Best Muzzleloader bullets

Its been a Few years since I’ve played around much with muzzleloader bullets. Since we can now scope them in Minnesota I thought now would be a good time to once again take a look as some different options. The last 4 or 5 years I’ve stayed with the Powerbelt in the platinum series. I know a lot of people who don’t like the powerbelts, but I’ve had good luck with them both in terms of accuracy and killing performance. I’ve had 1 light blood trail in the 4 or 5 deer that I’ve shot with them. Luckily it was a year with Snow on the ground so it was not much of a issue. Some of the few other rounds I’ve heard good things about are: Barnes TMZ/TEZ, Hornady SST, and TC Shockwaves. I played around with the TC shockwaves a little last weekend and was not happy with how hard they were to load. If fact I had one get stuck and had to remove the breach plug and use a mallet to pound it out. In all fairness I had taken 3 or 4 shots without cleaning it prior to the problem. After field cleaning I was able with some force to get one to load. after cleaning and with the same powder load the point of impact at 50 yards was almost 2″ lower than the same weight of powerbelts. I’d like to hear some of your thoughts on what bullets you are using and why. Maybe tell what powder you are using and why as well.

I was looking at this the other day, not so sure it’s legal during Muzzy season. Only rifle….?

Besox wrote:

I was looking at this the other day, not so sure it’s legal during Muzzy season. Only rifle….?

If you talking about scoping muzzleloader. The law was changed this year and it is now legal in Minnesota to use a scope on a muzzleloader during the muzzleloader season

The muzzy I’m shooting is the Traditions pursuit G4 ultralight in .50 cal

Powder – American pioneer gold (Jim Shockey) 100 grain sticks (I was using white hots but they are very dirty and had to load a second round)

Bullet – I’m shooting the TC shockwave in 250 grain and have been happy so far but have only taken 1 deer (a doe at 117 yards) but the bullet performed great. They are a little tough to load but not too bad, and I can get 2″ groups at 100 yards with them

If I were to change to a different bullet, I would like to the Barnes T-EZ spit-fire

There is only one powder I will ever shoot again and that is Blackhorn. You use regular gun solvent to clean. When I shot Shockeys gold I had to clean it every 3 or 4 shots and cleanup was like 20 minutes. With Blackhorn I have shot it 15 times without cleaning and when I did clean it was 5 minutes or less. I also shoot T/C Shockwave in 250g. I’m getting 2″ groups at 200 yards. I shoot a scoped T/C pro hunter fx.

DT

I have a T/C Impact and a CVA Acurra and both get a weighed charge of 77 grains [110 grains by volume] of Blackhorn powder under a green Harvester Crushrib sabot holding a 300 grain, .44 caliber XTP bullet. Minute of angle groups at 100 yards and deer die quickly. The green crushrib sabot is very easy loading even after several shots, like 20. Speer Deep Curl pistol bullets shoot and expand like the XTP’s do but they can be hard to find right now with so many hunting seasons going on. Barnes makes several high end bullets that are solid copper or brass, very accurate and have devastating terminal performance but they are very pricey and can also be hard to round up. Lehigh makes some dynamic bullets but they make a Barnes look cheap when you see their pricing.

I use nothing but the Blackhorn 209 powder and weigh all my charges instead of using the volume measure. Using pellets or sticks simply takes all of your ability to truly develop a solid load away from you. Even granulated Pyrodex or Triple7 is better than a stick or pellet. I won’t touch a powerbelt bullet for hunting, I don’t touch them for anything. There’s a whole world of sabot options and bullet options to work with but do it AFTER the season when you have more time to really shoot the gun. And if your gun hasn’t seen a hundred rounds thru it yet its probably not even broken in or shot in as they say.

I run the PowerBelts. I also use 777 powder pellets, 100 gr. Excited to use it with a scope ! Last year I took a 9 pointer at 127 yards… front sight pretty much covered the deer.

