Bullets for whitetails out to 250 yards?

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Bigeclipse

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Hello everyone,
I have been muzzleload hunting the past few years. I'm able to hunt a field from a box blind out to 250 yards, but always kept my shots inside 100 yards. I own a CVA optima V2 and have an Accura on the way. My current bullet is Hornady 240 xtps. They shoot well (about 1.25inches at 100 yards) but looking for other options. I would like to be able to cover the entire field so I will need a bullet which will do well on white tail deer out to 250 yards. Open to all ideas.

FYI- I am not a novice shooter and do understand bullet drop and do have a range finder to help judge yards and adjust elevation.
 
Welcome Big, Look acouple threads down at" Is there such a bullet" and look up Rons bullet tests. Not sure if they are a sticky or not.
 
You'll find that you're going to get a lot of different answers to this question, but the bullets that I have tested extensively with and had great success with are the 270gr PowderBelt Platinum, which has an awesome BC, and the 290gr Barnes T-EZ. My personal load is with the PowerBelt, but I know that there are some that don't prefer PowerBelts, which is why I have also tested the T-EZ.

With both of these bullets, I have found 110 grains of Blackhorn to be the most accurate from a Accura V2. With pellets, Triple Seven have been more accurate than the White Hots, but the crud ring is much more pronounced. I like the White Hots for cleaning, but have only managed about a 1.5" group at 100 yards. Triple Seven ended up with right at 1" and Blackhorn 209 was more like .75". Good luck and have fun!
 
If your going to be shooting that far I would use some type of ballistic tip bullet. The hollow points and flat points are not made to fly as good at distance as the ballistic tips are. I personally like the Hornady 250gr SST or 250gr Monoflex bullets. Other than those I would try Harvester PT Gold 240 or 260gr bullets or Barnes 250gr TMZ bullets. All those bullets should get the job done. It just depends which one your rifle likes best.
 
How about pure lead 525 grn.Grease Groove ,Hp running about 1325 from muzzle , using black powder
 
for long range, I like weight. Depending on the gun, a 300 grn SST, or a scorpion PT gold, or in the right gun, a 460+ grain big ole lead conical
 
Agree 300 gr SST or big 460 gr. chunk of lead.. don't discount the .44 cal 300 gr XTP either they are very accurate at those distances.




Squeeze said:
for long range, I like weight. Depending on the gun, a 300 grn SST, or a scorpion PT gold, or in the right gun, a 460+ grain big ole lead conical
 
Squeeze said:
for long range, I like weight. Depending on the gun, a 300 grn SST, or a scorpion PT gold, or in the right gun, a 460+ grain big ole lead conical
Why heavy weight? I’m not exactly new to long range centerfire hunting...and inside 400 yards weight really is not a factor with wind...I’d assume similar with 300 yard shots and mizzleloaders
 
I think if you try the Barnes 290 TEZ (Flat Base) with the Black Smooth Harvester Sabot you will be very happy with your CVA's performance. Myself and 3 other buddies shoot the Optima and Accura and the CVA's love that load.
 
typical muzzleloader speeds are a lot slower than most center fire. 200 with a muzzy is about 400 with the typical CF. and energy drops off quickly. To carry enough downrange, you have to start with plenty at the muzzle, since on a typical production gun, speed is pretty well capped, you want to compensate with weight, to carry the energy downrange as best as possible
 
Bigeclipse said:
Hello everyone,
I have been muzzleload hunting the past few years. I'm able to hunt a field from a box blind out to 250 yards, but always kept my shots inside 100 yards. I own a CVA optima V2 and have an Accura on the way. My current bullet is Hornady 240 xtps. They shoot well (about 1.25inches at 100 yards) but looking for other options. I would like to be able to cover the entire field so I will need a bullet which will do well on white tail deer out to 250 yards. Open to all ideas.
FYI- I am not a novice shooter and do understand bullet drop and do have a range finder to help judge yards and adjust elevation.
OMG - there is a lot of miss information going on...
250 yards should be relatively easy for any modern ML, but the NMLRA matches have proven that it is nothing of the sort.
1- Your last statement about bullet drop is a proven statement from someone who knows how to shoot - Welcome. Bullet drop is the easiest KNOWN variable to adjust - with your turret. We shoot from 50-500yards.
2- haven't seen a Power belt shoot worth a hoot there. Many quickly convert to other projectiles. If someone does do well out to 250 - they are welcome to come an demonstrate - so far CVA hasn't.
3- Tip and small HP have been proven to show NO BC difference compared to a flat nose conical or big HP within 200 yards.
4- 45 cal 525gr conical has a BC of 0.37. Also, the weight to have the energy to kill to 500yds.
5- In the 2017 May in-line match at 300M, 10mph cross wind in same relay: shooters with 525gr bullets with Black Powder at 1350fps +/- had 3MO, 275 Parker with BH209 at 2100fps +/- had 9moa (bestll, Doug, myself and Jason Day all talked about it).
5- It's also been shown at the NMLRA that 1moa at 200 with an in-line is unachievable for almost ALL.
 
Big E.
Here is some data compiled from BH website and Knight (Vel, Energy, drift)

Just drift, as you can see to 200 it's nearly negligible.
 

