NEW PA MEMBER

[geofarr]

hi members. i'm george from pa. I'm 63 and will be hunting muzzleloader season in 2021. i did hunt with a flintlock muzzle loader about 25 yrs ago and gave up after one season.this time i have a new traditions 50 caliber buckstalker.I have some questions to the experienced muzzle loader hunters.first of all i have 325 grain bullets and also 250 grain. both by powerbelt
i havent shot my buckstalker yet. i'm thinking about using hodgden 50/50 pellets (2 pellets per load)with the 325 grain bullets to start. i wanna try one 50/50 pellet and add a 50/30 pellet,80 grains total per load, for the 250 grain bullet.would these loads be ok to use? if not i could use some good solid advice.
ok, also i'm in bradford county pa and ive never in 49 years shot at a deer more than 60 yds and most have been less than 50. so would the loads i mentioned be ok? not good? need so good advice. ty all

 

[edmehlig]

I'm from Northampton County PA. While I don't shoot 50 cal ML's I would say your load would be just fine at the range you mentioned. My youngest grandson killed his first doe with a 45 cal ML with a load of 50gr of 777-3F and a 347gr HP conical at about 50 yds and it died right where it was standing. Since then he has taken several other doe's with loads from 55-65 grains of 777-3F and the same bullet and all deer only managed to go a few yards.

Welcome to the forum and ask away with any other questions you may have.

 

[HC]

Hey George, to the brotherhood.

 

[geofarr]

I'm from Northampton County PA. While I don't shoot 50 cal ML's I would say your load would be just fine at the range you mentioned. My youngest grandson killed his first doe with a 45 cal ML with a load of 50gr of 777-3F and a 347gr HP conical at about 50 yds and it died right where it was standing. Since then he has taken several other doe's with loads from 55-65 grains of 777-3F and the same bullet and all deer only managed to go a few yards.

Welcome to the forum and ask away with any other questions you may have.

tyvm.

 

[deermanok]

Welcome from Oklahoma. I had a Buckstalker rifle a few years ago.
I only ever used loose powder in mine. Started out with Goex 2f, 100 grains under a 275 grain TC maxi hunter bullet.
Then I switched to BH209 powder, 90 grains with the same bullet.
Very accurate, it pretty much hit the same hole every shot.
Good luck with your new rig.

 

[michiganmuzzy]

Welcome George from PA. I think youll be good to shoot both bullets with either 50 or 50/30 loads. I would lean towards the 80 grains. Or even try 2 of the 30 pellets for a 60 grain load.

 

[geofarr]

Welcome from Oklahoma. I had a Buckstalker rifle a few years ago.
I only ever used loose powder in mine. Started out with Goex 2f, 100 grains under a 275 grain TC maxi hunter bullet.
Then I switched to BH209 powder, 90 grains with the same bullet.
Very accurate, it pretty much hit the same hole every shot.
Good luck with your new rig.

ty for the ionfo./ my traditions buckstalker rifle is mfg'ed as a magnum 50 caliber and company says it can handle loads of 110 to 150 grains of charge. i think thats a bit too much as i seldom shoot farther than 50-60 yds. ever.I'm going to try first the Hodgden 50/50 pellets and also 50/30 pellets.i have two bullet weights. 325 powerbelt and 250 powerbelt.going to try 80-90 grains for the heavier 325 and 80 max for the lighter 250 gr bullet. i'll post here how i did with my first target/sightin venture

 

[AJoldfart]

Welcome from NC

 

[geofarr]

Welcome George from PA. I think youll be good to shoot both bullets with either 50 or 50/30 loads. I would lean towards the 80 grains. Or even try 2 of the 30 pellets for a 60 grain load.

