RE: powder charges..
Cay...I believe Shocky's standard load was the 300gr Barnes and 100 grains before he switched to Nosler...
I have 2 muzzleloaders for deer...My .54 flinter that I built and my Knight Disc, I bought on clearance from Bass Pro several years ago (It has a 22 inch barrel)...
With the flinter I have shot 125 grs of powder and a ball, but I was having to put nesting material over the powder as I was burning patches...Went to 100grs for a few years and have settled on 80 for 5 years or so...Dang if I can tell the difference in deer, I actually have a theory that with higher velocities the ball mushrooms more on impact so you don't really see more pass throughs...Not really sure, but 80 is a light kicking load and is all that's needed for whitetails...Franky with open sights you need to hold your shots to somewhere around 125 or so...As long as a load shoots fairly flat out to that range, more powder isn't needed...With muzzleloaders it's more about the weight of the projectile...That's why some like the PowerBelt and some don't...If you move to the ?348 gr PowerBelt you should see full penetration...
In my Knight...btw I have probably shot 5-600 rounds through, even though I have only killed 20 deer or so with...
I have tried up to 120 grains FFF triple 7...Dang thing kicked like a mule and didn't group worth a dang with 5-6 different bullets...
The first 2-3 years with the Knight I used 2-Pyrodex pellets and a 300 grain Barnes copper....This will always exit on our deer down here in NC...btw...I too bought into the early reports on pellets giving more velocity...I have since gone back to either Pyrodex, I picked up 3 cans for $5 a can a few years ago, or just Goex FFF...I used this for my flintlocks and the distributor is about an hour down the road ($11.50 a pound)...
I have now gotten away from the pellets and shoot 90grs Pyrodex R-S or 90grs Goex FFF and a 250 Shockwave...I have killed several deer with this and a buddy a few more...I moved to this because it is more aerodynamic than the Barnes and my Knight with this bullet will group in the 2 - 2 1/2 inch area at 150, but that is my pre set limit...