ORIGINAL: dmurphy317

Tootall is correct about the 400gr restriction in the manual as it pretains to max (150gr) loads. If you contact CVA, and I recommend you verify this yourself, they will tell you that if you are going to shoot conicals over 400 grains that the max powder level recommended is 100gr. Again, verify for yourself as I did.

I have shot both the 460gr No Excuse and the 460 Bull Shop conicals out of all of the inlines my sons and I have including my sons Optima with good results in the 70 to 90 grains of powder range. The secret is to slug your bore to get the exact bore dimentions so they can size the bullets to your needs (No Excuses use to have a few different sizing dies, not sure if they still do). I would suggest you get a trial pack of several different sizes from .001 to .003 larger than your bore measurment. My sons bore is right at .500 so the .501 works fine in it. For my Magbolt (and Lyman GPH) the bore is .5015 to .502 so I am using the .504 (the .503 would slip off the powder if shaken hard). You need to load one without powder down to where it should be and mark the ramrod. Then try to shake the bullet out of the barrel vigerously to see if it is going to move off the powder (very dangerous if that happens when loaded) to see which size is going to work for your gun. Once you know the right size you can start working up the most accurate load as usual.

You may also want to check out the heavier Powerbelts, 348, 405 and 444. They may shoot well in your gun with around 100gr of powder and will work well for elk.

Take your time and enjoy the process and most definately good luck on your hunt.