Originally Posted by
cayugad
The Leigh copper bullet I must admit interests me also. I always was a fan of the Barnes Copper bullets. The testing I did with them and a Black Diamond XR was to say the least spectacular in the devastation department and the hold together and deform perfect department. One reason I hunted for years with my Knight LK rifle and a Barnes MZ Expander. I just wish the deer had cooperated.
Are these new copper bullets heavy weight or light weight? I will be watching for your updates on it.
As for your topic of center fire VS muzzleloader, I have had deer drop in their tracks from Center Fires. Both the 30-06 and the 7mm Remington Magnum has planted a lot of deer. But it was all shot placement. I used to do a lot of neck shooting when young. But as the distances got longer, I changed to center mass shooting. Although I have still dropped them there too.
With a muzzleloader, I have never taken a deer yet with a sabot. Every time I hunt with one, I never see anything to shoot. But I have shot a large number of deer with round ball, and conical. And most of them were a bang flop.
Right now the Copper Lehigh bullet is Heavy. The only one I've seen right now is 265grn. I'm hoping for a lighter .452 around 240 or 245grn bullet. Mainly just for Elk. For Deer I'm hoping a .40 190 to 200grn bullet. I'm sure he will make a .40 higher BC bullet for the fast twist 45's in the 225 to 240grn weight range.
As far as Barnes in Muzzleloaders, Barnes knows themselves the MZ Expander is by far the most lethal bullet they got for a ML. The guys that use others truly do got to worry about shot placement or the ideal shot. In my hunting world, everything is far from perfect, that's why I use the best bullet I can use. But knowing what I know today, the MZ Expander would be my second choice bullet today.