ORIGINAL: SHulion
Thanks for all the help. I guess i will try the maxi ball with around 70 gr of powder. I can't wait to start trying it again. A couple of more questions. What is the difference between the maxi-ball and the maxi-hunter? What grain maxi-ball would suggest. and last. Is it even worth my time to mess with the powerbelts. I'm thinking they might be OK since I will not be pushing them that hard. What do you think. Again, thanks for all of your help.
To be honest, I never was able to get a maxi hunter to shoot out of my rifles. I think they are a320 grains. I shoot Renegades and Hawkins, and I have yet to find one that will shoot them things. They have a hollow base and I think they are hollow point. Its been so long since I shot them. Now the maxiball are 370 grain. They have a flat base. Some people but a bore button or wonder wad between them and the powder. Some do not.
If you have no bore button and want to see what a wad would do for you, level the powder charge by tapping the butt of the rifle on your toe, then dump 10-20 grains of corn meal on top of your powder charge and then seat the maxiball on that. The corn meal will protect the conical when you fire. It might help, it might not. Or you can punch your own bore buttons out of 100% wool construction felt (from the lumber store) with a 1/2 hollow hole punch. I've even done it by sharpening the 1/2 copper pipe, but that was a PITA.
I have two 1-48 twist rifles that shoot powerbelts real well. They are expensive, but if they shoot well with about 80 grains of powder, they work good. According to some.
Personally I would shoot roundball. You work up a good roundball load and put that in the boiler room of a deer, and it will be dead deer time. Roundballs get a bad rap. Some even claim they are not a good projectile past 40 yards.. Well I have a friend that has dumped more deer with a .50 caliber roundball at 100 yards then I would care to drag out of the woods. And its funny, they do not seem to run that far for him. He does a shoulder shot, and it normally breaks them down and plants them real quick.
Another thing you can look for, but they are getting almost impossible to find is Buffalo Ball-ets. Again, no patch needed. They are 245 grain. You dump the powder and push one of them on the charge and they often times shoot real well. I bought a store (they were going out of business) out of their stock in them for a great price. I play with them in a lot of rifles..