so you think the 100 grain pellets total are overkill? maybe 80 is more than sufficient for whitetail deer under 100 yd shots? Also i am retired and live on a fixed income so i cant really afford to buy alot of different "experimental" loads to decide on one final load combo.I do have friends who shoot under 100 grain loads with 250-275 powerbelt bullets for deer and seldom if ever use more than 90 grains of powder.so i'm thinking of trying the 50/50 pellets and try the 50/30 pellets with one 50/50 pellet and one 50/30 pellet,for 80 max. hoping i find good results and not have to keep switching. i'm not looking for competition type results. just a good combo for med-short range shots on white tails.lol.i have some 325 grain powerbelt bullets which powebelt reccommends these bullets fro moose,elk,large bears,etc.the biggest i'll shoot at most likely be a large whitetail.but the 325's were a gift so i got 'em, might as well use 'em. just not sure how heavy the powder load i should push them with.80? 90? 100?
I have the triple 7 hodgdon power pellets as gift too.So excited i'm like a kid on christmas eve. hell the buckstalker is still in "delivery " mode. i'm thinking, heavy bullet, heavy load behind it. AM I WRONG IN THAT THINKING? I could use less as i plan on getting the triple 7 pellets in 50/30.shooting 80 max.problem is right now every supplier is "out of stock" on most bullets, and powders too til mid -late Feb. so hopefully in a month i can try these.right now i'm sooo much anticipating my first target trip. over the years ive had the pleasure of using many diff calibers for white tails. from 222 to 300 win mag. yeah i was one of those idiots who thought 300 mag was worthy of one whitetail hunt. never again.my alltime fav was 760 gamemaster chambered for the 35 remington. best damn brush n heavy cover gun ive ever had. This bp is relatively new to me.hopefully i'll have plenty of hunters who can share with me their bp prowess or braggin stories.lol. they're always fun to read about.

 

[geofarr]

Welcome from NC

tyvm. maybe we can swap hunting tales.lol
ive killed alot of pa bucks along with doe. biggest deer i ever killed was 3 seasons ago with my excalibur 380 matrix. it was a doe. but my god she was big. never killed a trophy size buck. missed a couple of them over the years and at the time i thought "i'll never see another buck that big". altho i have taken several nice bucks.just nontrophy size

 

[Idaholewis]

Welcome to the Modern Muzzleloader Forum

 

[Caniborrowsomeammo]

Welcome to the forum.
Here's a link for data from Hodgdon on the 777.
https://hodgdon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/muzzleloading_manual_2008.pdf
Hope it helps you decide on a load. Clear as mud, but many here to help you out.

 

[Screwbolts]

welcome from CNY

 

[michiganmuzzy]

so you think the 100 grain pellets total are overkill? maybe 80 is more than sufficient for whitetail deer under 100 yd shots? Also i am retired and live on a fixed income so i cant really afford to buy alot of different "experimental" loads to decide on one final load combo.I do have friends who shoot under 100 grain loads with 250-275 powerbelt bullets for deer and seldom if ever use more than 90 grains of powder.so i'm thinking of trying the 50/50 pellets and try the 50/30 pellets with one 50/50 pellet and one 50/30 pellet,for 80 max. hoping i find good results and not have to keep switching. i'm not looking for competition type results. just a good combo for med-short range shots on white tails.lol.i have some 325 grain powerbelt bullets which powebelt reccommends these bullets fro moose,elk,large bears,etc.the biggest i'll shoot at most likely be a large whitetail.but the 325's were a gift so i got 'em, might as well use 'em. just not sure how heavy the powder load i should push them with.80? 90? 100?
I have the triple 7 hodgdon power pellets as gift too.So excited i'm like a kid on christmas eve. hell the buckstalker is still in "delivery " mode. i'm thinking, heavy bullet, heavy load behind it. AM I WRONG IN THAT THINKING? I could use less as i plan on getting the triple 7 pellets in 50/30.shooting 80 max.problem is right now every supplier is "out of stock" on most bullets, and powders too til mid -late Feb. so hopefully in a month i can try these.right now i'm sooo much anticipating my first target trip. over the years ive had the pleasure of using many diff calibers for white tails. from 222 to 300 win mag. yeah i was one of those idiots who thought 300 mag was worthy of one whitetail hunt. never again.my alltime fav was 760 gamemaster chambered for the 35 remington. best damn brush n heavy cover gun ive ever had. This bp is relatively new to me.hopefully i'll have plenty of hunters who can share with me their bp prowess or braggin stories.lol. they're always fun to read about.

