Hornady Bore Driver bullets

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BSK

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Going to try shooting the Hornady Bore Driver MZ bullets, both the 290 grn FTX and the 340 grn ELD-X. Just want to see if they will shoot a group out of our MZs. Still looking for something full 50-caliber that will shoot well, hold together on impact, and that doesn't have to be hammered down the barrel like Maxi-Balls or Great Plains bullets.
 
I made a mold patterned after the lead Knight practice bullets that come with the black sabots. 260 gr, and I poured some using wheel weights. Kilt a nice 7pt with them, but there was obviously too much tin in that lead, hardly any penetration, basically shattered just inside the muscle of the shoulder, and I had to run him down to finish him off. He had a broken down shoulder but I think he would have suffered a prolonged lingering death had I not found him quick and dispatched him with the 2nd shot thru the vitals. I say all that to ask have you tried to pour your own?
 
BSK said:
Going to try shooting the Hornady Bore Driver MZ bullets, both the 290 grn FTX and the 340 grn ELD-X. Just want to see if they will shoot a group out of our MZs. Still looking for something full 50-caliber that will shoot well, hold together on impact, and that doesn't have to be hammered down the barrel like Maxi-Balls or Great Plains bullets.
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Watched them kill some deer with 340 last night and it was pretty big hole and the only one that run went 40 yards bulldozing
 
MUP said:
I made a mold patterned after the lead Knight practice bullets that come with the black sabots. 260 gr, and I poured some using wheel weights. Kilt a nice 7pt with them, but there was obviously too much tin in that lead, hardly any penetration, basically shattered just inside the muscle of the shoulder, and I had to run him down to finish him off. He had a broken down shoulder but I think he would have suffered a prolonged lingering death had I not found him quick and dispatched him with the 2nd shot thru the vitals. I say all that to ask have you tried to pour your own?
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Back in the day, no one made them so I had to pour my own 58 caliber bullets for my Grizzly Kodiak double-barrel 58. I used a Civil War Minnie Ball mold. 620 grain bullets! Those things were whopper stoppers, both for the deer and my shoulder! But I got full pass throughs no matter what angle I was shooting!

The one thing I don't like about solid lead bullets is the rifling has to be cut at loading. And considering the deep rifling of today's in-lines, that means darn near pounding the bullets down the barrel with a hammer. Makes reloading in the stand nearly impossible. For many years we've used the very heavy Powerbelt bullets (348 and 405 grn), but Powerbelt has stopped making them. The 295s won't go through a deer without breaking up. As far as we can tell Hornady's Bore Drivers are about the only non-sabot skirted bullets that load easily (slightly below bore size but with a skirt to catch the rifling at firing). We shall see if they will shoot out of our guns.
 
All that's needed would be to reverse engineer a bullet that performs the way you want, then make the mold to those specs. 😏
 
Way in the past I tried a Lee bullet (or maybe it was Lyman) called R. E. A. L. It stood for "rifling engraved at loading". They loaded easily but didn't shoot as well as the TC Maxi in my rifle. I'm not sure that they are still available but might be.
 
rifle02 said:
Way in the past I tried a Lee bullet (or maybe it was Lyman) called R. E. A. L. It stood for "rifling engraved at loading". They loaded easily but didn't shoot as well as the TC Maxi in my rifle. I'm not sure that they are still available but might be.
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Yes, they are, but they were the hardest loading bullets I've ever tried in a 50 Hawkin. Literally pounded them down with a hammer.
 
Loading most solid lead conicals aren't too bad with a clean barrel, but loading a big lead conical with a black-powder fouled barrel is really difficult.

I tried the Thor bullets and they wouldn't shoot well out of my gun. Plus, loading the second one with a fouled barrel was very tough.

Other than Powerbelt, Hornady, and Thor, I don't know of anyone selling jacketed full-bore muzzleloader bullets in 50 cal.

I've read a lot about "cowboy shoots" where shooters use paper-patched lead bullets, but I don't know if they would work in a muzzleloader.
 
Wobblyshot1 said:
Check these out. They offer a sizing pack of bullets that you may find will fit your needs. I'm thinking all you need is a conical that fits the bore of your rifle so it's easy to load while giving good accuracy.

https://www.muzzleloading-bullets.com/#google_vignette
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Fascinating! Thank you sir!

I like his comments about his 600 grn bullets: "Better buckle up before lighting this one off-definitely not for the weak of heart." Reminds me of when I was shooting the 620 Minnie Balls in my 58. I would break into a cold sweat before touching those off!
 
BSK said:
Back in the day, no one made them so I had to pour my own 58 caliber bullets for my Grizzly Kodiak double-barrel 58. I used a Civil War Minnie Ball mold. 620 grain bullets! Those things were whopper stoppers, both for the deer and my shoulder! But I got full pass throughs no matter what angle I was shooting!

The one thing I don't like about solid lead bullets is the rifling has to be cut at loading. And considering the deep rifling of today's in-lines, that means darn near pounding the bullets down the barrel with a hammer. Makes reloading in the stand nearly impossible. For many years we've used the very heavy Powerbelt bullets (348 and 405 grn), but Powerbelt has stopped making them. The 295s won't go through a deer without breaking up. As far as we can tell Hornady's Bore Drivers are about the only non-sabot skirted bullets that load easily (slightly below bore size but with a skirt to catch the rifling at firing). We shall see if they will shoot out of our guns.
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Track of the Wolf has a Minie-ball style bullet. It's hollow based so it should be undersized slightly for easy loading.
 
