Sabotloader,
Thanks for the kind re-introduction. I was pretty regular on the old muzzleloadingformum.com site till it went traditional only.I am in the market for a new Savage 10 ML, so wanted to find out load info and bullet info for this rifle. I will buy it after hunting season. I am a Nosler believer as you are, but at $1 each, they are too rich for my blood, so I am back to "searching for a good bullet that holds together and drives deep, like the Noslers". I will give the Gold Dot a try, at .25 each that sound like a good deal. I am also going to consider a new bullet that my brother just went to a Harvester Sabretooth 300G. He was still using Powerbelts in his
Encore, until he hit a buck in the shoulder and found bullet fragments on the ground exactly were the buck stood. He never found the buck but found the fragements and sent all his PBs and his fragments to CVA with a note to make a better bullet. I told him about Toby Bridges article on PB and Sabretooth and he tried them and liked the way they loaded. Me I like the crused rib sabot, it will shoot everything an goes down easy in a
field clean barrel.

I plan on shooting Hornady XPTs instead of PRBs in my flintlock in PA this year. The PRB do NOT expand and leave little blood trail (my brother got me into Flintlocking in PA, it is really fun). I didn't want to use the Noslers, cause they are so expensive to shoot, but I sill use them in my inlines, cause they are all set up for it and I still have a box of 50. Also the TC Web site had the manual for the TC Hawken and it shows the Hornady XPT deadly out to 150 with 100 yard zero. I shoot open sights on it (like colorado) and Goex 2F with 100g charge. We had two doe get away on my last winter with PRB shot at 35 yards! I know God made foxes and crows and other scavengers for the "road kill" purpose, but I hate having a wounded deer get away, 'cause I know it is going to suffer until it dies, and I honestly don't like to even go up on a deer down and deeply breathing it's last breaths. I prefer to walk up to a dead deer.

Thanks so much for the links and your knowledge and wisdom in this quest for the perfect bullet which is "price, expansion and penetration" in my model, with penetration being number 1, expansion being 2 and price being numbe 3. Less than $.50 is my target for a hunting bullet.
Will be in touch.
Chap Gleason, Va