CVA Accura, 80gr of blackhorn and 240gr hornady xtp sabots.
I setup my gun stands pretty similar to my bow setups so even being physically able to take a shot greater than 100 yards are pretty rare out of my stands and therefore I haven’t played much with the rifle beyond 100 yards.

Took my first two hunting shots/kills with this rifle last year, 75 yard shot in MN and 12 yard shot in WI. Both hit right were I wanted them, neither deer ran more than 50 yards and had full pass through. In fact the entry holes on both had more ‘damage’ than the exit.

I’m contemplating ‘building my own sabot setup during the off season, mostly just to save money buying the individual ‘parts’ in bulk so long as the perform just as well.

I’ve tried powerbelts too but feel like the xtp’s grouped better.

On a side note anyone thinking of entering the muzzleloader world, though it’s not the same ‘feeling’ as taking my black mountain mag out(percussion cap 54 cal. shooting patch and roundball with ‘real’ blackpowder), I highly recommend the CVA Accura, love that weapon. In fact i carried it the entire rifle season in WI last year instead of my remington 700, I just feel that confident with it (and I’m not in long range setups).

I use 777 in both of my muzzleloaders, a 50 cal Thompson Center Hawken, equipped with a Hubbards mag spark nipple, and my inline a 50 cal Knight Revolution.
I use 777 because I have always had positive ignition with it and consistent groups, running a spit patch after each shot.
I like the Blackhorn 209’s ease of use and convenience, but in my older muzzys did not get positive ignition all the time, I have read about drilling out flash hole in breech plug on the inline, to remedy.The hawken with the magspark(which allows 209 ignition)will fire everytime with 777 but rarely with 209.
As far as bullets have tried most mentioned above but have had best results with powerbelts for inline and 320 grn maxiballs in the hawken.I use 90 grn loose powder in Hawken and 100 grn in inline, powder measure not actual wieght.

Go with the Thompson center cheap shots. They shoot awesome and are very easy to load. Hell I’ll shoot 10 times at the range and they still slide down nice. They hit hard as well and leave a great blood trail. I will not shoot anything else. They are a solid lead bullet in a plast case. Try they you won’t be disappointed.

Cheap shots are a nice bullet/sabot combo for under 100 yards. I’ve seen some key-holing issues beyond 100 yards though when the loads are pushed using the pellets. Granulated powders will settle them down at higher load rates. Switching out the sabots for better quality ones will make a world of difference as well. They do expand nice on deer as long as hits aren’t in a ton of bone.

Shot TC shockwaves until finding this in the buck I killed last year. Switched to Barnes TEZ.

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I shoot Barnes expander mz first shot and spit fire tez for a dirty barrel.

Why? Because ballistics are great and these copper bullets flare and hold together.

Used to use 150 grains but this year only shooting 100.

I use 250 gram.

I lightly lube the sabbot with bore butter before pushing down there barrel.

Every time I pull one out of an animal it looks like it does on the package… And don’t fragment. So you get expansion and retain energy.

I haven’t shot the Shockwaves personally because of what I read and saw for “after” pictures from people who used them and had issues with lost deer after being hit with them. Same with Powerbelts. The XTP’s an Deep Curl’s do a super job at about .38 cents/shot. I may play with some A-frames over the winter but they’re better than a buck a pop at most vendors. I saw one play recently that had them on sale for $49.00/box of 50, but for hunting they may be the best yet as they open up at about 800fps.

I push my XTP’s pretty hard so I know they open up but still shoot thru. With the 209 powder I am loading the equivalent of 110 grains by volume behind a 300 .44 cal XTP grain bullet. The bullet needs about 1100fps to expand and I am getting about 2000fps from the load and even hits thru both shoulders at 100 yards or more are thru and thru….3″ exit.

My brother gave me his old Knight LII Muzzy, anyone have experience with these? What powder, bullets have you had luck with. I have yet to get out and shoot it, just haven’t had the time. Will need to spend some time in the off season figuring it out.

