UTGrad
Well-Known Member
What are some good powder/bullet combos that are good for up to 200 yards?
Long range loads
- Thread starter UTGrad
- Start date
deerjackie
Well-Known Member
your gun will answer that for you as far as what it will group good.
I have a remington genesis that absolutly loves 300 grain hornady xtp mags and 3 777 pellets. Kicks a bit but groups within an 1.5" at 100 yds. I would be very confident in this combo hitting 200 yds. I would have to try it to check on bullet drop but i know it would be accurate enough. Your gun may not like this combo but the xtps are cheap to try.
FYI: i often here that shorter barreled guns (around 24") like less powder while longer barreled (around 28") do good with more.
FYI: i often here that shorter barreled guns (around 24") like less powder while longer barreled (around 28") do good with more.
250 grain hornady sst, 43 grains of sr4759, shoots great at 100 and 200 yards. 8" of drop from 100 to 200 yards
gbee said:
gotta be a savage ml2, gotta get me one of those!!
iowavf
Well-Known Member
I have a 45 Encore and got it for longer range shooting due to the areas I hunt. I'm shooting a 223 platinum with 3 777 pellets. 1" high at 100 yards and about 1" low at 200 yards. Going to try the 300 grain platinums this summer and see what kind of drop I have. My gun has always shot the PB bullets well and easy to load several times without cleaning. I don't like using them with loose powder. I couldn't get them to seat the same everytime which could cause some accuracy problems. I think it's due to the design with the hollow end of the bullet and the powder does't always fill that void. I have my rod marked and it was varying from 3/16" to 1/4". I noticed that the 777 pellets fit into that void of the bullet. My exsperience with loose 777 powder and PB's was a 5" group at 100 yards, I'm around 1" group at 100 yards with the pellets(that's off a bench).
Couple ways to answer that. The first being, the one that will shoot consistently accurate at the range you're wanting to shoot. The second answer would be the load that will effectively kill game at the distance you're wanting to shoot. In my experience, finding the first one is a lot harder.
I will assume you are looking for deer loads. These are a couple good places to start in my opinion. If I remember correctly you're shooting 777 pellets out of your Optima so you're limited on the amount you can play with powder charges:
200g Shockwave (They've changed the 250g and I no longer like them)
200g XTP (The Harvester 50/40s are a lot better sabot in my opinion)
245 Barnes Spit Fire Boattail
250 Barnes Tipped MZ
If money is not an issue, I would shoot the Barnes. It's really a toss up between them and Noslers as the best ML bullet on the market right now.
Good luck and let us know what you settle on.
I will assume you are looking for deer loads. These are a couple good places to start in my opinion. If I remember correctly you're shooting 777 pellets out of your Optima so you're limited on the amount you can play with powder charges:
200g Shockwave (They've changed the 250g and I no longer like them)
200g XTP (The Harvester 50/40s are a lot better sabot in my opinion)
245 Barnes Spit Fire Boattail
250 Barnes Tipped MZ
If money is not an issue, I would shoot the Barnes. It's really a toss up between them and Noslers as the best ML bullet on the market right now.
Good luck and let us know what you settle on.
UTGrad
Well-Known Member
Thanks...shooting loose powder. I will try 100 grains of 777 and 300 grain Scorpion Golds next year.
My Optima shot very well with 245 and also 300 gr Hornady XTP with 110 gr loose 777.
If you want a 200 yard load, do some serious analysis with a ballistic software package. There are several that you can download off the Internet for a free 30 day trial. Put in the Ballistic Coefficient of the bullet of choice (obtainable at the bullet mfg web site) and also a close estimate of expected velocity (from either the powder mfg or CVA's website).
Be fore-warned that if you site your rifle for 200 yards it may be too high at 100 yards. Muzzleloaders may be a lot faster than they were with patched round balls, but they still have short & fat bullets with terrible BCs, being pushed at modest (at best) velocities. You may have to sight your gun to hit 4" low at 200 yards and still be 3 or 4" high at 100. Personally I have mine sighted for 1" high at 50 and 100 yards, 1.5" low at 125, and 6" low at 150. (That's with the 300 gr bullet and 110 g 777.) Then I hunt where my shots would most likely be 30-75 yards.
If you want a 200 yard load, do some serious analysis with a ballistic software package. There are several that you can download off the Internet for a free 30 day trial. Put in the Ballistic Coefficient of the bullet of choice (obtainable at the bullet mfg web site) and also a close estimate of expected velocity (from either the powder mfg or CVA's website).
Be fore-warned that if you site your rifle for 200 yards it may be too high at 100 yards. Muzzleloaders may be a lot faster than they were with patched round balls, but they still have short & fat bullets with terrible BCs, being pushed at modest (at best) velocities. You may have to sight your gun to hit 4" low at 200 yards and still be 3 or 4" high at 100. Personally I have mine sighted for 1" high at 50 and 100 yards, 1.5" low at 125, and 6" low at 150. (That's with the 300 gr bullet and 110 g 777.) Then I hunt where my shots would most likely be 30-75 yards.
UTGrad
Well-Known Member
What are blackpowder subs?
shoota280 said:
gonna get me one in about 3 months. gonna be all stainless with, with laminate stock. its gonna be my all weather ML. although i will still be using my other ML's too. i just like that big ole puff of smoke too much to get rid of em!!
