New to Muzzle Loading. Meat and Potatoes Hunter. Seeking Advice.

[BlackPowderGuy (AJHS)]

Interesting! I assumed having more than 20% more mass than the 240 xtps they would no doubt be a more lethal shot. Are they actually less likely to exit than the 240 grain xtps? Like always I am sure with ideal shot placement either would work, but I don't want to spend more for a worse bullet!

The bullet construction of the XTP is much better, the core and the jacket hold together better and it tolerates a variety of muzzle velocities well. I don't want to overstate, but I've yet to hear anyone on this forum speak highly of the powerbelts for hunting.

 

[BigBoresmokepole]

The bullet construction of the XTP is much better, the core and the jacket hold together better and it tolerates a variety of muzzle velocities well. I don't want to overstate, but I've yet to hear anyone on this forum speak highly of the powerbelts for hunting.

Power belt don't expand the fragment they will group good they will kill but you will be hunting for frags. While butchering. I used them the first time out and after butchering won t use again. 240 xtp 3 whitehots and always a pass thru for me, tranns fluid pumping out both sides.

 

[AR Woodsman]

Well I couldn't cancel the poweberlts with aero tips. I have read a few reviews in forums. I know ppl are more likely to share bad stories but it is hurting my confidence. I may return them or see if anyone nearby wants to do some trading. Funny that I see reviews that that fragment too much and don't penetrate and also that they go right through with out expanding so the entrance and exit hole look the same...

 

[Okie Hog]

I know ppl are more likely to share bad stories but it is hurting my confidence.

Funny that I see reviews that that fragment too much and don't penetrate and also that they go right through with out expanding so the entrance and exit hole look the same...

Yes!!! Then there is the rest of the story.

For many years a little dog and i located wounded deer and elk for other hunters. Every hunting season someone would claim they double lunged the animal and the bullet failed to expand. The vast majority of the animals i located were gut shot.

i normally kill 5-7 deer each year using .50 and .54 caliber muzzleloading rifles. Some are killed with patched round balls. Many of my deer and hogs are killed with high shoulder or high just behind the shoulder shots. That shot interrupts the central nervous system, bang flop.

For the past 15 years the majority of my deer and hogs were killed with the 250 grain SST bullet. The bullet has it's detractors; with some claiming it fragments, others saying it "pencils through".

i don't care whether the bullet exits the animal or not. Driven by 120 grains of Black MZ powder, the 250 grain SST always exits a 150 pound deer shot in the heart lung area. It may not exit deer that weigh over 200 pounds. About half my animals bang flop, very few travel more than 35 yards.

Shot placement is everything. Despite the hype, no expensive bullet will transform a bad shot into a bang flop.

 

[retrieverman]

Well I couldn't cancel the poweberlts with aero tips. I have read a few reviews in forums. I know ppl are more likely to share bad stories but it is hurting my confidence. I may return them or see if anyone nearby wants to do some trading. Funny that I see reviews that that fragment too much and don't penetrate and also that they go right through with out expanding so the entrance and exit hole look the same...

For the ranges you’re talking about hunting, I wouldn’t hesitate to use a powerbelt. They’ve performed well on the handful of deer I’ve killed with them, and I was using the 245 gr aero points.

Edit to add that powerbelts haven’t shot well in all my rifles, but they shoot really well in some.

 

[BlackPowderGuy (AJHS)]

Well I couldn't cancel the poweberlts with aero tips. I have read a few reviews in forums. I know ppl are more likely to share bad stories but it is hurting my confidence. I may return them or see if anyone nearby wants to do some trading. Funny that I see reviews that that fragment too much and don't penetrate and also that they go right through with out expanding so the entrance and exit hole look the same...

Let us know how they work for you! More data helps

 

[rusticbob]

I have the same gun, a cheep CVA Wolf I bought with open sights, for snowy and rainy days. Sighted it in at 50 yards with T/C XTP, tha amazing part is it shot better, and a tighter group with the T/C cheep- shot bullets and sabot.
It’s a pure lead hollow point, and I have not shot anything with it yet, but it should work well.

 

[jd24.5.48]

The hornady xtp 240s is what I've been using for over 10 years now! I haven't had any problems whatsoever with em! Usually it's a bang flop but every once in awhile a deer might go 25-50yds!

 

[deerlessbob]

Love the XTP’s!