100 grain is more than enough in my opinion. Think of it like a shotgun, just because the gun says you can shoot 3″ shells doesn’t mean you have to. Also the recoil from a magnum load kicks like a mule, and I found was less accurate than shooting 100 grains.

I agree with 100 grains being good. I purchased a new muzzy last year and from all the reading I’ve done that’s the main word is 100 grains or 2 pellets. Worked great for me, you could ask the deer I shot from about 80 yards last year…..but it’s not alive to tell you.

The “out of box” options are all over the place especially with shooting pellets and sticks. You will find though that the best accuracy and flexibility will come by staying out of the boxed sabot/bullet combinations and pelleted powder. I buy all my sabots in bulk and not necessarily those recommended by the gun maker. I buy bullets in bulk as well and stay pretty much away from any of the “sets” common where black powder guns are sold. I use only granulated powder, the BH209 smokeless alternative powder to be exact and I weigh each charge on a good scale. My loads are tailored to my gun and are very, very accurate.

Both of my long guns behave nicely with a load consisting of 110 grains [77 grains weighed] BH209 powder, a .44 caliber 300 grain XTP bullet sitting in a green crushed rib sabot. And both will deliver deadly blows. I could max each of these guns out to the 120 grain [84 grains weighed] potential but the recoil is obnoxious at that rate. I could shoot a lighter bullet but the groups open up. At the 100 grains you mention you’ll no doubt kill a deer but some bullets may not open up much or shoot thru, hence the beauty of using granular powder and other components to build your own load for your gun.

EyeHunter wrote:

Thanks for the responses.

Next question, I’ve read the best and most consistent reviews on Hornady sabots and I love the Hornady’s for my shotgun. I plan on trying these first. My question is, how often will I need to clean the barrel and what’s the best way to clean the barrel? What do you use?

Thanks in advance. Don’t mean to highjack this thread.

Eye, a lot of that will depend in what powder you use. Running the blackhorn209 I have shot 3-4 times with no swabbing the barrel with minimum notice in where I hit. That being said when I am sighting in especially I keep a second rod with a rag patch on it and just swipe down the barrel once after every shot, also let it sit for a bit to cool down, trying to let it replicate that one shot from a cold, cleaned barrel as best I can without actually cleaning.
I’ve used pyrodex in my old school muzzleloader as well as ‘real’ Goex ffg powder and that one is a swab every shot deal there for sure.

Took my 3rd deer with the CVA accurra/ hornady 240 grain XTP sabot combo begin 80 measured grain of BH209 (i did try measurimg tom, my scale isnt accurate enough to be consistent it seems) this weekend and the shot at 40 yards looked just like the ones at 12 and 75 yards last year. Pass through with more ‘damage’ at the entry hole than exit. I haven’t hit shoulder blade yet though, so not sure if I’d still get pass through with a shoulder blade hit. But double lung right behind the shoulder has worked well so far, all three went 40-50 yards.

Eyehunter…..if you are using the BH209 powder you clean the barrel with solvent cleaner like Hoppes, same as a centerfire rifle. All other powders including the Pyrodex and Triple 7’s you use the hot water method. Some people use windex soaked patches in lieu of hot water and then there are the commercially purchased black powder barrel cleaning fluids.

On the sabots and need for cleaning, today’s sabots are made of plastics that shoot very clean and basically leave nothing in the barrel to clean out. I use the Hornady green sabots as well as Harvester green crush ribs….the pistol loves the Hornady’s, the rifles the Harvesters. Cabelas has the Harvesters in 50 paks.

The BH209 powder I can shoot upwards of 20 rounds before I need to wipe the barrel and loading stays reasonably easy. The Triple 7 powder and pellets will require a barrel wipe after each shot if you are using primer ignition. The Pyrodex products maybe four shots between wiping.