I usually use a little lighter load on a heavier bullet. Plus powerbelts generally perform better at lighter loads than most other bullets. I shoot 80grains by volume of bh209 under most of the bullets i shoot and it is more than enough to take down deer out to 100 yards. If youre shooting 60 yards mostly then yes 60 grains (2× 50/30 pellets) is probably sufficient. If you want to spend less money tho. Stop shooting powerbelts and pellets. Switch to loose lowder at minimum and there are other bullets that cost less. I know the powerbelts are easy to use, just a bit pricey. imho. We'll all help you with what ever you go with.

 

[Pathfinder60]

hi members. i'm george from pa. I'm 63 and will be hunting muzzleloader season in 2021. i did hunt with a flintlock muzzle loader about 25 yrs ago and gave up after one season.this time i have a new traditions 50 caliber buckstalker.I have some questions to the experienced muzzle loader hunters.first of all i have 325 grain bullets and also 250 grain. both by powerbelt
i havent shot my buckstalker yet. i'm thinking about using hodgden 50/50 pellets (2 pellets per load)with the 325 grain bullets to start. i wanna try one 50/50 pellet and add a 50/30 pellet,80 grains total per load, for the 250 grain bullet.would these loads be ok to use? if not i could use some good solid advice.
ok, also i'm in bradford county pa and ive never in 49 years shot at a deer more than 60 yds and most have been less than 50. so would the loads i mentioned be ok? not good? need so good advice. ty all

Hi George and welcome! My suggestion is stay with the heavier bullet and the 80gr load see if it shoots well out of your rifle. To be perfectly honest, if you can get your hands on some loose powder and a volume measure, like Triple 7 for instance, throw some 70gr charges and see how you rifle likes that...then go up 5gr at a time till you get good accuracy.. not to exceed 90gr. The problem with the Power Belts is if pushed too fast they fragment and many deer have been know to escape after being shot. They will work well though...you just have to push them no harder than is needed for good accuracy. Good luck!

 

[geofarr]

Welcome George from PA. I think youll be good to shoot both bullets with either 50 or 50/30 loads. I would lean towards the 80 grains. Or even try 2 of the 30 pellets for a 60 grain load.
[/QUOTE...I just watched a tutorial video on youtube of loading my bp rifle using the hodgdon triple 7 50/50 pellets.however the video showed if you open 2 OF THE 50/50 pellets and combine the two pellets you actually get slightly over 74 grains of powder. NOT 100 GRAINS.IS 74 CLOSER TO MY DESIRRED WEIGHT USING ONLY THE 777 POWDER?
my question is: if i switch to a loose hod 777 3f powder how do i know if i'm using a load equivalent of a 90 grains weight using a brass measuring tube? i have no clue how not to exceed safe load wight. but i havent shot the gun yet as its brand new.or would it be safe to add 2 50/50 pellets and one 50/30 pellet?help pls

 

[brad502a]

welcome from Illinois

 

[gman57]

Welcome from NC , enjoy. That Traditions was my first ML and served me well with a 2 pellet T7 load.

 

[geofarr]

ty. i do have t7 hodgdon pellets also pyrodex pellets
both 50/50. i'm using 250 and 325 grain powerbelt bullets. just got my gun on 1-21-21 so i'll be going out shooting soon as we get a day in 40 degrees temps. i'm diabeitic and cant take cold uner 40 for very long.

 

[Caniborrowsomeammo]

my question is: if i switch to a loose hod 777 3f powder how do i know if i'm using a load equivalent of a 90 grains weight using a brass measuring tube? i have no clue how not to exceed safe load wight. but i havent shot the gun yet as its brand new.or would it be safe to add 2 50/50 pellets and one 50/30 pellet?help pls

If you are asking how to measure powder, you need a volume powder measure. BP and subs are measured by volume not weight.
Though you can measure by weight after you find a good volume that shoots good in your rifle. At least that is my understanding.