# Gonic Arms Model 87



## sulzbachk

Hi Guys....some questions from a newbie...
I bought my father a Gonic almost 20yrs ago...he never used it before he died. I have approx 60 Gonic conicals with the rifle...no idea what weight.
Can I use the new stuff like powerbelts or shockwaves in this 50CAL? Are the pellets OK to use?? Anybody know how the Gonic shoots?? Any help is appreciated.


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## poppgunner

Rodney and his son owned Gonic. They had a very close association with T/C, I believe Rodney was a close personal friend of the original T/C owners and an engineer for T/C. They were first in making a blackpowder conversion for the contender before they made complete guns. They made a proprietary bore size of .500 cal, to sell people all the goodies that went with the gun. They semed to have problems with quality control-nothing big- fit, finish, etc, but they were VERY accurate and powerful guns. They used a very fast 1:24 twist to push a 500 gr pure lead bullet. Quality control and a high price tag, like $700+ ten years ago and the passing of Rodney- who was also the businessman-pretty much killed the company. When that happened, people dumped the guns. On gun broker I saw one go for 200-250 (asking) NIB. Its kind of interesting now though, since the advent of the 500 S&W, its standard bullet sizer being .501 ( about $12 from LEE) and Saeco makes a 440 gr bullet mould, that would be about perfect in pure lead (or close to pure)in the Gonic. I think Midway carries both. You just would not be able to use the .512-.515 bullets of the 50-70 because when you size them the grease grooves dissappear. It would be a shame just to dump the gun if you could keep it shooting. If I remember, good loads for the Gonic ran between 90 to 120 max grains of FF with those heavy bullets. Again its a very accurate gun. Hhope this helps


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## Eeasy

I have 4 Gonic 87 's .50 cal that I purchased 20 years ago. 3 have never been fired. It is time to give them to the grand kids. Where can I get sabots etc. that will fit? I know the CO is gone but where can you get parts and supplies? Thanks


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## alleyyooper

Any black powder sub should work except BH209 if you don't have a 209 ignitition.You can buy the sabots direct from these fine folks>> http://www.mmpsabots.com/
You buy pistol bullets from a reloading shop to fit the sabots.
You should be able to buy round balls and conicals from a gun shop that carries black powder supplies too.

 Al


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## poppgunner

I sold my Gonic years ago, but what I do with my White is I use a Lee hand press ($25) and run sabots through a sizer die. I put the sabot in backwards-like you load them in a barrel-and put a bullet in POINT FIRST to support the sabot. This will at least make it so you don't beat them down the barrel. Turn the bullet around and load it in the barrel. This also works the same way for me for the powerbelts and the new Hornandy Minie- type bullet. My White is .504 and I'm sure the Gonic is .500 to .501. 500 S&W bullet sizer should work and its not even a special order anymore.


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## poppgunner

What I've discovered with a faster twist is that in puer lead longer = heavier. Some longer modern bullets-like the Hornandy I mentioned- seem to shoot fine. I believe this is because they have a longer bearing surface. If you use sabots look for the ones that will hold a longer bullet. I use a long sabot and bullets meant for the 45-70 but size them to .451. They are a handfull,but they seem to shoot better than the pistol bullets in my fast twist guns


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