Choosing a muzzleloader bullet

[decker528]

I finally decided to start muzzleloading again and I'm trying to choose a bullet. I'm shooting a Cva wolf .50, looking for an accurate bullet that actually will make deer bleed. I had trouble in the past about muzzleloader bullets not leaving a blood trail. Any input would be appriciated.

 

[FrontierGander]

If you want fast blood, 250 or 300gr powerbelt AEROLITE.

 

[wsm]

I have had good luck with TC shockwave 250 grain and 100 grains of BH209.

 

[MickThompson]

Barnes.

 

[Stykbow]

Hornady XTP's do the trick for me. All but 2 deer were DRT.


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[ImThere]

Entrance

Exit

Hornandy sst red tip red sabot. 250gn pushed by 90 gn bh209
Yes in missed the doe. Lol

What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Barnes stuff is great


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[mike243]

The 240g XTP mag shoots good in my buddy's wolf,I have killed several deer with them pushed fast with my smokeless muzzle loader. the shock waves are too hard and wont expand good with out hitting major bone,shot a doe 2 times once thru the lungs from both sides and she still ran 100y ,holes were almost touching and pencil holes thru lungs,the XTP jellies lungs but not as well as the power belts,I have killed a lot of deer with 250 and 295g pb with the 295g being my favorite,find what it shoots the best then work on testing to see how many times you can shoot before cleaning ect

 

[GMB54]

Take a look at these. They are an improved version of the Knight Bloodline bullet also made by Lehigh. Reviews have been very positive and they function as designed over a very wide fps range.
http://www.lehighdefense.com/collection ... 3172294980

Here is a video of the 300gr made for 458 rifles being shot from a muzzle loader.
[youtube]MmpFcIhPY34[/youtube]

 

[Climber]

I'm not a fan of the powerbelt line of bullets and had several well placed shots that did not anchor like I expected and accuracy was iffy. I have heard great things about the barnes but I switched over to Harvester Scorpion PT Gold bullets and have been amazed at their accuracy and ability to anchor game. I shot my biggest buck to date last year at over 100 yards with the scorpions and it worked him over.

 

[Stykbow]

Here's a XTP recovered from a deer I killed several years ago.

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[Bgbuckhntr84]

Barnes

 

[vonb]

300 gr SST has always worked for me.

 

[JeepKuntry]

I also use the 240 tc xtp bullet. I have a CVA Accura and it groups well. Just sighted in yesterday again for this coming season. I'm using 95 grain BH209.

 

[Hardwoodmaterials]

I use Barnes Expanders and so far the ones that have run left a blood trail that looked like it belonged in a horror film. I have also had good luck with the Harvester Scorpions and the XTP's. In my opinion the Powerbelts are straight garbage. I would even take a lead cast bullet over a Powerbelt any day!

 

[jm1981]

Barnes 250 grain Tez with blackhorn 209

 

[jimm37870]

If you want fast blood, 250 or 300gr powerbelt AEROLITE.

:rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

 

[TN Larry]

The cheap xtp bullets are hard to beat. My pick is Barnes though. I shoot the expanders in my smokeless. I have heard too many horror stories about the power belts. I wouldn't use them, but some people do like them.

 

[elknturkey]

It's really hard to go wrong. Powerbelts, though a lot of people have had much success with them, are the only ones I don't recommend. Seen to many first hand experiences of them blowing up on impact. All the deer died but penetration was terrible. Xtp, sst, shockwaves, Barnes, parkers, lehighs, pr bullets, heck even cast all work well

 

[snaildarter]

I tried alot of different bullet powder combos in my Knight and found the 300 gr Hornady .458 hp with 95 gr of BH209 to be the most accurate. My knight is .52 cal though.

 

[ROVERBOY]

I'll second the Hornady XTP, its great. I don't use them anymore because the last few years I've just used Maxi-Balls or Maxi-Hunters.

 

[MUP]

260 gr lead conical, from the mold that I made. Using black sabots. :tu:

 

[ROVERBOY]

260 gr lead conical, from the mold that I made. Using black sabots. :tu:

Neat. I've thought myself about making a ML bullet mold.

 

[muddyboots]

Anything that says barnes on it.

 

[Fulldraw61]

Entrance

Exit

Hornandy sst red tip red sabot. 250gn pushed by 90 gn bh209
Yes in missed the doe. Lol

What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

The 250 SST's are awesome. Hit them right..they will drop.

It's really hard to go wrong. Powerbelts, though a lot of people have had much success with them, are the only ones I don't recommend. Seen to many first hand experiences of them blowing up on impact. All the deer died but penetration was terrible. Xtp, sst, shockwaves, Barnes, parkers, lehighs, pr bullets, heck even cast all work well

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[PillsburyDoughboy]

I have killed deer with a great degree of success with most of the pistol bullets.

With that said I strongly urge everyone that inquires to switch to .458 bullets. .458 are rifle bullets and were designed to be fired at the velocities that a common modern day inline will shoot them at.

Pistol bullets were designed to be fired in the 700 to 1400FPS range. NOT 1800 FPS and above.

 

[PillsburyDoughboy]

Anything that says barnes on it.

Great bullet but very much over kill for a typical whitetail deer in my opinion.

if I were going after Bear or Elk I would not hesitate to use them.

 

[iowavf]

Anything that says barnes on it.

Great bullet but very much over kill for a typical whitetail deer in my opinion.

if I were going after Bear or Elk I would not hesitate to use them.

Curious why you think the Barnes bullets are overkill for whitetail? I shoot the 195 gr Expander MZ in my 45. Very accurate, pass through, good exit hole with plenty of blood, good expansion, not sure why this would be overkill?

 

[GMB54]

My favorite from Barnes is the little .451 225gr XPB. Its dynamite out of my NULA at 2300fps out to 150ish yards or so. Expansion is extremely violent and reliable.

Barnes also offers XPBs in a .429 and a 200gr. Very much overlooked by the ML community. They are also usually cheaper than the MZ line of bullets.

 

[PillsburyDoughboy]

Anything that says barnes on it.

Great bullet but very much over kill for a typical whitetail deer in my opinion.

if I were going after Bear or Elk I would not hesitate to use them.

Curious why you think the Barnes bullets are overkill for whitetail? I shoot the 195 gr Expander MZ in my 45. Very accurate, pass through, good exit hole with plenty of blood, good expansion, not sure why this would be overkill?

Maybe overkill is not the right word .

Perhaps over priced for the intended target ??

Far cheaper .458 bullets that are more than capable of taking down a white tail


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