!!!!!!!!WAT IS THE BEST 50 CAL.MUZZLE LOADER BULLELT? ??????

I have a cva.pro witg interchangeable barrels and i use powerbelts 295gr.hollow points ...
i want to find a better bullet ........i feel the power belts dont mushroom up and giving no exit hole ....i mean it passes through but only the size of the bullet .....i want sometging that mushrooms up and isnt hard to ram down into the barrel ....please tell me wat u use and what u think about it, thanka Dan

Welcome to the forum. Its nice to have you here.

I have been shooting my Optima with 90 grains of BlackHorn 209 and a 240 grain Hornady XTP. I have also shot the 200 grain .400 XTP and the .452 300 grain XTP. It I wanted to make sure of a pass through, with expansion, I would try the 250 grain Speer Gold Dots. They are a 45 caliber bullet, .452 and are very well constructed. They tend to mushroom well and plow through the body of most animals they are shot at.

A person on line I talk to shoots the 300 grain Hornady XTP in .452. He claims with 85 grains of Goex, he's blown through deer at 125 yards.

I never really got into Powerbelts, seems like a fair amount of negative feedback with them.

It's nice to have a bullet one has confidence in, and shoots well in your gun. As a reminder for all of us, bullet placement is where it all starts. No reason to blame a bullet when the shot is marginal.

I have used a variety of bullets. My current usual is the common Hornady SST, 250 grn & 300 grn. For starters they shoot real well. Most of the time they don't have that perfect 'magazine ad' type mushroom. Again, doesn't matter much if the shot is right.

I have put mostly Hornady XTP pistol bullets in sabots with fine results. The Barnes offerings are always top notch.

My favorite sabot is the Harvester 'crush rib' type. I just ordered 150 more direct from Harvester. If you have a tighter bore the crush rib is more forgiving while loading, & still shoot well. This seems especially helpful in some T/C bores.

Many retailers have the more common 50 cal crush rib sabot matched for the .451 bullet. Be sure to get a sabot matched to the bullet you plan to shoot.

I like to mix & match sabots & bullets to get the right fit. It's also cheaper to buy both in bulk, rather than the 20 or so in the package.

I go further by using cheaper bullets for any initial sight-in, then go with hunting bullets for final sight in.

I think of things differently. . .

I pick the conical that does the job I need it to do. . .I personally don't think all conicals are supposed to "act" the same.

PowderBelts are fantastic killers. . .My hunting partner uses them all the time. They are extremely accurate out of his gun, and the deer don't seem to walk/run that far when it. I don't think (or I can't remember) a single deer getting away with a powerbelt. But, I think I can remember only one pass-through.

I use strictly REAL's. They are solid lead, no hollow points. They are good to 100 yards (for me) with about a 2 to 2.5 inch group CTC. The 320 grain REAL I like using, because I go for the shoulder blade, or a straight on shot. If I hit any bone at all, the conical does not go through. If I hit straight on, It usually is stopped at the back end of the deer. Straight on, they usually do not go move than about 50 to 60 feet tops. Shoulder blade usually drops them right there.

Thus, IMO, you gotta pick the conical that shoots BEST in your gun, and if you have more than one that shoots well, then pick the conical that does the job YOU want it to do.

Don't expect hollow points to pass through all the time.

Granted, I am probably ignoring one thing that is also important. . .I shoot rock scratchers, and my loads are 90 grains of 2F behind a 320 or 250 grain solid conical. Most guns out there are shooting with a lot more power than mine.

My worthless 2 cents.

Re: !!!!!!!!WAT IS THE BEST 50 CAL.MUZZLE LOADER BULLELT? ??

deerfrenzy said:

I have a cva.pro witg interchangeable barrels and i use powerbelts 295gr.hollow points ...
i want to find a better bullet ........i feel the power belts dont mushroom up and giving no exit hole ....i mean it passes through but only the size of the bullet .....i want sometging that mushrooms up and isnt hard to ram down into the barrel ....please tell me wat u use and what u think about it, thanka Dan

Click to expand...

Dan since you asked I will relay my thoughts... In my world there a 3 classes no 4 classes of bullets...

1. Premium bullets like the Knight Bloodline, Barnes all- copper, and the older Nosler Partition type bullets.
2. Factory Bullets. Like Speer, Hornady, Sierra and etc.
3. Conicals like Bull Shop, No Excuse, Hornady
4. Power Belts.

I knida listed them in the order terminal performance, with Preimium at the top and Power Belts at the bottom.

The really marginal thing is there really is not a lot of difference between the Premium and the factory copper-lead bullets in most instances other than price. I choose to use the premium bullet because it offers a little more terminal perfrmance in a marginal shot.

This is my definition of a perfect hunting bullet...

