I know there has been a lot of other threads regarding bullets, but I can't seem to get what I'm after. I am new to muzzleloading but have hunted and shot my whole life, so I have an understanding of guns. I have an older Knight LK-93 in good shape. My desire is to not use a saboted bullet, and I've seen a few out there like the Thor, Great Plains, Thompson Center MaxiBall, and the Buffalo Arms paper patched bullets. I just want to avoid using the plastic sabots. Anyone have any experience with these bullets or another I should look at?
Which bullet?
- Thread starter poorhunter
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Creek bottoms
Well-Known Member
Barnes sabots. Blue tip. I think they're Spitfires. Very accurate out of a CVA.
I've never seen a drawback to a saboted bullet. I've used maxi hunters, maxi balls, round balls and saboted bullets. If it's not a side hammer gun I'll take my sabots.
If I was to try full bore bullets I would probably try the Hornady FPB for starters and also the Thor bullets.
If I was to try full bore bullets I would probably try the Hornady FPB for starters and also the Thor bullets.
Weegee
Well-Known Member
Not a challenge, I'm just curious why you don't want to use a sabot?
Just for the plastic fowling. Maybe I'm being too sensitive about it, but I'd rather not have to deal with it
backyardtndeer
Well-Known Member
Don't overthink that. I use either 240 grain xtp mags or 240 grain interlocks in our accuras and tc black diamond. Very accurate and effective.
How much fouling are you getting. I've never had an issue with it in any of the guns I used a sabot with.
Creek bottoms
Well-Known Member
Clean with Ballistol. You won't have to worry about plastic fouling.
Well, I don't know, haven't shot it yet.
Just got it recently.I've shot sabots for probably 20-25 yrs and I finally cleaned the plastic out of mine 2 years ago. Plugged the barrel, filled with Acetone overnight and swabbed out the next day.
I wouldn't get real hung up in plastic fouling being an issue.
I wouldn't get real hung up in plastic fouling being an issue.
BSK
Well-Known Member
I'm very anti-sabot. I only shoot full-caliber bullets in my MZs, but that's probably just unnecessary concern. Personally, if I have a 50-caliber gun, I want to shoot a big, heavy 50 caliber bullet I'm sure will go all the way through. No 45-caliber pistol bullets for me!
I've shot a lot of MaxiBalls, but they can be hard to load. I was not pleased with the Thor bullets. Using BP, after the first shot they would not load (fouling from the first shot). If I ever transition to 777, I may rethink that. Also didn't get the accuracy I was hoping for. Have not tried the Buffalo Arms bullets. Great Plains worked fairly well. Currently, I'm shooting the heaviest Powerbelts they make (405 grn). They have proven to be extremely accurate and do not suffer from the break-up-on-impact that plagues their 295s. However, they are extremely hard to find. The company only makes a small batch of them each year and you've got to get them right then as they will sell out quickly. Others I hunt with shoot the 348s, which are a little easier to find.
I've shot a lot of MaxiBalls, but they can be hard to load. I was not pleased with the Thor bullets. Using BP, after the first shot they would not load (fouling from the first shot). If I ever transition to 777, I may rethink that. Also didn't get the accuracy I was hoping for. Have not tried the Buffalo Arms bullets. Great Plains worked fairly well. Currently, I'm shooting the heaviest Powerbelts they make (405 grn). They have proven to be extremely accurate and do not suffer from the break-up-on-impact that plagues their 295s. However, they are extremely hard to find. The company only makes a small batch of them each year and you've got to get them right then as they will sell out quickly. Others I hunt with shoot the 348s, which are a little easier to find.
I've shot 54 caliber Maxi Hunters & Maxi balls in a TC Firehawk muzzleloader with percussion caps. This set up shot accurately and took elk / mule deer.
That said, I now shoot 300 grain Nosler ballistic tip bullets (with plastic sabot) from a CVA Wolf 50 cal using 209 primers. Better range and better performance.
Don't worry about the plastic fouling... dirty burning powders would be a greater concern to me.
