348 grain Powerbelt

[BigSarge]

Ive been shooting 295 grain hollow point powerbelts with 80 grains of loose JSG. Had pretty good results. I bought some 348 grain Hollow point Powerbelts to play with. Should I start with the same 80 grain load or go up or down. I'm new to this stuff so I'm just having a blast playing with it.

[frontier gander]

stay the same. I did some shooting with the 348 grain all lead, and the bullet hit a railroad tie @ 100 yards, expanded to the size of a half dollar! Thats a great load for expansion.
Also penetraded 2" into the railroad tie and blew out the side of it.

[sabotloader]

BigSarge

So how are you liking that new Optima? This muzzleloading thing will "git ya" if you are not careful.

When you start feeling comfortable handling and shooting that gun you also might want to start trying new components... you do not mention whether you are using pellets or loose powder, but loose powder will save you a lot of money + allow you to develope loads that give you the best accuracy.

Same for Power Belts, they are an excellent starter bullet because they are easy to load anddo shoot well, but if you are not locked into conicals by your state game laws - then their is a wide range of bullets that will serve you perhaps better. If you can shoot a sabot/projectile combination then you might want to expreriment with some Speer Gold Dots. The big thing is to find the correct sabot to go down your barrel. Probably the better beginning choice here is the Harvester "crush rib" and a.452/300 grain Speer Gold, they are not as expensive as PB's and make it more affordable to shoot paper and are abosolutely devastating on deer. Therehave been several accounts recorded on this site by various members.

I guess that is one of the real benefits of a ML, all the experimenting you can do without costing an arm and a leg.

Have fun....

[cayugad]

I would stick with the same powder charge...

Muzzleloaders for some reason, I don't care who shoots them, always brings out a smile. Maybe it is the spark, smoke, boom, or what but people that start shooting them for some reason really enjoy them. Have fun with your rifle.

[oldrookie]

ORIGINAL: BigSarge

Ive been shooting 295 grain hollow point powerbelts with 80 grains of loose JSG. Had pretty good results. I bought some 348 grain Hollow point Powerbelts to play with. Should I start with the same 80 grain load or go up or down. I'm new to this stuff so I'm just having a blast playing with it.

Not trying to start anything for I am an Optima owner myself. I was under the impression CVA suggests a limit of 300g bullet with the standard Optima.

[frontier gander]

300 grain is with sabots.

400 grain with conicals.

Read your owners manual.... Rookie [8D]

[oldrookie]

ORIGINAL: frontier gander

300 grain is with sabots.

400 grain with conicals.

Read your owners manual.... Rookie [8D]

Whats an owners manual FG? Thanks for the info.

[frontier gander]

Whats scary, Theres a lot of people out there that dont know what the manuals for. Ah just to tell me how to clean it is all.

[lemoyne]

Speaking of cleaning ,I have read complaints about the insides [action] of the Optima rusting up bad and your not supposed to take them apart to clean them. I would flush them out every time I cleaned it first with something that would clean out the corrosive residue then with WD40 then oil; the ounce of prevention is better than the pound of cure. Lee

[BigSarge]

Thanks for the advice. I'll start off with the same load. I have the Optima Pro and so far I like it. Its my first muzzleloder so I really dont have anything to compare it with yet. PS: I do know what the owners manual is and I did read it. Heck I even read the instructions with the bullets and the powder.