Muzzleloading....... What kind of bullets to use?

[THE DEER HUNTER]

I see the opening of muzzleloader season sparked a lot of conversation about the type of bullets/sabots used in muzzleloaders, so I have started this thread to see what everyone is using.


I use a 50 caliber, 240 grain Hornady Sabot, and have never had a problem with it.

[powdernut]

Use Hornady speed sabots for rifles & T/C maxi hunters for the buckhunter pistol .

[THE DEER HUNTER]

Forgot to mention what I use in my pistol. I have a 45 caliber Ruger revolver that I make my own bullets for. When I purchased the gun I also purchased a "Buffalo Bullet" mold that I use for this gun, along with my dad's cattleman carbine. Very inexpensive to do it this way. The mold was $20 or so & I can get all of the lead that I want for free. ;D ;D

[BuckMaster]

Im looking for a new ML for next year, any ideas?

[busco]

been using the powerbelt around 265 grains in my stuff accurate good and easy to use for me

[mdhunter]

Yea I use the 50 caliber 240 grain Hornady Sabot to

[mudduck]

I use a .50 cal 250 grain Barnes MZ Expander in a sabot. It is really devestating on deer in terms of expansion and penetration. I can also shoot a 1 inch or less group at 100 yards with my Encore using 100 grains of pyrodex pellets.

[treehugger]

I use 245g Powerbelt with 150 g of Pyrodex pellets out of my CVA with >2" groups at 100 yards.

[captwahoo]

I use a Knight extreme disc .50 cal, with 45 300 g XTP Mag. We have a few bear, and some large body deer. They shoot flat a 100 yards, and carry a little more knock down power.

[WESTERN MD HUNTER]

i shoot a t/c omega and use the 295gr powerbelt (aero tip) bullets and never have had a problem with them my last shot went thru a 3 inch round tree and still hit where i was aiming at in the neck i do have a pic of the tree and will post it when i download it off my camera

[cduke69]

I use Hornady 240 50 cal. Hey Master Hunter I would highly recommend the T/C encore Pro Hunter. I know they are expensive but man what a nice gun. I bought one this year and LOVE IT!! You can buy the Nikon scope that is made for the Encore and Omega, it has a reticle compensator, collect a tremendous amount of light and is advertised to shoot 4inch groups with 150 grains of powder 250 grain sabot at 250 yards. Again I know it's costly but I think I'll own mine for a long, long time.

[jimbow]

I love my TC omega,camo composite-thumbhole stock with ss barrel.Shoots great with 100grs of triple seven and 250gr shockwave bullet. My 13yr.old son shoots this combo very well,with very little recoil.We have never been dissapointed in this bullets performance.

[wicomicojoe]

I hunt with a TC Omega 50 cal. and love it also. However, I started using powerbelts this year and I am begining to second guess the change. I shot a big doe in the early season at 134 yards. She ran about 40 yards and the game was over. I changed to them because they are easy to load. I know someone that shots a sabot called QT anyone ever heard of them or used them and what kind of results have you had? The bullet is an all lead bullet with a sabot. The only place I know that carries these is Shore Sportsman in Easton. I plan on buying some the next time I go to the shore.

[brettgerhart]

I use the Hornady 245gr 50 cal bullets also. Just changed to them this year. I am really accurate with them and like them better than the powerbelts because of the accuracy. I haven't shot at a deer with them yet but hope to get out next week and change that!

[prostreetcamaro]

I learned my lesson last year with the powerbelt bullets. My gun shoots them good and I liked the concept and the fact it was so easy to load.

Well last year I had the worst luck ever and its due to the powerbelts. I had 2 deer walk right up to me about 30 yards away. Both were big does so I decided to take one. BOOM and both deer ran off. I get down and reload and start looking for blood because there is no way I missed. I never found any blood or deer. Frustrated I happened to look to my right and there stood a big doe about 50 yards away in the wide open. BOOM she ran and again no way did I miss her. Looked and no blood and no deer yet again. I was about to wrap my gun around a tree when suddenly I hear a loud shot so I get ready in case it comes my way. 10 minutes later here come another bigggg doe walking right up to me. BOOM another 40 yard shot and she runs and again I didnt find any blood or the deer. At this point I thought my scope got messed up because I would never ever miss shots like that. I stood back 50 yards from a nice big round tree and picked out a small spot and fired. When the smoke cleared I had blown that spot to peices so it wasnt the gun and I know d**n well it wasnt me.

After doing some research and talking to my local gun shop I found out that ALOT of people were haveing this same problem and it turns out the powerbelts arent expanding at all. Instead they are blowing right through deer only leaving a very small hole while the deer run off like nothing ever happened just to later die slowly. It didnt happen to just me either. My father had the same thing happen on a doe 30 yards away. We never found her.

Thats when the gun shop told us to try out the Thompson center shockwave sabots. 3 days later my dad had a nice 6 point run up to 50 yards from him and he took him. There was snow on the ground and it looked like somebody painted the woods. The buck ran 10 yards and droped dead. Never agin will I use those POS powerbelt bullets.

Sorry about the random rant but I feel everybody should know our experiance with them and the gun shops experiance.