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52Bore said:
Bigeclipse said:
Hello everyone,
I have been muzzleload hunting the past few years. I'm able to hunt a field from a box blind out to 250 yards, but always kept my shots inside 100 yards. I own a CVA optima V2 and have an Accura on the way. My current bullet is Hornady 240 xtps. They shoot well (about 1.25inches at 100 yards) but looking for other options. I would like to be able to cover the entire field so I will need a bullet which will do well on white tail deer out to 250 yards. Open to all ideas.
FYI- I am not a novice shooter and do understand bullet drop and do have a range finder to help judge yards and adjust elevation.
OMG - there is a lot of miss information going on...
250 yards should be relatively easy for any modern ML, but the NMLRA matches have proven that it is nothing of the sort.
1- Your last statement about bullet drop is a proven statement from someone who knows how to shoot - Welcome. Bullet drop is the easiest KNOWN variable to adjust - with your turret. We shoot from 50-500yards.
2- haven't seen a Power belt shoot worth a hoot there. Many quickly convert to other projectiles. If someone does do well out to 250 - they are welcome to come an demonstrate - so far CVA hasn't.
3- Tip and small HP have been proven to show NO BC difference compared to a flat nose conical or big HP within 200 yards.
4- 45 cal 525gr conical has a BC of 0.37. Also, the weight to have the energy to kill to 500yds.
5- In the 2017 May in-line match at 300M, 10mph cross wind in same relay: shooters with 525gr bullets with Black Powder at 1350fps +/- had 3MO, 275 Parker with BH209 at 2100fps +/- had 9moa (bestll, Doug, myself and Jason Day all talked about it).
5- It's also been shown at the NMLRA that 1moa at 200 with an in-line is unachievable for almost ALL.
Hmm not sure about your other points but as to your point number 5 I must have a crazy accurate optima then as I consistently shoot 2.5inch groups at 200 yards. These are 3-4 shot groups sometimes by the 4th, my groups open to 3inches and I need to clean the barrel and then the groups come back. So you are telling me people shooting matches just barely do better than this?!? FYI this is using 240gr xtp and 115 grains bh209.
 
#5 is 300m, or 328 yards. outside 200 yards is where it really gets challenging. I have several guns that claim 200 yard MOA, and can usually do it if I can. I'll shoot further on occasion, and ...It gets humbling :mrgreen:
 
It takes me at least 3 MOA to get to 200 yards no matter what bullet I shoot and any black powder sub.

(Heavy vs Light )both bullets will work in the right hands . There are some definite advantages to heavy lead . One is cost . Lead is much cheaper than today's high BC custom muzzleloader bullets . The other is distance . Heavy lead carries it's energy a looong way . Also with heavy lead you dont get as much wind drift . There is something to be said about heavy lead .Rick (52 bore) knows what he is talking about . He has forgot more than I know .
 
Dougs136Schwartz said:
It takes me at least 3 MOA to get to 200 yards no matter what bullet I shoot and any black powder sub.

(Heavy vs Light )both bullets will work in the right hands . There are some definite advantages to heavy lead . One is cost . Lead is much cheaper than today's high BC custom muzzleloader bullets . The other is distance . Heavy lead carries it's energy a looong way . Also with heavy lead you dont get as much wind drift . There is something to be said about heavy lead .Rick (52 bore) knows what he is talking about . He has forgot more than I know .
Thank you, but to me it's all about learning..
and the people
and the fun
and the sharing
and the food!
 
I like the Harvester 300 grain PT gold with their crush rib sabot. For me, it shoots straight, flat, and consistent. Thanks for all the info.
 
donparadowski said:
I like the Harvester 300 grain PT gold with their crush rib sabot. For me, it shoots straight, flat, and consistent. Thanks for all the info.
 
Bigeclipse said:
Hello everyone,
I have been muzzleload hunting the past few years. I'm able to hunt a field from a box blind out to 250 yards, but always kept my shots inside 100 yards. I own a CVA optima V2 and have an Accura on the way. My current bullet is Hornady 240 xtps. They shoot well (about 1.25inches at 100 yards) but looking for other options. I would like to be able to cover the entire field so I will need a bullet which will do well on white tail deer out to 250 yards. Open to all ideas.

FYI- I am not a novice shooter and do understand bullet drop and do have a range finder to help judge yards and adjust elevation.

I am late entering this conversation... but I would like to suggest to to look at the Lehigh Defense site. Specifically either the .452x240CF-HP or even better might be the .452x265CF-HP

These are not the best pictures but they should give you a idea of what the bullets look like. They are copper - no lead.

.452x265

265_Misc_Pics.jpg


This is a picture of a .452x240...

Lehigh_240.jpg


I can attest to the deadlyness of the 265 @ 220 yards and have no doubt that they will go to 250 without a problem

This is a computed sheet with 100 yard zero for the 265 shot with 120 gr. (volume) BH-209. I only extended it out to 225 yard but it should give the information you might need. I usually compute these with a 3" PBR, but have to do so here.

452x265_HP.jpg.jpg


This is the 240 with a 3" computed PBR

Lehigh_451x230_CF_HP_120_T7.jpg


Hope some of this might help...
 

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