The Hunting bullet should be the most lethal big game hunting bullet available. The bullet design should allow the bullet to penetrate 2? to 3?, through bone or tissue, before it starts to expand the petals. After the bullet starts to expand or shed it petals it should adversely affect all the surrounding internal organs. The combination between the expansion of the bullet and/or release of the petals and the creation of hydrostatic shock produces a massive wound cavity within the vital area (internal organs) that can be 13? to 15? long. I believe that in most case the bullet should pass through the body providing a secondary exit hole for blood and debris. This massive wound cavity results in the animal dropping fast since most go into shock after such a tremendous blow. Those animals that don?t go down immediately will soon succumb to blood pressure loss and/or organ failure producing a quick ethical kill. Using a bullet matching this description will normally result in an animal that goes down fast so you can enjoy the results of your hunt without having to track the wounded animal after the shot.

Click to expand...

The Nosler Partition use to fill this bill perfect, but Nosler in their vision decided to drop the Partition bullets that were normaly available to ML shooters.

Because of that I have shifted my hunting to use the Knight Bloodline bullet. This bullet made by Lehigh Defense, works on a different theory, than the normal mushrooming bullet. Lehigh Dave brought the idea from Europe, Germany, to be exact.

You do not say what you might be hunting or which rifle you are using but the best all around - do everything bullet in the line is the .458-275 gr. DOA.



This is the 300 grain but the 275 looks just like it.



In the factory bullet category I think you would have a hard time beating a Speer Deep Curl. The .452-300 Deep Curl is a great and consistent bullet. It has a fairly high BC which will help you reach outr and touch something at the longer ranges....

Just sharing some thoughts...

Im shooting a cva pro.i switched over to hornady and they seem to fly good, cant waite to test them out ...but also gunna try barnes...........so let me ask this cause im new to terms ....actually the sabot is the plaatic housing that the bullet sits in? ??? Wat other terms r there like in bullets ....im new but the more i learn the bwtter off i am

yes, the sabot is the plastic sleeve the bullet sits in. Actually the definition of sabot is; Definition of SABOT. 1. a: a wooden shoe worn in various European countries . So think of the sabot as the item that covers the bullet.

Then you have wads.. wads are anything that puts a spacer between the powder charge and the projectile. Mountain Men used to use chunks from the paper wasp nest. They would dump their powder, then a chunk of paper wasp nest, then their patched ball. They discovered that this wad of nest protected the patches and sometimes led to better accuracy.

Conical is any full bore bullet that is loaded onto the powder charge. Now while a Powerbelt has a plastic sleeve on the base, many consider it a conical. I do. And then some people paper patch their conicals. But this I think is done to make the conical more tight in the bore.

Powder measures.. weight the powder charge by VOLUME. Weighing a powder charge measusres the powder charge by weight. The two are not equal most the time.

When we talk bullets we talk often of the kind of bullet.. and then the kind of nose the bullet has. A hollow point. Is just that a bullet with a hollow point. Keith Nose, is a bullet that has a strange head. Some are hollow point. Some are flat point. A lot depends on who is talking about what bullet. Then we have pointed or ballistic tip bullets. Different design bullets are meant to do different things, when they hit the game animal.

One bullet I feel needs to be mentioned. The new innovation is the blood line bullet. When that bullet was first introduced.. I personally was skeptical of it. I mean a brass bullet where when it hits liquids cause the nose to break apart/off, separate into small pieces that then move away from the main bullet body and cause their own damage. All this time the main body of the bullet plows a hole through the target? I mean come on. Well after seeing some of the results others have had in the field with them.. I am convinced that they might be the new bullet of the future. I suspect other bullet companies will try to copy or at least come close to making something that does the same thing.

Here's 2 more to add to the list........

Harvester PT GOLD 260 or the 300 GR ......... and what I use,
PARKER BALLISTIC EXTREME 275 GRAINS with Harvester Crushed Sabots.

They are accurate and consistant as you can see in the pics. The rifle is zeroed for 100 yards. At 25 they are dead on, at 50 they are alittle high and good to go at 100. They are good out to 130 yards with out a drop.
At 200 yards, I have to put the cross hairs 3''s higher then the deers back and they drop right into the lung area.
At 25 and 50 yards I fired 3 shots at eack of the targets. First target I pulled a little but the next one at 25 are in the same hole.
Good bullets and a great blood trail.

Ray....... :wink:

Wat does Lehigh ,DOA, stand for? ????????????
and wat powder do u use? ?
I was doing great with 777
I want to say thanks for all the info i really do appreciate it alot.......i know this spring and fall ill be doing way more shooting of this gun

There is a manufacturer in Manitoba Canada called Precision Rifle Bullets. They specialize in muzzle loader bullets from conical bore size to spitzer boat tails with duplex sabots. I use there 330 grain extreme elite hollow point, it is a true rifle bullet made of soft lead. There really is no best bullet as with any projectile it really has to do with what game you will harvest with them and what range you will shoot. PR bullets makes bullets for rifles and not just puts a modified pistol bullet in a sabot.

