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What grain bullet for muzzleloader do you use?

J

Justin SE IOWA

Member
I have a knight 50 caliber muzzleloader and I shoot Hodgdon triple seven loose powder. I shoot powerbelt copper series 295 grain bullets. I cant seem to group any tighter than 8 inches at 100 yards. I pull a bore snake through it after every 5 shots also. I am thinking of going to a lighter bullet. But I am looking for suggestions. Thanks
 
I also shoot a 50cal CVA Optima with a 44 cal sabot at 240 grains, and clean gun every other shot, gives everything more consistancy. But i also have been thinking of going to a 200 grain bullet for a little more distance.
 
If you want accuracy, use the Hornady FTB bullets. Full 50 caliber- no sabot. They load easy even in a dirty bore. The base is hollow & expands to fit tight in the bore when fired. They advertize 1 in groups at 100 yds. My gun holds a 2 inch group with a 7 power scope on it. They come in 300 & 350 grain. I use 85 grains 2F Goex black powder.
 
My 8 year old son shoots Hornady XTP 44 caliber 180 grian bullets that I slip into a Hornady 50 caliber sabot. He only shoots 50 grains of the same powder I use and at 100 yards he groups 3 inches!
 
Justin,
I use 100 grains of triple 7 loose behind a Hornady green sabot and a Hornady 240 grain 44 cal. XTP. This is in an old Knight inline converted to 209 primers. I have cut holes at 50 yards. I have a 1.5-4 power scope on it.
My 100 grains by volume is not exactly 100 though. I actually weight my charges and use 85 grains by weight which is a tad more than 100 grains by volume (my test gave me around 77gr by weight for 100 grains by volume of triple seven).

As someone said, too much powder can cause problems. I retrieve my shot sabots and with a ~120 grain load, I was blowing the back seal on the sabot. My shots were not consistent either.
I have killed 3 deer with that load and had very clean kills with it. One I hit on the shoulder breaking the near leg, through the heart, and broke the far leg on the way out.
HTH
Keith
 
We use 240 grain Hornady XTP pistol bullets in the green sabots. I use 90 grains of Pyrodex powder, son uses two 50 grain Pyrodex pellets. Good accuracy, does deer in far better than it ought to.
 
At this time, I'm using a 245 gr powerbelt with 2-50 gr, pyrodex pellets in a CVA Optima. Tack driver at 150 yds.
 

Can some one tell me what velocity some of those muzzle loader loads shoot at?

KEH
 
Not meaning to steal thread but can"t help but follow up question. Anyone shooting powerbelts seen horrible weight retention on live game? Used them on Minnesota deer 5 years ago and in Colorado elk hunting 3 years ago and saw very poor performance. Just curious about others experience while we're on it. Thanks, Tom B.
 
TC Encore,245 gr.power belts with 150 gr.of pryodex.shoots like a 30-06 rife,bullet just wanders around with a 100gr powder.yes they are designed to shoot that much powder
 
The 245 that I shot a button buck with a few weeks ago had one piece from the bullet shear off (rib bone?) and wound up in the backstrap on a good heart hit.
 
A lighter bullet may help, but play with the powder when you have snow on the ground.
You can almost literally fill the barrel with powder if you want to,
what it doesn't burn will be blown out the muzzle onto the ground.
You don't want any on the snow, it is wasted obviously.
Once under that wasted part, reduce it until it groups with your choice of ammo.
My in line does well at 100 gr of pyrodex and power belts.
My Hawkin will drive nails at 150 yards with the same power belts and 80 gr,
but if I put 100 gr in it they're all over the place.
Go figure?
 
Unless you have a long barrel, you are just making noise. Powder burns so slow that only 120 grains burns in the barrel. Try it on a chronograph & you will find no increase in velocity after 125 grains.
 
i shoot the powerbelts also through a TC Encore with 100 grain of Shockey gold pellets. The twist in the barrel can make a difference in the accuracy of the gun with certain bullets the best thing to do is experiment with different loads and bullets and find out what works for your gun.
 
My thompson center omega never did like powerbelts. I grouped about the same as what you're saying with 'em.

Hornaday SST 300 grain or T/C shockwaves 300 grain with 100 grains of triple seven work for me.
 
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