OT - In line muzzleloader questions

[rjohns94]

I was out at the range today and spent a couple of hours shooting, cleanng and shooting again my TC Bone Collector, topped with a 3x9x40 scope. I am using .451 250 grain sabotted pointed spire point. Velocities with two magnum pellets, fired by 209 primers is in the 2100fps range. here are my questions:

1) anyone have ballistic charts for such a round/velocity. I'm sighted in at 100 yards, about 3 inches high. I don't have a place to ring it out so I was wondering where to sight it in for. MOst of my shots are well under 100 yards, but I am looking to understand better the ballistics of this weapon. I am thinking this is about 3 inches high at 100, 3 inches low at 150 and 6 inches low at 175. Is that correct?

2) which ammo/sabots/bullets would you use for north american game? Deer and hogs , i'm thinking I'm set with this set up as is. how about bigger stuff: Black Bear? same bullet or heavier? Caribou? Elk? Moose? My rifle is a 50 cal. that is fixed, cant go to .54 or .58 in this setup. I would use my .54 with a round ball for all of those. Just not sure with this one. I"m thinking a 300 or 330 grain lead slug may be required for some of the bigger bone critters. Your thoughts please?

[86er]

Mike - I just went through the ML projectile testing and what-not and my Triumph is the generic version of your gun. Actual ballistics with the SST bullet @2100 will be +3 @100, + 1.5@ 150, -3.5@200 -12@250.

The only 250 grain projectile that stands up to elk sized animals and big bears all the way out to 250 yds consistently is the Barnes Flat Base 250 T-EZ. Personally, I'd shoot an elk out to 150 yards with this bullet.

If you hunt CO, you will need a full sized projectile and no plastic, so the THOR 250 grain or 300 grain will perform the best. These are .500, .501, .502, .503 or .504 diameter bullets (you get a sample pack to figure out what you need before buying). They are solid copper with a hollow skirt in the base. The skirt obturates to seal the bore upon firing. They open up into 6 petals (not 4 like the Barnes X series of bullets). THOR recommends the 250 for elk and the 300 for moose and large African game or large bears.

For longer range elk, all moose and big bears or African game I'd use the Barnes .451 in 300 grain T-EZ. The MZ's, and TMZ's will probably not fit well in your bore. I couldn't load more than one without cleaning to get another down and two of us were struggling to get them down the bore. No problem with the T-EZ's.

The .452 300 grain SST/Smackdown/Shockwave are one in the same. They are pretty good but have been less consistent in actual field use than the Barnes. If the Barnes does not open all the way or properly it still tends to exit or at the least get to the opposite side. Nearly every other bullet I tested varied in the amount of penetration/expansion/weight retention. I just got back from the ranch where I culled a bunch of stuff and shot a pile of carcasses in testing bullets. These are my conclusions. If you want to know about a specific bullet, I probably tried it and I'd be happy to tell you what I know.

BTW - two Triple 7 Magnum pellets and the Barnes 250 T-EZ are producing 2054 fps from my rifle and under 1 inch 5 shot groups at 100 yards consistently. The SST/Smackdown/Shockwave are doing 2004 fps average and giving me 1.75 inch groups (at best, there's usually a flyer). NOTE: the Cheap Shots (TC) or Plinkers (Traditions) are .452 pure lead in a sabot (I don't know whey they say .429, 240 gr on the box - they are NOT) and performed just about as good as the SST's did on game (and less then half the price)!

[muddydog]

my advice wout be dont use Pellets. use powder of your choice. we've tried them all and gone back to loose powder. YMMV

a .50 will take anything in North America. i have used anything from 240 gr jacketed or JHP bullets with black sabots, to .50 round balls and patches to mega bullets like the 385 gr great plains bullet and buffalo bullets.

my gravy gun is a knight disc with 240 gr XTP with black sabots with 100 volume of 777. i would shoot anything with this gun. i might shoot a big maxi out of it for big things though.

my other main BP rifle with a cap and ball T/C Renegade that i shoot 60 gr of BP and a patched round ball.

i have never shot a BP rifle over 100 yards. other guys might have far more knowledge in that area or expertise.

[rjohns94]

thanks guys. Joe, I will pick up some 250 Barnes T-EZ today and give them a try. I wil get some heavier bullets too just so I have the range data on them should I need them. Might use this rifle on Bear with 2nvdoc this season.

[piller]

I have a couple of the plastic packs of the cheap shot. In the very few times I have tried them at a range, they have given good accuracy with 100 grains of pyrodex. I have never used them on any game, so I will have to defer to 86er there. I have tried the American Pioneer Powder sticks. Velocity and accuracy seems a little inconsistent, but they are easy to use and ignite readily. For 100 yards or less, I would use them in 2 sticks which is supposed to be a 100 grain load equivalent.

Has anyone tried pistol bullets with the sabots? Does that work?