ORIGINAL: ejpaul1
Yeah, i used to work as a welder in a fab shop and I am now a licensed power plant engineer. We have to be able to identify stressed metals, and I dont see anything like that with this rifle. It looks perfect. Anyway, I dont shoot it too much and just wanted some insight. I cant believe how accureate it is! I wish they let us use scopes here. That would rock! By the way, I am new to this sport. Can a 350 grain conical with say 80 grains of powder kill an elk at 100 yards? EJ
We are not allowed scopes in our muzzleloader season also. Since I also use them for modern hunting I have one inline with a scope and two others without. One has a RED DOT and one, some excellent Tru Glo Fiber Optic sights.
As for your question about elk.. I have never hunted them with a muzzleloader yet. I see no reason why it would not kill an elk at that distance. Shot placement will be critical, but I shoot a 460 grain conical all the time with 85 grains of Goex 3f or Triple Se7en 2f and the accuracy is outstanding. The conical will get some excellent penetration. If you put a half inch hole through the vital organs of any animal, they are going to die. It is just a matter of when and how far from where you shot.
Take a cardboard box that is at least 1.5 feet square and pack it with dirt solid. Then put that up at 100 yards and shoot for the center of the box. After ... go see how far that conical penetrated into the dirt at that distance. I think you will be surprised. And body tissue although solid enough can not be more so then packed dirt. It will also give you an idea of the expansion you will get if you put a 1" pine board in front of the box and shoot through that. I have done a few of them just this week and am really impressed at the distance I can get in that box.
Being your rifle has a BPI barrel you might want to consider using powerbelts. They normally shoot them real well. The problem is the cost of the darn things. Many elk are taken with powerbelts and you can push them all the way up to 100 grains without problems.
Good luck with your rifle. Seeing your qualifications in metal fabrication I would think you are a real good judge of metal under pressure and stress. I would shoot the rifle and have fun. Have you tried any 240 grain T/C Mag Express XTP's with about 90 grain of FFg under them? The reason I ask is my CVA Staghorn Magnum with that load is excellent and the bullet performance is outstanding for a deer type animal. I do not think I would use them on elk but you never know. Others might have a better opinion since they might have hunted them with such a load....