The best place for POWERBELTS is to leave them on the STORE SHELF. :lol: :lol: :wink: Knight Bloodline or Thor's or XTP's.

sqezer said:

The best place for POWERBELTS is to leave them on the STORE SHELF. :lol: :lol: :wink: Knight Bloodline or Thor's or XTP's.

Click to expand...

u r 100% right about the PB ........Barnes expander 250 gr. for hunting only ..for practice i will use the STT HORNADY 250 gr. very accurate on paper ,but useless for hunting ..

sqezer said:

The best place for POWERBELTS is to leave them on the STORE SHELF. :lol: :lol: :wink: Knight Bloodline or Thor's or XTP's.

Click to expand...

Why? What reason is there for this kind of comment?

My friend uses them extensively, and they knock down deer like it is going out of style!

They are accurate out of his gun, and they are accurate out of my gun.

If you lost a 180-190 CLASS Whitetail then you would know why I made the comment. 58 yds took it square in the chect and the bullet blew up NO BLOOD or NOTHING but HAIR.

Some guys swear by the Barnes Originals in 300 grain.

Re: !!!!!!!!WAT IS THE BEST 50 CAL.MUZZLE LOADER BULLELT? ??

I used power belts a a few years ago and they worked very well - killed five or six deer with them. However, I felt they were better for short range rather then longer ranges. I have tried barnes and found that they punched through like a steel rod, unless you hit bone then you really had a mess. I killed a 200 lb White tail with a Lyman all lead hollow point one year 300 grain but agian this bullet performed best at short range.

Currently I shoot 200 grain shock waves infront of 110 g of buck horn 209 with a CCI primer. At three hundred yards my groups are well within 8 inchs. I limit my shots to 250 at the extreme. I had several one shot kills this year where the deer fell on the spot - I prefer offside shoulder shots when possible.

My Shockwaves are used with Manufacturer supplied sabots but I am hearing good things about MMP and Harvester and plan on trying some in case the manufacture decides to switch things up. We live in a world of change.

I also found the Knight rifle bullet "bloodline" interesting and will do an internet search to see what they offer.

I know the trend is for heavy bullets in a muzzel loader which equals more knock down power but how much knock down power do you need for even a big whitetail? I don't really understand the super heavy bullet choice.

This site and its members are very good at distributing useful information and new technology. This great as I am always tinkering with firearms and loads. The Muzzel loader I currently shoot is the TC Pro Hunter - awesome gun. Thanks for much useful information.

Re: !!!!!!!!WAT IS THE BEST 50 CAL.MUZZLE LOADER BULLELT? ??

The T/C sabots are MMP sabots

Re: !!!!!!!!WAT IS THE BEST 50 CAL.MUZZLE LOADER BULLELT? ??

Wow, I did not know that. That eliminates some duplication - the shockwaves I am currently shooting have blue sabots as I could find litte difference between blue and the yellow easy glide and the price was cheaper on the blue. Thanks for the information!

Re: !!!!!!!!WAT IS THE BEST 50 CAL.MUZZLE LOADER BULLELT? ??

You said you shoot the 200gr Shockwave. That should be a 40cal bullet in a 50cal sabot. The SuperGlide should be a 45cal bullet in a 50cal sabot with 2 petals. Its also much smaller loaded ID. Roughly .506 for the 50x40 and around .500 for the SuperGlide. You can buy the 50x40 from MMP or Precsiion Rfle but only T/C sells the SuperGlide. Its under contract as a T/C exclusive. MMP offers a 50x45 3 Petal EZ that is very close to the same size. Its the same sabot as the Hornady SST EZLoad.

Harvesters 50x40 is ONLY available as a Crushrib and loads much easier than the MMP 50x40. I never had any luck with that Harvester sabot. I had several sabot failures.

Re: !!!!!!!!WAT IS THE BEST 50 CAL.MUZZLE LOADER BULLELT? ??


GM54-120 - thanks for bringing to my attention that the shockwaves and Superglides are of a different caliber. I had discussed shockwaves and superglides with some friends and I do not think any of us knew about the different calibers. I could not find anything on the package about shockwave being a different caliber then the superglides - so I measured them. I would have thought the package would state the caliber of the projectile as well as "for 50 caliber rifles."

I really like the shockwaves and intend to continue using them on deer. They are accurate and hard hitting out to a couple hundred yards. I think I will remain with the standard MMP sabots and just buy some in bulk. I always appear to have more bullets then sabots at the end of the year anyway.

You said that the Harvester sabots were failing? I wonder if it is the same issue I have with the shockwaves. Recovered sabots are sometimes missing one of the petals. This does not seem to affect accuracy to any degree. I was thinking that perhaps the petals were separating after they had separated from the bullet.

Agian thanks for the information. I am going to much more precise in my evaluation and research on different bullets and sabots in the future. I have learned a lot!