I am thrilled with the variety of choices we havewith muzzleloaders these days. By the way, I run some ballistics on the shockwave load. Used 2050 fps, is that about right for 130 gr. pyrodex pellets? Very flat shooting, a good round.

There was a thread where the question was asked, what conical does the most damage. SteveBNy posted a load he used. My congratulatory remarks may have given the impression that I only support the use of heavy conicals. This, I hope by now, is clear to everyone not true. I just found it refreshing, that he had chosen a moderate powder charge and a heavy conical to take his most recent kill, a doe at 110 yards. This load has always been at our disposal, even with our old fashioned sidelocks (I still have and use the original I .50 T/C hawkin I built as a teenager some 27 years ago). Today, in an era of 150 grain charges and saboted boattails, it was just refreshing to seeSteve's choice of load. Not because it is more traditional, but because for his hunting situation, it is just better. In the woods of the East,I would suspect that 110 yards is a pretty distant shot. At that range, the conical is very accurate and flat shooting enough. He probably could have (had a gun rated for it) increased his charge to 90 or 100 grains, but didn't. There is no need to over do it, that is also refreshing.

For the record, I support the saboted loads we discussed wholeheartedly. They are better suited for longer shooting, especially for the inexperienced marksman. Out West, we can be challenged to get close enough with our muzzleloaders.

Regarding the regulations, your guess is as good as mine. We have to use open sights, so I don't see, for most, that taking away their sabots are hurting their chances much. The length twice the diameter doesn't make any sense either. 1:28 twist doesn't allow much longer than a 1" conical in 50 cal. anyway.

Happy Hunting, Phil