 

[michiganmuzzy]

I love the XTPs too, shot many things with them. I’ve shot plenty of deer with Powerbelts too. They will frag when you shoot them fast, and a fragmented bullet usually won’t exit. I slowed them down with lighter loads and that made a big difference on pass thru and expansion. If you shoot them like a pure soft lead bullet(heavy and slow) they will not disappoint. Unfortunately they don’t make the real heavy PBs anymore. Imho, a 300gr PowerBelt on 70-80gr of T7, Pyrodex, or any sub, will give you good accuracy and plenty of knock down power to 100 yards.

 

[AR Woodsman]

1Let us know how they work for you! More data helps

Will do. I plan on buying some 300 grain xtps as well and if they both shoot well I probably will save the powerbelts for target practice or etc. I am already leary of eating meat that may have lead in it, a bullet known for fragmenting is not something I want in my game meat!

 

[AR Woodsman]

I love the XTPs too, shot many things with them. I’ve shot plenty of deer with Powerbelts too. They will frag when you shoot them fast, and a fragmented bullet usually won’t exit. I slowed them down with lighter loads and that made a big difference on pass thru and expansion. If you shoot them like a pure soft lead bullet(heavy and slow) they will not disappoint. Unfortunately they don’t make the real heavy PBs anymore. Imho, a 300gr PowerBelt on 70-80gr of T7, Pyrodex, or any sub, will give you good accuracy and plenty of knock down power to 100 yards.

If I go with 50 grain pellets, would 100 grains be hot enough that you would suspect the powerbelt would "fragment". Do powerbelts have the same reputation whether your talking about the aero-tips or the hollow points?

 

[AR Woodsman]

The hornady xtp 240s is what I've been using for over 10 years now! I haven't had any problems whatsoever with em! Usually it's a bang flop but every once in awhile a deer might go 25-50yds!

They probably would have been the best value route. Treat the ML like archery gear and wait for ideal shot and I am sure they would work great. I just started overthinking it! But heavier won't hurt either.

 

[Keone]

Welcome from Oregon by way of Hawaii

 

[michiganmuzzy]

If I go with 50 grain pellets, would 100 grains be hot enough that you would suspect the powerbelt would "fragment". Do powerbelts have the same reputation whether your talking about the aero-tips or the hollow points?

Imo, 90gr is as hot as I would load them to. As far as the type of PB, the aero tip and the HP are the same bullet, and perform about the same. Slightly better bc for the aerotip. The Platinum PB has a bit tougher coating, so they may hold together a little better, but the higher price has put me off of them. I look at them as a lead bullet that i COULD push a lot faster and avoid barrel leading thanks to its copper coating, but would only use for targets at higher speed. For hunting i would just use a heavy lead bullet with a flat nose. I dont believe HP is necessary in lead bullets, but are great in a copper, brass, or jacketed bullet. No matter which bullet you settle on, load it for accuracy at the ranges you will be shooting. I dont need magnum loads at 50 - 100 yards, just a big freight train size hunk of lead going 1200-1400fps to knock the life out of any deer thats in range.

 

[brad502a]

the power belt bullets are "plated", the XTPs are jacketed. My preference is the 300 gr XTP by far. I killed deer with it in a 44 mag not a MZ. My personal preference is Barnes but they are not "necessary" and pricey. I will be hunting with 300 gr Speer Deep curl 45 cals in a MZ this year, but they are hard to find. The choices presented here, XTP or PB, definitely have me on the XTP side of the choice and 300 vs 240 but either should be fine.

 

[mm106807]

Hey everyone. I am new to muzzleloading. I plan on buying a wolf CVA with open sites so I can deer hunt in national forest during ML season. I expect shots on game to be ~50-75 yds tops. I know folks like love to discuss absolute best set ups for delivering the most lethal bullet in the most accurate manner at long range but that's not what I need right now. By the way, I get that way too, love researching ballistics and etc and ML seems like a perfect hobby for such tinkers with loose powder and all. I would like ease, reliable effective lethality (knock down and expansion), value, and ~3" groups at 100 yds.

I plan on using something like (2) 50 grain 7-7-7 pellets, 209 primers, and a decent value slug. The bullet is my biggest question mark. Money is not a real concern but value is, I do not need a bullet capable of dropping an elk at 150 yds when I am hunting AR whitetails at ranges under 100. If I have to spend 1 $/slug so be it but that seems high.