BSK said:
Going to try shooting the Hornady Bore Driver MZ bullets, both the 290 grn FTX and the 340 grn ELD-X. Just want to see if they will shoot a group out of our MZs. Still looking for something full 50-caliber that will shoot well, hold together on impact, and that doesn't have to be hammered down the barrel like Maxi-Balls or Great Plains bullets.
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I have never shot those. Have you tried the federal bore-loc? I use those and have had good luck with them thus far. The bullets holds a real nice mushroom and they are very easy to load.
 
348Winchester said:
Track of the Wolf has a Minie-ball style bullet. It's hollow based so it should be undersized slightly for easy loading.
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Thanks 348Winchester. I'll check those out.

Just took a look. I like them! Definitely will try. What I like best is they are a big solid chunk of lead. The problem with all the polymer tipped bullets are they are basically hollow-points. Personally, with a MZ bullet, I DON'T want expansion. A 50-caliber hole all the way through a deer is deadly, plus produces a great blood trail. The hollow points often won't go through a deer, even broadside.
 
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BSK said:
Thanks 348Winchester. I'll check those out.

Just took a look. I like them! Definitely will try. What I like best is they are a big solid chunk of lead. The problem with all the polymer tipped bullets are they are basically hollow-points. Personally, with an MZ bullet, I DON'T want expansion. A 50-caliber hole all the way through a deer is deadly, plus produces a great blood trail. The hollow points often won't go through a deer, even broadside.
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Im still baffled on how hollow points wont go through a tn whitetail, especially at the yardages you shoot them at? I get pass throughs every time with 260 grain pt golds from 20 yards to 300 yards, and great blood trails if i need them(most are drt) anyways, i hope you find exactly what your looking for.
 
knightrider said:
Im still baffled on how hollow points wont go through a tn whitetail, especially at the yardages you shoot them at? I get pass throughs every time with 260 grain pt golds from 20 yards to 300 yards, and great blood trails if i need them(most are drt) anyways, i hope you find exactly what your looking for.
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Me too!

Simply amazes me how 295 grn Powerbelts won't go through a doe broadside at 15 yards through the ribs, but I hit 5 in a row and not one went through. Everyone else in my party had the same problem. We solved the problem by going to their 348 and 405 grn bullets, but they stopped making them.
 
BSK said:
Me too!

Simply amazes me how 295 grn Powerbelts won't go through a doe broadside at 15 yards through the ribs, but I hit 5 in a row and not one went through. Everyone else in my party had the same problem. We solved the problem by going to their 348 and 405 grn
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Now thats completely different the 295 powerbelts are junk!!! They either explode or pancake!!! But a good 250-300 grain pt gold or xtp will come out the other side with plenty of blood and big enough hole. They are showing the 348 pb in stock at a few places, midway usa and muzzleloader.com
 
knightrider said:
Now thats completely different the 295 powerbelts are junk!!! They either explode or pancake!!! But a good 250-300 grain pt gold or xtp will come out the other side with plenty of blood and big enough hole. They are showing the 348 pb in stock at a few places, midway usa and muzzleloader.com
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After talking to a bunch of people who shoot XTP MZ bullets, push came to shove, they admitted they don't always go through. In fact, some said they only got about 50% pass-through rate (although most claimed deer didn't go anywhere). That's not good enough for me.

I DON'T want a bullet that expands, unless it goes through every time. A 50-caliber hole all the way through is good enough for me.
 
IMG_6222.webp
have you tried these? @BSK
 
BSK said:
After talking to a bunch of people who shoot XTP MZ bullets, push came to shove, they admitted they don't always go through. In fact, some said they only got about 50% pass-through rate (although most claimed deer didn't go anywhere). That's not good enough for me.

I DON'T want a bullet that expands, unless it goes through every time. A 50-caliber hole all the way through is good enough for me.
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They make different xtp's


The XTP mags are considerably tougher than standards. Most guys shoot the standard 240 fast and that is a softer bullet and it limits penetration.

I'd be very surprised if you could recover a 300gr XTP Mag, especially since they out penetrate the bore drivers in tests.
 
BSK said:
After talking to a bunch of people who shoot XTP MZ bullets, push came to shove, they admitted they don't always go through. In fact, some said they only got about 50% pass-through rate (although most claimed deer didn't go anywhere). That's not good enough for me.

I DON'T want a bullet that expands, unless it goes through every time. A 50-caliber hole all the way through is good enough for me.
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A shallow hollow point in a solid lead conical bullet allows for minimal expansion, keeping the bullet intact, and should plow on thru, given sufficient velocity. This is what I've noticed with the 260 gr "plinking" bullets that I've used forever. They have a shallow depth hole in the nose, and I've recovered a few that were just under the skin on the opposite side of the animal before, perfect mushroom about half way back, fully intact still.
 
M900203-204-lead-bullets.webp


This is what I shoot, but if you could get the full .50 cal size that you need for easy loading, I'd say you'd find good performance with them. I also made a mold to cast the same bullets without the hollow point.
 
BSK said:
I definitely don't want anything 45 caliber in a sabot.
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Those 50 cal Minie-balls from Track of the Wolf should be exactly what you're looking for. I've used them in both 58 and 45 caliber. They have given complete pass throughs. I believe I used 80 grains of 777 with the 58's and 70 grains of 777 with the 45's. I would think that any charge ranging from 60-90 would be effective. It would just be a matter of finding the charge your rifle preferred.
 
It's all about bullet construction. Nothing wrong with saboted loads. Barnes original .458 semi spitzer flat base in a bcr sabot will expand and penetrate. It will hit bone and keep on going. I use the 300 grain version but they also make a 400 grain version if you are a glutton for punishment.
 
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We tried the ELD-X (340 grn) and they did OK. Not great, but OK. I suspect the mixed results is because they are designed for magnum loads and we don't shoot magnum loads.
 

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