonic are lubed with a mixture of Alox and bees wax, the old N.R.A. formula. But they are planning on marketing conicals in the future with a Teflon lubricant. The conicals from White and Hornady use a synthetic lube. The difference becomes apparent when the barrel is cleaned after only one shot. The conicals from Gonic left more residue in the bore.

The 320 grain REAL Bullet is one that we haven’t had much success with in other rifles, but it did very well in this rifle. The rifle prefers conicals that have grease rings versus a knurled surface. When the Buffalo Bullet passed through the resizing die most of the lubricant and knurled surface were removed. Two other conicals with similar surfaces, C.V.A.’s 310 grain conical and Warren’s 310 grain conical, were tried and the reslt was the same. The conicals come out of the resizing die with the bearing surface destroyed and most of the lubricant removed. As the bullet is pushed down into the bore to be seated, more of the surface is destroyed. Without lubrication, muzzle velocity was erratic and a few rose to an unacceptable level. Succeeding shots added lead fouling to the barrel and the group widened. Accuracy with these bullets was even more erratic than their velocity. At 100 yards the group could be covered with a pillow case. The problem is a mismatch between barrel and bullet. These bullets cannot be resized for the bore. They are good bullets but they weren’t designed for this rifle.

In order for a frontloader to shoot conicals accurately they must fit the bore very precisely. Benchrest shooters discovered this and have developed special conicals for their rifles that enable them to shoot phenomenal groups at 300 yards. Therein lies the crux to the problem of finding conicals for the Gonic. Most conicals are designed to fit a wide assortment of bore diameters that are larger than the Gonic’s. Since the industry doesn’t have a standard bore diameter for any caliber, problems like this will arise again from time to time! Gonic’s tight bore does offer an advantage for the hunter, it reduces the chance of a conical moving in the bore once it is loaded. Most manufactures will warn the hunter to guard against this by reseating the conical after they are in their stand. Try pulling a conical from the bore on this rifle. We did, and it was tough!

A Simmons 2x7 power 44 MAG scope was fitted to the rifle for our work at the range. Bear in mind that the recoil of this rifle is similar to a .338 or the .375 H&H. The scope has held up very well under the severe pounding of the Gonic. I can’t say so much for my shoulder!

The Gonic conicals are easy to start and load. The White conicals were a little harder, even after they were put through the resizing die. At the range we encountered a few problems with reloading because of the high number of heavy charges we were shooting. A shooter will have a tough time reloading some of the conicals if the bore is heavily fouled. This shouldn’t be a problem under hunting conditions. Shooting this rifle with conicals and heavy charges reinforced our belief in cleaning the bore often during a session on the range.

At the range, the best groups were obtained with the White Conical. That didn’t surprize us because they are longer. Fast twist bores will generally shoot the longer conicals and sabots more accurately. For expansion the nod would have to go to one of the Hornady or Gonic hollow points, however.

Gonic offers, as an option, an excellent range rod. Do yourself a favor and purchase it, at the range it will save time and temper. Ithe rod is an aluminium with a synthetic handle and muzzle crown that fits into the recessed area. The unbreakable rod that comes with the rifle is stiff enough for hunting.

This rifle is truly a magnum; it will shoot heavy conicals with accuracy at a 100 yards. It was designed for the hunter who intends to travel in rough terrain under harsh conditions, and demands a rifle that will accurately deliver a long range death blow to his quarry.


Hank