That said, I now shoot 300 grain Nosler ballistic tip bullets (with plastic sabot) from a CVA Wolf 50 cal using 209 primers. Better range and better performance.
Don't worry about the plastic fouling... dirty burning powders would be a greater concern to me.
What you have posted about bullets is also one reason why I'm leaning towards full caliber bullets. I too want pass throughs without bullet fragmentation. I did watch a YouTube video of several bullets being shot into water jugs, and one he used was a Buffalo Arms 500 grain with paper wad. In that test at least it performed beautifully.
Find some Parker ballistic extremes and hunt. The sabot won't hurt a thing
CHRIS WILSON
Well-Known Member
I shot Great Plains conicals for a good bit before they discontinued their 410 gr version. That 410 gr flat point was a shooter and flat out killer. I never could get the 385 gr version to shoot as well. Your results might be different in your rifle though. I switched to saboted Barnes Expanders after giving up on the Great Plains. Plastic fouling was never an issue....at least not from what I experienced. Still shoot saboted Barnes out of my .50 caliber Optima. If you still want to avoid shooting sabots, Fury Custom bullets has a good line of muzzleloader bullets. I use their STB bullet to shoot bullet to bore in my .45 cal Knight.
Guy I work with uses those and recommends them too.
ScLowCountry
Well-Known Member
The issue with muzzleloadering projectiles and expansion is the low velocity. They will either over or under expand in most brands. Powebelts are nothing but soft lead with good marketing and tc shockwaves are so hard they barely expand on shoulder shot. Using heavy hard lead like conicals will get you decent energy and pas through. Slow moving soft lead will expand well and give good energy transfer, with a pass through sometimes. Any bullet in the vitals will kill quick however.
I have found that ,Hornady 44 cal xtp bullets and nosler 44 sporting handgun HP, expand at muzzleloader velocity and give reliable pass through. I buy the pistol bullets in 44 cal and buy my own 50 cal sabots from tc or harvester.
100 grains 777 (2 pellets), a 50 cal tc sabot made for 44 cal bullets, a 240 gr .44 cal xtp, and a 777 primer.
This load is all you need to kill anything in North America. It expands and even passes through everything I have shot. It does thisreliably and consistently. The only bullets I have recovered were from frontal shots that went through the whole length of the animal. They had minimum 70 percent weight retention and near 100 percent expansion
I have found that ,Hornady 44 cal xtp bullets and nosler 44 sporting handgun HP, expand at muzzleloader velocity and give reliable pass through. I buy the pistol bullets in 44 cal and buy my own 50 cal sabots from tc or harvester.
100 grains 777 (2 pellets), a 50 cal tc sabot made for 44 cal bullets, a 240 gr .44 cal xtp, and a 777 primer.
This load is all you need to kill anything in North America. It expands and even passes through everything I have shot. It does thisreliably and consistently. The only bullets I have recovered were from frontal shots that went through the whole length of the animal. They had minimum 70 percent weight retention and near 100 percent expansion
Non fragmenting, cheap, and have kilt everything I've shot with them. No fancy engineering aerodynamics, just hard hitting lead. I do NOT shoot over 125 yards tho.
260 gr btw.
260 gr btw.
Have killed a bunch of deer with my muzzle loaders, have used a bunch of different bullets, a bad shot no matter the bullet will cause problems, have had heart shot bucks run 100y or more using a 150g corelock out of my 300wm, a deer has a strong desire to live and it's tough to anchor them right there, the powerbelts have been great as they don't hardly go no where, few pass throughs but I aint bow hunting and don't feel that is needed, leaving all the energy dumped into the deer causes more damage than a pass through imo. the next bang flopper is my 243 , as long as I don't use a premium bullet I don't get runners. that said I shoot for ribs not shoulders and it pretty much has worked well all these years, might shoot 1 with a PB this season and take pictures to demonstrate the proper placement and damage left 
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240 grain xtp in a harvester sabot with 90-100 grains triple 7 and you will be golden