On any gun using primer ignition and regardless of powder it is important to clean the flame channel in the breech plug after maybe every twenty shots. Where the primer fits in the plug is called the primer pocket. The flame channel is the continuation of the hole beyond the pocket until it comes to the fire hole which is real small. I use a 1/8″ drill bit with some masking tape wrapped on the smooth end to make a finger grip and just finger spin the bit in the flame channel. You can feel the carbon crunch as you turn the bit and when the bit stops without putting pressure on it you are as far as you need go. Just dump the chips out. I use a small copper wire to clean out the flame hole each time I clean the flame channel. Its not back pressure or blow back that causes this build-up but the priming compound itself.

Also on CVA guns you’ll need to buy a 209 breechplug. Here’s a picture showing the plug face differences between the 209 plug

and the factory plug on the right.

Here’s the 300 grain .44 cal XTP bullet after going into the neck and traveling along it for about 10 inches before busting into the chest cavity, thru a rib and lodging outside the chest cavity under the shoulder of the opposite side of the entry.

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I’ve always shot the same Hornady’s and never had a problem loading. When sighting in I always use lubricated patches to clean the barrel between shots. I believe CVA makes the ones i used. They work great until you can get Home to do a deep clean. Just run one patch up and down the barrel between shots and you should be good to go. In my Pro Hunter with Pyrodex powder i can get touching 3 shot groups at 100 yards.

I bought an CVA Optima a couple years ago, my first muzzleloader. I got advice from a bona fide expert who test-shot the same gun with a long list of various powder, bullet/sabot, and primer combinations. His testing showed that this particular gun was most accurate and consistent when using a combination of 100gr Blackhorn 209, 300gr Powerbelt Platinum bullets, and Federal primers. (It does need the CVA Blackhorn breechplug for this.)

The Blackhorn 209 was all but impossible to find in stock last fall, plus I didn’t feel experienced enough yet to measure and use loose powder, so I opted for White Hots pellets using the standard breech plug, along with the Powerbelt Platinums and Federal primers. Shooting both 100 grain and 150 grain (2 or 3 pellets), I’ve been amazed by the accuracy and grouping at 100yds on the range, and I took my first deer with it last Monday during rifle season at 110yds from a standing rest: dead nuts on target, knocked the deer over without a step.

Now that I’m gaining familiarity, I’ll probably switch to the 209 and start using that instead. Very fun gun to shoot!

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Eye hunter, I ring out a few pre-saturated patches, so not dripping wet, run one down the barrel between shots(spit patch),it has always kept my groups consistent, but after 6-8 shots I will run a brush down the barrel.
I also agree with others that granulated powders produce better groups, and when measured in a speedloader are probly more convienient than sticks or pellets.

Legal big game cartridges
It is at least .220 caliber and has center fire ignition;
It is loaded only with single projectile ammunition;
The projectile used has a soft point or is an expanding bullet type;*
The muzzleloader (long gun or handgun) used cannot be loaded at the breech (muzzleloading revolvers are not legal for taking big game);
The smooth-bore muzzleloader used is at least .45 caliber and
The rifled muzzleloader used is at least .40 caliber;
Muzzleloaders with scopes are legal during the regular firearms deer season and the muzzleloader season.

Thanks for the heads up!!

For deer, the 250gr SST has been pretty reliable. When I shoot it out of my smokeless Savage at warp drive, it tends to make a mess. Out of a std ML using Blackhorn or 777 it is fine. Great penetration and expansion on ribcage hits. Goes straight through and has a high energy dump. The exit is generally half-dollar to golf ball size within 100yds or so. Recovery times are short.

If you have issues with bullet seating on a clean bore, try the Crush Rib Sabot as it generally loads pretty easy using .452″ bullets. Look at this chart to find an appropriate bullet/sabot combination to find one that rides down firmly.

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Personally I feel muzzle-loaders are a big balancing act between shooters/ bullets/sabots/powder/primers and the guns themselves and the only way to figure it all out is to get out and shoot the gun. Alot. The last component of this balancing act is how the bullets act on a deer or maybe an elk or bear. Granted, there are loads and bullets that that have a long history of fine performance but the only way to know what works on an individual basis is to shoot.