Buds gunshop has free shipping and a great price on the wolf. They also have: https://www.budsgunshop.com/product...ts+50+cal+jacketed+hollow+point+jhp+240+gr+20

Traditions A1497 XTP Hunter Muzzleloader Bullets 50 Cal Jacketed Hollow Point (JHP) 240 gr 2​

for ~$14 for 20 rounds. Seems decent but I don't want to buy two boxes to discover they cannot produce a 3" group at 75 yds or are a poor performing hunting round. Any thoughts?

Also, what sort of cleaning practices should I expect? When I go sight in, should I clean each shot? Like run solvent and swabs down the barrel? As I will be taking my first shot on game with a clean barrel. Anything else I need to get as I have never been a ML shooter?

Thanks!

You will need to shoot some different bullets to see which one is accurate in your gun. Every gun is different. I harvested a lot of deer and several Elk with my old TC Hawken with a Green Mountain barrel. It has a 1-28 twist. That gun liked 100gr v of pyrodex and 405gr pure lead hollow point power belt. With my newer CVA Accura it likes the Hornady 290 grain bore buster with 70w of BH. And the Barnes 290 TEZ sabot.
As far as cleaning, the CVA bore b

Hey everyone. I am new to muzzleloading. I plan on buying a wolf CVA with open sites so I can deer hunt in national forest during ML season. I expect shots on game to be ~50-75 yds tops. I know folks like love to discuss absolute best set ups for delivering the most lethal bullet in the most accurate manner at long range but that's not what I need right now. By the way, I get that way too, love researching ballistics and etc and ML seems like a perfect hobby for such tinkers with loose powder and all. I would like ease, reliable effective lethality (knock down and expansion), value, and ~3" groups at 100 yds.

I plan on using something like (2) 50 grain 7-7-7 pellets, 209 primers, and a decent value slug. The bullet is my biggest question mark. Money is not a real concern but value is, I do not need a bullet capable of dropping an elk at 150 yds when I am hunting AR whitetails at ranges under 100. If I have to spend 1 $/slug so be it but that seems high.

Buds gunshop has free shipping and a great price on the wolf. They also have: https://www.budsgunshop.com/product...ts+50+cal+jacketed+hollow+point+jhp+240+gr+20

Traditions A1497 XTP Hunter Muzzleloader Bullets 50 Cal Jacketed Hollow Point (JHP) 240 gr 2​

for ~$14 for 20 rounds. Seems decent but I don't want to buy two boxes to discover they cannot produce a 3" group at 75 yds or are a poor performing hunting round. Any thoughts?

Also, what sort of cleaning practices should I expect? When I go sight in, should I clean each shot? Like run solvent and swabs down the barrel? As I will be taking my first shot on game with a clean barrel. Anything else I need to get as I have never been a ML shooter?

Thanks!

 

[bronko220002]

Interesting. I wonder why were recommended against them. Hunting performance? Honestly I like the idea of a heavier bullet as I will not be shooting long ranges but I wanted to keep it simple. I guess you search online for cast bullets and sabots. Is as simple as "crimping" the sabot around a bullet and you're good to go? Any recommended sites for buying cast?

Interesting. Thanks for the links... One questions, is there much to seating the bullet in the Sabot? Is there a different sabot for using a .45 cal sabot for a 300 grain .45 bullet vs a 240 grain bullet? What's the difference between crush and non crush sabots?
I like the 300 grains vs the 240 but want to keep things simple for starting out.

Well that really surprises me that someone would not recommend a 240 gr or 300 gr (.44 or .45) caliber for deer. These bullets have been around for a while and have killed hundreds if not thousands of deer. I've taken a few myself with the 240 grainers in my 44 mag and a couple with the 300 gr out of my muzzleloader

 

[CVA Fanboy]

Welcome from Kentucky, I steer clear of jacketed bullets. I use lead round ball or lead hollow points, I do understand some states and districts as well as local laws have a ban, not yet here. I caught some info on jacketed bullets and the 70% failure rates not just black powder rounds but the smokeless also that is why I have gone back to casting

 

[AR Woodsman]

Welcome from Kentucky, I steer clear of jacketed bullets. I use lead round ball or lead hollow points, I do understand some states and districts as well as local laws have a ban, not yet here. I caught some info on jacketed bullets and the 70% failure rates not just black powder rounds but the smokeless also that is why I have gone back to casting

Thanks for the welcome! Was it solid research that indicated %70 failures, and what was considered failure?
Where do you buy lead cast bullets, hollow points or flat tip? What do you use for wadding or do folks buy pistol caliber and use sabots like the XTPs we were discussing? Thanks for your input!